ANOTHER GOOSE ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT BY ANOTHER DEMOCRAT

Yesterday I read about an upcoming Senate bill created by Dick Durbin called the "Main Street Fairness Act." After just seeing Ayn Rand's Atlas Shrugged Part I, I found the name of Durbin's bill sickeningly hilarious. She nails the hypocrisy of the language of the left in her book. Trust me, there is no "Fairness" in this bill, or any other euphemistically titled contrivance the Democrats have come up with in the last hundred years.

So what is the "Main Street Fairness Act" about? Taxing internet sales. Oh, goody. Another goose on the chopping block. You see, internet commerce is going too well. We can't have that, now can we? And Sen. Durbin must think it is just "unfair" to the Main Street merchants that they have to pay sales taxes, but internet intra-state internet commerce is not taxed. You knew it was too good to last. Our greedy and communist government could not possibly let unfettered trade continue without getting the grubby hands of government in on the take.

I'll use myself as one small example of how this will go. I'm a small goose. I have a business selling my original paintings, using the internet as a sales tool. I have a sales and use permit / license from my state. I have the ability to sell my design works as wholesale components without sales tax. But if I sell a finished product to an end user, that is a retail transaction. When I sell as a retailer to someone within my state, I pay sales taxes to my state for the privilege of selling. My sales, generally speaking, are not local. My sales are both statewide and national. When I sell to someone across the country who does not live in my state, right now there is no tax consequence. The federal government is not currently involved in either of these transactions. The federal government has done nothing to facilitate these sales that is not already paid for by other taxes. The shipper makes money. My suppliers make money. And hopefully, I make some money and my customers are happy.

So what happens to the price of my products when a federal tax is added? What happens to the competing nature of my products? Dick Durbin wants a cut of my business. He wants to use taxes to diminish the effect of unfettered trade. And he wants to use these taxes to further his idea of "Fairness?" Fair to whom? The goose? Does this tax encourage intra-state internet sales or kill it? Does this tax force you to buy locally as opposed to buying from someone in some other state? What would be the point of that? Would it be good for the shippers who will lose business? Is it good for my suppliers who sell across state lines?

Someone in, let's say California, has no opportunity to see my work other than through the internet. In order to offset the cost of shipping, there is no sales tax on purchases. If you are willing to pay for shipping my painting across the country, are you now going to buy from me with internet sales taxes added??

One more goose laid down with its head in the guillotine. Maybe the Republicans can stop Dick Durbin's blade. No idea. All I know is that the insatiable appetite of big government Progessive Communists in both parties is our worst nightmare. This is just one more nail in the coffin of economic liberty. Our federal government is using our own money via taxes against our liberties across the gamut from light bulbs to smart meters, from roads to property rights, from free speech to indoctrination in government schools. This is one more grab for more money to feed the predatory beast.

Town Hall Column by John Hawkins
"Government has become too damn big, too damn intrusive, and too damn lucrative for the good of the country. That's why so much of the political class in this country is comprised of con men, sociopaths, and fortune hunters. Quite frankly, most of these people would rather that you didn't understand their motives, what they really want to do, or the policies that they're implementing because what's actually good for the country is a much smaller consideration than what's good for them personally."

"2) A rose by any other name may be a skunk. The name of a bill doesn't necessarily have anything at all to do with what the bill actually does. For example, like it or hate it, the Patriot Act has nothing to do with patriotism. Obamacare, which is called the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, will actually raise the cost of care and will inevitably lead to the deaths of countless Americans -- as lifesaving procedures are denied to save the government money. In other words, put no stock in what a bill is called because for all you know, the Puppy and Orphan Protection Act may advocate grinding up puppies and orphans into a special brand of environmentally friendly Soylent Green."

As John Hawkins implies, "Fairness" in this case has nothing to do with "Fairness." It is just another assassination attempt on another golden goose.

The question remains, can we starve the beast before the beast kills all the geese in the nation?

Also published at Pundit House.com

Thought for the day:

"The illusion of freedom will continue for as long as it's profitable to continue the illusion. At the point where the illusion becomes too expensive to maintain, they will take down the scenery, move the tables and chairs out of the way, then they will pull back the curtains and you will see the brick wall at the back of the theater." - Frank Zappa