The site:
http://www.worldnetdaily.com/bluesky_exnews/19991224_xex_wnd_to_lead_.shtml
The article:
<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>WND to lead charge
against Net tax
Online newspaper sponsors
major petition drive
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
© 1999 WorldNetDaily.com
WorldNetDaily is launching a national online petition drive called "DON'T TAX THE NET!"
With the issue of Internet taxation rapidly emerging as one of the key issues of the presidential campaign season, the popular Internet newspaper is sponsoring a massive petition campaign to inform "legislators and government officials who need to know about the opposition of their constituents - their bosses -- to Internet taxation in any form," according to the petition.
"We wanted to provide a forum through which the public could easily and effectively convey to the government their opposition to taxes on Internet commerce," said Joseph Farah, editor and founder of WorldNetDaily.
Although the explosive issue of Internet taxation is officially in limbo -- the Advisory Commission on Electronic Commerce, established by Congress so lawmakers could pass the buck, ended its recent meeting in disagreement - the idea of taxing the Net is demanding that politicians take a stand.
"The single most effective way to choke off [the Internet's] enormous economic growth would be to impose unnecessary and burdensome taxes on Internet users," said presidential hopeful John McCain. Although, understandably, no major presidential candidate in an election year is publicly supporting a massive new tax, several, including George W. Bush, are hedging and putting off any official position.
Supporters of the Internet tax include those who regard the lack of a levy on e-commerce as unfair competition for "brick-and-mortar" retail businesses, since they have to collect sales taxes for their state government. One of the prime backers of the Net tax, predictably, is the National Association of Governors, which has proposed the "trusted third party" tax collection scheme.
"The Internet is fueling America's economic growth," said Farah. "A Net tax would insert the government right into the middle of the most revolutionary, popular and private medium for communications and commerce the world has ever seen. Why ruin a good thing?"
Grover Norquist, president of Americans for Tax Reform, is also concerned about privacy implications: "It would lead to a national sales tax and completely obliterate consumer privacy because the government will have a computer filled with everything you've ever bought in your life. And it will lead to higher taxes," he said.
The amount of commerce conducted over the Internet is growing exponentially. For example, the American Council of Life Insurance, which reports over $3 billion in term insurance sold online this year, a number it expects will double next year, estimates that within 10 years, 60 percent of all term insurance sales will be made over the Internet.
A recent study by the University of Chicago and National Bureau of Economic Research warned that imposing a national sales tax on e-commerce would drive consumers away, and could shrink the e-commerce market by an estimated 24 percent.
The Advisory Commission on Electronic Commerce will hold its fourth and final meeting in March, after which it will presumably make its recommendations to Congress as to whether or not to tax the Net.
In the meantime, readers are invited to let their own voices be heard on the issue, by participating in WorldNetDaily's "DON'T TAX THE NET!" petition
[/quote]
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John/az
"The middle of the road between the extremes of good and evil, is evil. When freedom is at stake, your silence is not golden, it's yellow..." RKBA!
http://www.worldnetdaily.com/bluesky_exnews/19991224_xex_wnd_to_lead_.shtml
The article:
<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>WND to lead charge
against Net tax
Online newspaper sponsors
major petition drive
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
© 1999 WorldNetDaily.com
WorldNetDaily is launching a national online petition drive called "DON'T TAX THE NET!"
With the issue of Internet taxation rapidly emerging as one of the key issues of the presidential campaign season, the popular Internet newspaper is sponsoring a massive petition campaign to inform "legislators and government officials who need to know about the opposition of their constituents - their bosses -- to Internet taxation in any form," according to the petition.
"We wanted to provide a forum through which the public could easily and effectively convey to the government their opposition to taxes on Internet commerce," said Joseph Farah, editor and founder of WorldNetDaily.
Although the explosive issue of Internet taxation is officially in limbo -- the Advisory Commission on Electronic Commerce, established by Congress so lawmakers could pass the buck, ended its recent meeting in disagreement - the idea of taxing the Net is demanding that politicians take a stand.
"The single most effective way to choke off [the Internet's] enormous economic growth would be to impose unnecessary and burdensome taxes on Internet users," said presidential hopeful John McCain. Although, understandably, no major presidential candidate in an election year is publicly supporting a massive new tax, several, including George W. Bush, are hedging and putting off any official position.
Supporters of the Internet tax include those who regard the lack of a levy on e-commerce as unfair competition for "brick-and-mortar" retail businesses, since they have to collect sales taxes for their state government. One of the prime backers of the Net tax, predictably, is the National Association of Governors, which has proposed the "trusted third party" tax collection scheme.
"The Internet is fueling America's economic growth," said Farah. "A Net tax would insert the government right into the middle of the most revolutionary, popular and private medium for communications and commerce the world has ever seen. Why ruin a good thing?"
Grover Norquist, president of Americans for Tax Reform, is also concerned about privacy implications: "It would lead to a national sales tax and completely obliterate consumer privacy because the government will have a computer filled with everything you've ever bought in your life. And it will lead to higher taxes," he said.
The amount of commerce conducted over the Internet is growing exponentially. For example, the American Council of Life Insurance, which reports over $3 billion in term insurance sold online this year, a number it expects will double next year, estimates that within 10 years, 60 percent of all term insurance sales will be made over the Internet.
A recent study by the University of Chicago and National Bureau of Economic Research warned that imposing a national sales tax on e-commerce would drive consumers away, and could shrink the e-commerce market by an estimated 24 percent.
The Advisory Commission on Electronic Commerce will hold its fourth and final meeting in March, after which it will presumably make its recommendations to Congress as to whether or not to tax the Net.
In the meantime, readers are invited to let their own voices be heard on the issue, by participating in WorldNetDaily's "DON'T TAX THE NET!" petition
[/quote]
------------------
John/az
"The middle of the road between the extremes of good and evil, is evil. When freedom is at stake, your silence is not golden, it's yellow..." RKBA!
