There is an article in yesterdays Wall Street Journal about an organization called the Alliance for Main Street Fairness, which is putting pressure on politicians to enact laws that would require Amazon.com to collect sales tax in each state where it makes sales. Currently, Amazon is required, by a 1992 Supreme Court decision, to collect sales tax only in states where it has a physical presence. The alliance has primarily been mom & pop retailers who claim that online retailers have an unfair advantage because they aren’t legally required to collect sales tax from out of state buyers. (OK, this comment is not the point behind this particular brain fart but my response to them would be ‘no shit, get a website’.) So anyway, reading the article, guess who is now leading this mom & pop store charge. Wal-Mart. Sears. Target. Home Depot. Best Buy.  Anybody recognize your mom or pop in this bunch? If you do you’re my new best friend.

 So what’s really happening here?  What’s happening here is the huge retailers see an opportunity to strike a blow at a major competitor by appealing to the greed of the Parliament of Whores (that would be congress), and the lesser Parliaments of Whores, (that would be state legislators).  Publicly, the alliance says the appeal to lawmakers is because Amazon has an advantage because they don’t have to charge sales tax and (please read this next part in your most nasal whiney voice) ‘that’s unfair’.  They want the playing field leveled, which is poli-speak borrowed from the affirmative action disaster that really means “please help us compete with someone who is kicking our ass fair and square”. 

 Unfortunately, the time is ripe for them to pull this off. State governments are in debt up to their eyeballs and are looking fore any way they can find to generate more revenue.  Many of these elected twits are stupid enough, or greedy enough, to jump all over this (many already are) without thinking (I know – thinking politician – oxymoron. Indulge me) it through. They think if Amazon starts collecting taxes in their state, revenues increase. Good theory. How does it work in real life? Last week Illinois passed a law requiring the collection of taxes by of state internet retailers. The result? Amazon cut ties with over 9000 Illinois affiliate retailers resulting in a net REDUCTION of eighteen million dollars in income taxes paid to the state by those affiliates. Nine thousand people who were making money, now aren’t. Can you blame Amazon? Why would they want the headache and legal liability of collecting and paying taxes from affiliate sales?  The Alliance and the Whores say Amazon is trying to avoid paying its fair share.  What level of ignorance and stupidity can we reach? Amazon wouldn’t be paying shit and neither do any of the other retailers that are pushing this. They just collect the tax. You and I pay it.  This is just another way for the Whores to reach into your pocket for more tax dollars. You see they need that money to make up the budget deficits they have. If a state is a 1.2 billion in the red, and they can collect an extra 500 million in taxes, they will only be 700 million in the hole. Except they won’t. If they collect an extra 500 million, they will spend an extra 900 million, and will end up 1.6 billion in the hole. It’s the nature of the beast. And you, Mr. and Ms. taxpayer, are going to pay more and get less.

We should all be screaming at our elected Whores to stop this sort of robbery. Tell them no. Find ways to spend less instead of looking for ways to collect more. It’s amazing how much we’re willing to take.