Comments on: Net taxes could arrive by this fall

Congress is weighing whether to lift a prohibition on Internet taxes, and one senator warns an e-mail tax could happen by this fall.

[extinctone]

Internet access is already being taxed

The fact is that you're getting your internet access via your telephone company or your cable service and those companies are already paying access taxes, all the temporary moratorium has held off has been a direct tax on the service itself.

It shows how small and petty those governments can get that they want to be able to tax that one item they've been prevented from reaching for, evidently these polititions haven't remembered the tales of Pandora's box or the Forbidden Fruit. Simply because it's been forbidden they've decided they must tax it.

Sales taxes in combination with income taxes are a wrong compounded since it's effectively burning the candle (i.e. Real Wages) at both ends and because the sales tax is levied against an already reduced income it's taking a larger percentage of the original income than it appears.

However, if all the taxes you paid were all levied via a single tax then you'd see how huge your tax bill really is and there's not a politition who'd long remain in office. That's the real reason why they want to break up the taxes into lot's of small taxes taken in small ways.

[twotall610]

Repeat of history?

Wasn't taxation one of the main causes of the American Revolution?

http://odur.let.rug.nl/~usa/E/revolution/revo2.htm

[FlappingCrane]

Not exactly.

The battle then was taxation without representation. Today, we have representation. Let your congressmen and representatives know your feelings. They are there to represent you. Speak loudly and speak often.

[markjowett]

Just tax the air we breathe

I take like a few thousand breaths of air everyday. Want to tax that?

[celluloid3119]

well, at some point...

All the air we breathe will need to be filtered and purified by a tax-
funded government organization or a for-profit corporation.
Wouldn't surprise me if one way or another, every breath eventually
costs us.

[extinctone]

You're gonna pay a CO2 tax!

It's coming, thanks to the idiotic propaganda from Al Gore and his lying his a** off movie.

[bobby_brady]

It's always schools and police,

Everytime the government has trouble getting new tax bills pass, they threaten us by saying schools and police will loss out. I say who gives a damn then. Where does all my income taxes, property taxes, car taxes, gas taxes, sales taxes and all the other taxes go then?

I'm tired of the government lies and saying schools and police will loss. Remember in California when the car taxes were rolled back. All those ads that police and fire would be threated? Yeah. Seems to me those government entities are still operating.

[suyts]

And

if the schools or police were worth a sh**, then they might get some backing. As it is now, we are taxed silly for a police state with a **** poor educational system.

[duggerdm]

Its real simple.

It doesn't matter who you write. Folks we have an unresponsive gov. consisting of one party wearing two kinds of funny hats - demos and repubs. They are the same - professional parasites/politicians. There arrogance is at record levels. You can do what you like, but come election day I won't vote for a candidate from either party who is pro-internet tax or who has supported the Iraq debacle. Actually, I probably won't vote for anyone associated with either party. I truly hope there will be some competent independents to receive my votes. Its time for a major house cleaning and at least thinning of these career dead beats and their shills.

[247mark]

Email Tax?

When are we going to have elected representatives who understand technology? How are you going to tax email? This sounds like a case of spending $100 to collect $5 in tax revenue. I know this has been detailed to death as an urban legend but some of these elected officials are ignorant enough about technology to generate serious cause for concern.

[C_G_K]

Dems are back in power

What do you expect from the dems? Hang onto your wallets if old coat tail riding Hillary is the next pres.

[Gromit801]

Knee Jerk

Dems have nothing to do with it. Sen. Michael Enzi, a Wyoming
Republican introduced the bill.

[jonogg]

Internet Taxation Woes Headed Your Way

any lift of the internet taxation ban will be a disaster for the public and for business. If you like the idea of dealing with potentially thousands of local and state agencies and if you like the thought of getting arbitrary and uncontestable bills from agencies then you will be for it. This is not a democrat or republican issue, it's little government trying to pilfer more and more money.
http://www.247wallst.com/2007/05/internet_taxati.html

[Phillep_H]

Censorship through intimidation

They have to know who to bill. What are the implications of that?

[disco-legend-zeke]

Greedy self serving politicos: only votes can overcome bribes.

Our government has become another ENRON. Most of the people at the top are just in it to increase their personal wealth.

The FCC is preparing to auction the last bit of our air waves (700 MHz) to the big telcos, who have no need of it, but want to prevent small companies from growing into the market.

At the last auction, the big guys entered the bidding and stayed in it just long enough for the small operators to be driven out.

If the 700 MHz spectrum is made public, and the part 15 specifications are properly written, we can expect WI-FI type services to become available everywhere.

Compare the prices: AT&T (and thousands of smaller operators offer WI-FI service using unlicensed spectrum provide high speed connections for as low as $19.95 per month; Sprint, Verizon, and the other big carriers provide much slower internet connections (sometimes with TOS and special filtering to prevent VOIP and other services) for $60 a month and up.

As long as the big telcos have money to bribe our leaders, our only hope is phone calls and letters to our congressmen.

Don't let 700 MHz go to the greedy cell carriers. Call your senators and reps today. Tell them to make 700 Meg Spectrum public. The amount of savings by your schools and police will be greater than any sales taxes.

Look up your leaders now at http://www.visi.com/juan/congress/ and call, fax, email, or mail them.

Tell them the 2.4 WI-FI band has made more money for federal and local government than the total revenue from every spectrum auction ever held.

[FarmerChet]

Votes do not overcome bribes in the U.S.

The entire concept of lobbying is based on legalized bribery.
The reason many of our leaders are spineless ********** is because of the lobbying system.
You are correct about the wireless spectrum, but to think that regular people can email/mail a Congress person to a degree which would cause them to ignore $$ from a lobbyist is just silly.
If we check any politicians record against what he/she stated they would do in office, we would find that 80% or more of them were patent liars.
I don't think they go into politics to be liars, but the lobbyists steer them away from any altrusitic goals, and over time (usually within 10 months) they are no longer just focused on the feedback of the consituents.
Remember that on the World stage, our political environment is considered a joke.

[ruel005]

Repeal the tax breaks for the rich

There is not enough money because this government gave the rich
tax breaks that amounts to billions upon billions of dollars.

Now this government wants to make up for it by taxing the
common folk.

Government of the few, by the few, for the few.

[extinctone]

Which breaks? Name some please...

I hear this generic whine but nothing specific. Please add some specifics and when I call my Congresscritters I can have something to say.

[Wesley_Mouch]

Tax the Rich! Feed the Poor!

If you want to promote wealth redistribution, then promote wealth redistribution. But be intellectually honest about it and stop hiding behind the BIG LIE that the rich don't pay taxes.

Here are the facts:

36 percent of all federal income tax is paid by the TOP ONE PERCENT of income earners.

84 percent of all federal income tax is paid by the top 25 percent of income earners.

96 percent of all federal income tax is paid by the top 50 percent of income earners.

Let's dissect your assertion:

First, "there is not enough money".
Not enough money for what? Indoor rainforests, national peanut festivals, mariachi music grants, and teapot museums?

Second, "tax breaks that amounts [sic] to billions upon billions of dollars" that the government must make up for.

It may be difficult for you to grasp a counter-intuitive concept, but the FACT is that federal revenues have INCREASED because of President Bush's tax cuts.

This is why. (Go on, challenge your belief system):
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laffer_curve

You really should consider getting your information from a source other than Airhead America.

[Phillep_H]

Who pays

Ultimately, the people who "pay" the taxes are the people actually doing the work (produce). Taxes are taken from the money flow, and the effect on the economy (money flow) depends on /where/ the money is removed from the flow.

Paper pushers, and that's most of government, don't produce. At best, they help organize so production improves, and are a necessary evil. Too much organization is counter productive, and the poor suffer.

Take a look at Zimbabwe for an example of what happens when "the exploiters of the poor" are run out of the country. Watch the coming melt down in Venezuala.

[lithuanian98]

Enough Taxes

There is enough taxes being paid by the people. If Senators, Govenors, and congressmen want more tax dollars then lets start a tax on elected officials. If you get ellected to any government office local, state, or federal you must pay a tax of 23% of your pay. See how you like that officials. I think that is fair. We pay enough taxes and it is time for the officials to take a pay cut and scale down the pork projects.

[LaPajarita]

Silicon Valley CEOs supported Dems...

and this is what they get. Not that Repubs are much better. The CEOs won't feel the tax, so this is probably not a big deal for them.

But, for crying out loud, 30% of the US economy consists of government spending - how much is enough?

[Blisterpeanuts]

Supply siders versus Tax-The-Air

The internet is an example of supply side economics. It's been protected from taxation to nurture it and help internet commerce to survive and grow.

Now the pendulum swings to the Left, again, and tax-starved local governments are screaming for blood.

What they don't understand is that supply side economics works. All the internet commerce companies such as Amazon, Ebay, right down to mom-and-pop stores that have set up a web presence and expanded their customer base, have employees who pay income taxes on their salaries and also buy locally--houses, food, cars, etc. Plus, these companies pay corporate income taxes, capital gains taxes, etc. up the wazoo.

Thus, local governments DO BENEFIT FROM THE INTERNET--it's just that they benefit from profitable and well run companies instead of just blindly taxing everyone as the Dems would love to do. And as they have done in Europe where they have literally taxed their economies to death.

The Dems have forgotten the budget surpluses of the late 90s which came directly from the internet boom.

So long internet--it was good while it lasted.

[suyts]

They will

cry, lie and fabricate to say that it isn't true. We know that it worked, not just once but several times throughout the history of this nation. Be prepared for the onslaught of liberal petty namecalling. Happens all the time here.

[jack1260]

ALREADY PAYING WEB TAXES!

We, the people, have completely exhausted ways of getting more taxation money. The most hidden and most powerful taxation today is at the GAS PUMP.

But, anytime we find a product (or service) that becomes an obsession with people, we find that further costs are usually involved somewhere along the line, usually in the form of taxation, it has been in times past.

So, as the story goes, one man's golden parachute costs enough to buy 1,000 regular parachutes, and so on...

As I read the last chapter of this little book, sooner or later big inheritances are in line for the few. And if I were to be counted in the number of that little flock I wouldn't be all that disappointed.

Resistance is futile. You will be assimilated.

[rjmcmahon]

Lesson's from history

Net taxes that would be used to fund our universal broadband networks, the digital networks that would be the information infrastructure for generations to come, and that could not be diverted from this directive might actually work. Reminds me of previous generations and how they were enable to build our road infrstructures. Maybe this generation too can leave a legacy, of which the next will take for granted like most do today for the infrastructures which act as the backbone in maintaining our standards of living.

http://www.tfhrc.gov/pubrds/summer96/p96su7.htm

"Here is an opportunity to do a big, basic work, such as comes to few in the course of a lifetime. The individual who fails to vision the importance of the task has no moral right to hold a position of authority in its performance."

- Thomas H. MacDonald, Chief, Bureau of Public Roads, December 1921

[suyts]

Our

broadband networks are already funded, we do not need federal or state "help". Thanks, I already gave at the office.

[Had_to_be_said]

There are, at least, two inconsistencies within such an argument...

First...

Both the Government, and the big "telcos", have repeatedly, flatly, stated that there is, in reality, no "public..." network "backbone"..." (I.E. publicly-owned "information infrastructure"). The claim is that the "digital infrastructure" is actually, supposedly, almost-entirely composed of "privately-owned networks", and therefore, they are NOT "public property" -subject to "Government regulations" designed to insure the "public interest". This is the argument that is made every time there is even the hint of any legislation that is designed, merely, to insure "equal access" to such "public" data-networks, and communication-resources.

Second...

Numerous states are planning to charge "use fees", to use our, allegedly, "public roads". In fact, some "public roads" are actually in the process of being SOLD, outright, to "private" owners (who are planning to then charge motorists for the continued "use" of that, previously, "public property".

And, these are only the tip of the iceberg. I couldnt hope to detail all of the "tax-payer" funded, and created, "resources" that have been sold to, allegedly, "private" interests.

So, in these instances... why are we paying these, ever-increasing, taxes, again..?

[DougDbug]

Too many DIFFERENT taxes already!

I was standing in line at the DMV for an hour one day (small problem with my car registration) and I started thinking... "Why do I have to pay car registration tax every year anyway?" It's just another way for them to collect money. Why can't they just add a couple-hundred to my state income tax? Look at all of the extra "overhead"... All of these employees... All of this paperwork... All of these citizens wasting time in line...

[cohaver]

this is so stupid and here why

America will outsource it web hosting service
companies will set up there web sites and services overseas to get out of this tax. do think Local governments are going force some company in Canada
or Europe to pay sale tax to some city in America
The data and tracking systems cost in America will be huge. This could lead to a Internet war on Local governments and governments to a level only in their nightmares. This is crazy

[EmmaFrost]

Phone companies screwed the pooch here

The phone companies several years ago took the "the internet must be democratically free of taxes, so no states can assert they contribute more to internet traffic than any others" argument to Capitol Hill. Our representatives bought that the money-grubbing states needed to be kept in check.

THEN, the phone companies and other ISPs started to say that they wanted to cash in on the success of high-traffic websites by charging more for their traffic - the whole "net neutrality" thing. Suddenly the states don't look so money-grubbing, at least not in comparison to Verizon and its ilk.

So, blame the phone companies for this.

[little sue]

TAXES ON YOUR EMAIL OR DSL CONNECTS

THIS IS SO STUPID,WE HAVE TOO MANY TAXES.THEN TAXES THE AIR WE BREATHE.CONGRESS??TYPICAL DEMOCRATS.DO YOU THINK WE ARE MAKE OF MONEY.CUT YOUR SALARY IN HALF.DO YOU CARE.NO NO I DO NOT THINK SO.THE DEMACRATS THINK ONLY OF THEMSELVES NOT THE AMAERICAN PEOPLE.

[Quemann]

Are you Republican?

Taxes are already too heavy. My neighbor complained 50% of his paycheck goes for state and Federal taxes.
This is horrendous.Where did all the tax money go?
How much do you think went to Iraq War?Is it Democrats or Republicans who started Iraq War by misjudging intelligence? I hope USA will not go into another war in anaother 10 years. Heck no on email taxes. If Uncle Sam has got a deep pocket, it will start another war.