• Menu
  • Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Before Header

  • About Us
  • Lexicon
  • Contact Us
  • Our Store
  • ↑
  • ↓
  • ←
  • →

Balloon Juice

Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

“Why isn’t this Snickers bar only a nickel?”

Only Democrats have agency, apparently.

When the time comes to make an endorsement, the pain of NYT editors will be palpable as they reluctantly whisper “Biden.”

No offense, but this thread hasn’t been about you for quite a while.

rich, arrogant assholes who equate luck with genius

Battle won, war still ongoing.

They love authoritarianism, but only when they get to be the authoritarians.

The choice is between normal and crazy.

In short, I come down firmly on all sides of the issue.

Israel is using food as a weapon of war. Unforgivable.

I did not have this on my fuck 2022 bingo card.

Teach a man to fish, and he’ll sit in a boat all day drinking beer.

The arc of history bends toward the same old fuckery.

When do the post office & the dmv weigh in on the wuhan virus?

Republicans: slavery is when you own me. freedom is when I own you.

It’s pointless to bring up problems that can only be solved with a time machine.

Consistently wrong since 2002

Sitting here in limbo waiting for the dice to roll

When you’re in more danger from the IDF than from Russian shelling, that’s really bad.

The poor and middle-class pay taxes, the rich pay accountants, the wealthy pay politicians.

Russia bombs Ukraine’s maternity hospitals; Republicans in the House can’t sort out supporting Ukraine.

President Biden is doing good where he can, and getting it done.

Some judge needs to shut this circus down soon.

“Can i answer the question? No you can not!”

Mobile Menu

  • Four Directions Montana
  • Donate with Venmo, Zelle & PayPal
  • Site Feedback
  • War in Ukraine
  • Submit Photos to On the Road
  • Politics
  • On The Road
  • Open Threads
  • Topics
  • COVID-19 Coronavirus
  • Authors
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Lexicon
  • Our Store
  • Politics
  • Open Threads
  • 2024 Elections
  • Garden Chats
  • On The Road
  • Targeted Fundraising!
You are here: Home / Politics / Good News From the House

Good News From the House

by John Cole|  October 16, 20073:22 pm| 16 Comments

This post is in: Politics

FacebookTweetEmail

I like it:

Despite grumbling from lawmakers who want a permanent ban, the House voted overwhelmingly Tuesday to extend for four more years a moratorium on taxation of Internet access.

The bill (HR 3678) passed 405-2, The existing ban on Internet access taxes will expire Nov. 1 unless Congress extends it by that date.

Although supporters of making the ban permanent had enough votes to amend the bill to their liking, Democratic leaders put it on the floor under suspension of the rules, a procedure that bars amendments and is usually reserved for less controversial legislation.

“Basically, what the Democratic leadership has said is, ‘Here’s four years, take it or leave it,’ ” said Republican Robert W. Goodlatte of Virginia, cosponsor of a permanent ban.

Melvin Watt, D-N.C., said there was a very good reason for the decision to go with a moratorium extension rather than a permanent ban. “The Senate has not done anything yet and in many ways has made it clear that a permanent moratorium would be dead on arrival,” Watt said.

Four years is better than nothing, and unlike the permanent ban, this bill actually stood a chance of being passed.

FacebookTweetEmail
Previous Post: « Stay Classy, Mitt Romney
Next Post: Dirty Sanchez »

Reader Interactions

16Comments

  1. 1.

    Fe E

    October 16, 2007 at 3:33 pm

    Republican Robert W. Goodlatte of Virginia

    Good but not great.

    I’m a bit more partial to french press as opposed to espresso drinks.

  2. 2.

    Zifnab

    October 16, 2007 at 3:35 pm

    Horray! Balloon Juice continues to cost me nothing! (except hours out of my workday)

  3. 3.

    KCinDC

    October 16, 2007 at 4:11 pm

    Yeah, whenever I see his name, I think we need a couple more Republican congressmen named Nicesushi and Excellentnewyorktimes. It really only has two syllables, though.

    I’m fine with the ban, but I’m not clear on why we must fight tooth and nail to ensure that Internet service be forever preserved from taxation when the same doesn’t apply to phone service, or groceries.

  4. 4.

    whippoorwill

    October 16, 2007 at 4:42 pm

    Melvin Watt, D-N.C., said there was a very good reason for the decision to go with a moratorium extension rather than a permanent ban. “The Senate has not done anything yet and in many ways has made it clear that a permanent moratorium would be dead on arrival,” Watt said.

    OMG, common sense breaking out in the congress, Quick, somebody call the CDC before it spreads.

  5. 5.

    MNPundit

    October 16, 2007 at 5:10 pm

    In Minnesota there is no tax on food items.

  6. 6.

    MNPundit

    October 16, 2007 at 5:11 pm

    Addendum: I meant Sales Tax.

  7. 7.

    r€nato

    October 16, 2007 at 8:38 pm

    Has anybody driven by the internet’s house to see what its kitchen counters are made of?

    Ooops… wrong thread. My bad.

  8. 8.

    The Other Steve

    October 16, 2007 at 9:45 pm

    In Minnesota there is no tax on food items.

    Clothing… most states don’t tax food. Minnesota is unique because of the clothing sales tax exemption. It’s what makes the Mall of America a draw.

  9. 9.

    The Other Steve

    October 16, 2007 at 10:18 pm

    Congratulations Mrs. Paul Tsongas!

    Niki Tsongas wins special election

    The widow of 1992 presidential candidate Paul Tsongas defeated the brother of an American Airlines pilot who died in the Sept. 11 attacks Tuesday in a special election for the U.S. House.

    With 86 percent of precincts reporting, Democrat Niki Tsongas had 51 percent of the vote to 46 percent for Republican Jim Ogonowski.

  10. 10.

    Jess

    October 16, 2007 at 11:49 pm

    Minnesota is unique because of the clothing sales tax exemption.

    Massachusetts doesn’t tax clothes under a certain amount either (I think it’s $250). I’m so happy.

  11. 11.

    Nancy Irving

    October 17, 2007 at 12:55 am

    I see no reason why the internet should be exempt from taxation.

    It’s not as if it’s a struggling industry. In fact, many industries that *are* taxed are struggling *because* of the internet.

    No one likes paying taxes, but there’s no logic to this, unless you count the idea that all taxes on anything anywhere at any time are baaaad, as logic.

  12. 12.

    Third Eye Open

    October 17, 2007 at 1:27 am

    Nancy,

    In philosophy I agree with you, the internet is ripe for taxation…

    But, I would much rather have the four years, and still have time to shake my critter’s tree to get the things that need to be taxed–Pr0n and mortgage lenders, for instance–than having something that will eventually come back to bite your revenue stream in the ass. IMO

  13. 13.

    TenguPhule

    October 17, 2007 at 1:52 am

    No one likes paying taxes, but there’s no logic to this, unless you count the idea that all taxes on anything anywhere at any time are baaaad, as logic.

    Enforcement comes to mind. World Wide Web isn’t just there for show.

  14. 14.

    Cabalamat

    October 17, 2007 at 3:13 am

    Nancy Irving:

    It’s not as if it’s a struggling industry. In fact, many industries that are taxed are struggling because of the internet. No one likes paying taxes, but there’s no logic to this, unless you count the idea that all taxes on anything anywhere at any time are baaaad, as logic.

    The Internet shouldn’t be taxed precisely because of the points you make. That is, because (1) the Internet is a sunrise industry not a sunset industry, and (2) much economic activity uses, or is dependent on, the Internet.

    All modern countries need to expand their Internet infrastructure as quickly as possible, in order not to fall behind their competitors; their future prosperity depends on it. In particular, the USA is falling behind countries like South Korea in terms of the availability, cost and speed of broadband access, and taxing the Internet would only make that worse.

    Thus taxing the net would be a bloody stupid thing for lawmakers to do. Taxing applications such as VoIP would also be stupid, for the same reasons.

  15. 15.

    Kirk

    October 17, 2007 at 9:19 am

    The Law of Unintended Consequences is the largest reason why the internet shouldn’t be taxed. Here’s the trip:

    Generally, everyone agrees that the sales taxes should be collected by the seller and given to the seller’s state (and where applicable county and municipality) of tax authority. It’s reasonable, and the mechanisms are already in place.

    UC1: Business relocation. The current tax exemption that drives business location is property taxes. But there’s a huge marketing benefit to saving a few percentage points on “sales price”. Note that due to various corporate laws it’s not necessary for the business itself to move, just for it to do enough to incorporate (or otherwise satisfy obligations) in the appropriate location.

    UC2: Impact on International business. Our goods sold outside the borders of the nation are now at a competitive disadvantage due to tax collection. And people looking for nominally equivalent goods will balance tax vs shipping costs – cutting into “buy from home” sources.

    UC3: Ebay (and ebay type) sales. Should Ebay collect based upon (alleged) location of seller, or of its own location? Or should it “simply” require that the seller be responsible – it is, after all, not selling the goods but only providing a common marketplace.

    These are not insurmountable, but they are potentially significant. And I’ve only scraped the surface of the issues.

  16. 16.

    Zifnab

    October 17, 2007 at 12:17 pm

    These are not insurmountable, but they are potentially significant. And I’ve only scraped the surface of the issues.

    These are problems to be tackled, not consequences. The E-bay example is the most shining. People have whole cottage industries built off of E-bay. How do they get to dodge sales tax when Joe Storefront Saleman still needs to pony up?

    What’s more, low sales taxes are often used to lure business to poorer states. Why set up office in Arkansas when you can use all the services of New York and never pay for them, dodging sales tax?

    Should the internet exempt people from tariffs and other trade barriers as well? What makes the internet so special?

    I can understand the argument that taxing internet access raises the cost of having a connection which discourages business. But, at the same time, I’ve never looked at my telephone bill and bemoaned the cost of the telephone tax. Are telephones somehow so different from internet connections that a surtax on the monthly access fee would destroy business? Didn’t ARPNET originate from the US Government? Don’t we want to continue to fund that kind of research?

Comments are closed.

Primary Sidebar

Recent Comments

  • Jackie on I Am All For This! (Apr 17, 2024 @ 5:20pm)
  • Ohio Mom on I Am All For This! (Apr 17, 2024 @ 5:20pm)
  • schrodingers_cat on I Am All For This! (Apr 17, 2024 @ 5:17pm)
  • WaterGirl on Arizona In The Crosshairs (Apr 17, 2024 @ 5:15pm)
  • japa21 on I Am All For This! (Apr 17, 2024 @ 5:15pm)

🎈Keep Balloon Juice Ad Free

Become a Balloon Juice Patreon
Donate with Venmo, Zelle or PayPal

Balloon Juice Posts

View by Topic
View by Author
View by Month & Year
View by Past Author

Balloon Juice Meetups!

All Meetups
Talk of Meetups – Meetup Planning
Proposed BJ meetups list from frosty

Fundraising 2023-24

Wis*Dems Supreme Court + SD-8
Virginia House Races
Four Directions – Montana
Worker Power AZ
Four Directions – Arizona
Four Directions – Nevada

Featuring

Medium Cool
Artists in Our Midst
Authors in Our Midst
Positive Climate News
War in Ukraine
Cole’s “Stories from the Road”
Classified Documents Primer

Calling All Jackals

Site Feedback
Nominate a Rotating Tag
Submit Photos to On the Road
Balloon Juice Mailing List Signup
Balloon Juice Anniversary (All Links)
Balloon Juice Anniversary (All Posts)

Fix Nyms with Apostrophes

Balloon Juice for Ukraine

Donate

Twitter / Spoutible

Balloon Juice (Spoutible)
WaterGirl (Spoutible)
TaMara (Spoutible)
John Cole
DougJ (aka NYT Pitchbot)
Betty Cracker
Tom Levenson
David Anderson
Major Major Major Major
ActualCitizensUnited

Political Action 2024

Postcard Writing Information

Balloon Juice for Four Directions AZ

Donate

Balloon Juice for Four Directions NV

Donate

Site Footer

Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

  • Facebook
  • RSS
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
  • Comment Policy
  • Our Authors
  • Blogroll
  • Our Artists
  • Privacy Policy

Copyright © 2024 Dev Balloon Juice · All Rights Reserved · Powered by BizBudding Inc

Share this ArticleLike this article? Email it to a friend!

Email sent!