Politics
North Carolina and Colorado Skirting The Commerce Clause
Apr 20th
Those of you who follow tax issues are familiar with the Commerce Clause. It’s essentially a statement that indicates that no State shall force any out of state retailer from collecting sales tax on it’s behalf UNLESS that out of state company has a physical property (definition of “physical property” has been debated…) within it’s borders.
For example, a Rochester, NY based catalog company or e-tailer cannot be forced to collect Colorado sales tax on orders made by Colorado citizens. Unless, of course, that Rochester, NY company hires a sales person IN Colorado, or builds a warehouse or distribution center there.
Now, the key consideration here is the “collection of sales tax.” No retailer can be MADE to COLLECT the sales tax.
As we also know, due to rising costs (both just and unjust, good spending and bad spending, etc), many States are feeling a new level of financial hardship. It’s likely, and in fact expected, that they will scrape to collect every penny they can from resident citizens and corporations.
So two States have stepped to the plate to raise the bar on SKIRTING the Constitution, most particularly in this case, the Commerce Clause.
North Carolina and Amazon.com: Bad Blood, Bad Policy
Source: http://news.cnet.com/8301-13578_3-20002870-38.html
North Carolina has issued a subpoena requesting seven years of North Carolina resident purchase history from Amazon.com. The idea then is that they can pursue Sales and Use Tax. It would also provide some relatively sensitive purchase information to the North Carolina Tax folks, which is also protected somewhat under the Constitution. Book purchases and movie/media purchases are supposed to remain anonymous, and away from the prying eyes of the government.
Amazon has sued in Seattle to stop this action, and the outcome is pending.
Colorado: Just a Brief Reminder if you Could….
Colorado, in the mean time, has given catalogers and retailers two choices: Collect sales tax on purchases made by our residents (voluntarily, of course), or send them each a letter every year itemizing how much they owe to Colorado in Sales and Use tax.
This is one step short of subpoenaing the information themselves, but it serves the same purpose.
Conclusion
In conclusion I’d simply state that States will continue to find ways to fill their coffers. Primarily, since those coffers are empty in record proportions.
How do you feel about these developments? Are they Constitutional? Will other “tax adventurous” States follow along soon?
The truth about the anti-health care reform rally in Washington, DC
Mar 24th
There are really only a limited number of conclusions that can be made concerning the media coverage of the anti-health care reform rally that took place in Washington, DC, 20-21 March 2010. Among those conclusions, I have first hand experience that no coverage that I’ve seen thus far has been anywhere close to accurate. I was there all day long on the Capitol grounds on both Saturday and Sunday.
The majority of media coverage that I have seen portrays the numbers as much fewer than I experienced and characterized the group as out of control racists coordinated by the GOP. I received no such request by any political group, nor did my traveling companions, one of which was a lifelong Democrat. I saw and met thousands of people from all around the country who are concerned about losing their freedom and desired that the government return to operating within its Constitutional limits of power. Not one time did I hear, nor did I read any sign that was racist in nature or intent. I saw people of all ethnic backgrounds and races on both sides of the issue co-mingling through the crowds and saw not one instance of the hatred that the media projected upon the participants of this rally.
I walked around and throughout the crowd seen in this video on Saturday, and found less than a dozen participants (anti-war protesters) who were not part of the anti-health care bill sentiment. This video give a good impression about how many participants there were at the height of the rally.
Anti-health care reform rally, Washington, DC, 20 March 2010
Rally participants outside of congressional office buildings.
Where was the media when I saw someone through a window on the third floor of our Nation’s Capitol, the House Rules Committee Office, flip a middle finger to American Citizens on the ground below on Sunday? What that unknown servant of the People projected in their crass salute was a metaphor for what a majority of the House of Representatives would do to the American People later that day.
This is the first time that I have experienced firsthand the incompetence and bias in the mainstream media. It is sure not to be the last.
Changing the Semantics of Health Care
Feb 11th
Barack Obama meets with healthcare stakeholders
Regardless of the outcome of the current administration’s efforts to reform health care, one fact will always remain true. Health care is expensive, and it will continue to remain expensive. The science of maintaining a human being through medical means has progressed into some really impressive, and perhaps over effective areas.
And with that science comes prolonged life spans. We live longer if we take care of ourselves, and enjoy a higher quality of life for a far longer time than did any of our ancestors.
With that comes some mental and emotional responsibility, however. While it has always been natural for humans to fear death. it’s entirely possible that we have, at least in the United States, come to EXPECT a long life as a right. We often confuse privileges and rights here. I’m not sure that our Founding Fathers assumed we were all due prolonged medical treatment with the cost being passed on to the general public. And by that, I don’t necessarily mean through federally subsidized health care, but even through increased insurance costs to everyone.
So I think we as Americans need to adopt some simple truths into our way of thinking about mortality, and our way of life.
We Don’t Save Lives. We Prolong Them
One of the biggest semantic mistakes I think we make is using the term “saving lives”. To date, no one has lived forever. Yet when we use terms such as “that surgeon saved my life” we project a tremendous untruth. The surgeon, skilled as he or she may be, prolonged your life. They didn’t save it. In fact, no one can save your life.
It’s our fear of death that causes us to talk this way. I think that we have subconsciously failed to accept however that some day, despite years of medical treatment, costing thousands or hundreds of thousands of dollars, we are going to die.
So what role does that play in our health care expenses? They are clearly beyond our means as it is. And it drives us towards some tough choices.
Is there a measurable right time to stop medical treatment for an individual, and let them go?
Is there a right time for insurance, public or otherwise, to stop covering treatments when a case is “beyond normal help”?
Should public insurance provide medical treatment in cases where private insurance wouldn’t, theoretically giving the disadvantaged people BETTER healthcare than paying subscribers?
These are all difficult questions, and they must be answered before any meaningful healthcare reform can take place.
And I think we really need to stop believing we will live forever before ANY of them can be answered, and we can move forward with reasonable, effective, and affordable medical protection for Americans.
Note: Photo Courtesy of Wikicommons.
Obama administration rhetoric is suspect: Their lackey, the U.S. media.
Feb 4th
I can’t help but take notice of the the vitriolic rhetoric coming from the Obama administration against Toyota in its recall of over 4 million of its automobiles Worldwide. Yesterday in testimony before Congress, U.S. Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood said “My advice is, if anybody owns one of these vehicles, stop driving it, take it to the Toyota dealer because they believe they have the fix for it.” and then confirmed that his federal department is looking into levying civil penalties against the automaker. In a statement the same day LaHood said “I want to encourage owners of any recalled Toyota models to contact their local dealer and get their vehicles fixed as soon as possible. NHTSA will continue to hold Toyota’s feet to the fire to make sure that they are doing everything they have promised to make their vehicles safe. We will continue to investigate all possible causes of these safety issues.”. These particularly inflammatory statements predictably caused stock prices for Toyota to immediately drop and a panic among Toyota owners who deluged dealers with demands for immediate action.
LaHood later took a step back from his comments and the same day White House Deputy Spokesman said “The administration’s involvement with GM, of course, would not have any impact on this administration’s commitment to making sure that Americans are kept safe on our roads”. This was said even as GM launched a campaign targeting incentives specifically toward Toyota owners.
The U.S. mainstream media, too focused on the blood in the water, is oblivious to the particularly biased government-backed pressure on Toyota. The recent and near-constant barrage of mainstream media hype about this particular recall has attained an unprecedented fervor that is fueling a pro-bono slander campaign against Detroit’s (and Obama’s) biggest non-union competitor. This attention has also stirred up union-backed anti-foreign product sentiments, despite the fact that Toyota makes the top-three American Made automobiles in the Country with non-union American Labor.
Since the initial bailout of GM by the federal government and the Cash for Clunkers program, auto sales have dropped sharply for the government controlled and largely union-owned automaker. Pandering politicians like Michigan Democrat U.S. Rep. John Dingell, (D.-Mich.), who wrote in a letter “NHTSA’s actions related to the Toyota recalls trouble me, especially as reports of sudden acceleration in Toyota vehicles predate the recalls by at least two years.” I’m sure there’s no conflict of interest in this statement either…
The fact remains that Toyota has a problem with certain models of an electronic accelerator pedal that might stick which has been linked to many accidents, some of which may have caused deaths. Absolutely, Toyota should take care of this problem and it appears to be doing so. However, government interest and control of major private industry cannot be overlooked in these matters. The Obama administration has much to gain or lose from the ultimate success or failure of General Motors and Chrysler companies. Where is the unbiased media attention regarding this?