Stealing Money From The Public, one Internet Purchase at a Time

The beautiful days of sales-tax-free internet shopping maybe numbered (as told by an article from news.com)
The full article is here, but the general idea is simple: politicians want more money.

"For years, politicians in state legislatures and the U.S. Congress have been arguing that the rise of e-commerce is causing them to miss out on potentially millions of taxpayer dollars. But now, with a Democratic Congress and a potentially Democratic administration next year, the arguments may gain more political traction.

Technically, of course, Americans in states with sales taxes are supposed to keep track of out-of-state purchases and cough up the necessary sales tax on April 15--the concept is known as a "use tax". But state tax collectors have long complained that in practice, that just doesn't happen, and that money has been unfairly left in taxpayers' pocketbooks.

Verenda Smith, government affairs associate for the Federation of Tax Administrators, framed the decision as a moral one of sorts: "Do you want to be a good American, or do you want to be an American who wants to cheat your government deliberately? It's a harsh way to look at it, but it's true."

Unfair? Unfair? I feel like I need to repeat it again: UNFAIR? Do I want to be a good American? Sure. Do I like paying sales tax? About as much as I like sticking nails through my toes. Do I want to cheat the government? Only if they cheat me.

Lot's of people agree that government spending is outlandish. (Do they make $17 dollar Army hammers out of gold? Where can I get some? They'd make a killing as bling on the black market.) People spend money more efficiently when they have less.We call if budgeting. Why should we increase the "budget" of an institution that spends money like a five year old? (that is unwisely and recklessly). I'm sorry, Congress, until you can figure out how to properly spend the money you have, I don't think you need any more.