California Affiliate Tax
June 29, 2011
California’s latest budget deal continues their now-familiar trend of chasing small business out of the state. In a desperate and unconstitutional powergrab, they are saying that any business that is even affiliated with anyone in California has to pay sales tax on everything sent to customers in the state.
I’m most often complaining about Congress overstepping their bounds in controlling the states, but this is a rare case (Like Arizona’s recent immigration laws) where the opposite is true. Interstate commerce is squarely under the jurisdiction of Congress. Let’s say that a product is manufactured in Texas, sent to Colorado to an Amazon distributor, and then shipped to a customer in California; what’s to stop Texas from saying they can charge sales tax on the item because they made it? Or Colorado to charge it because they are where the sale was shipped from, or every state in between because it passed on through? The Federal government is there primarily for two purposes, foreign policy, and making sure states don’t enact anti-competitive laws that interfere with the commerce between the states, thus, states were only allowed to regulate transactions from those companies which they have jurisdiction over because of a physical presence in the state.
California is now claiming that I, along with ten thousand others are ‘sister companies’ of Amazon, because we are paid to advertise for them. I’m nobody’s ‘sister company’. I have no Obligations to Amazon, they don’t tell me what to do, we don’t have any claim over each other’s assets, I just post a link to Amazon on my page, and Amazon reimburses me for doing so when paying customers arrive there through my sites. I’m no more connected with Amazon than television networks who advertise for them, UPS who carries their products, or Visa, who handles their transactions.
Living in an extremely liberal town, I hear a lot of people cheering this bill as somehow sticking it to the evil corporations and finally making them pay their fair share, but that isn’t what is going to happen out of this. Amazon has already announced that they will end their business dealings with everyone in California, which means not only are ten thousand more Californians now very suddenly out of work, but California won’t see a cent of it, since the companies won’t actually be taxed after cutting ties, and California will be out the revenue from those people and quite possibly paying to add them to its welfare rolls. Also, it isn’t legally Amazon’s responsibility to pay sales tax on your purchases, it’s yours, so if you aren’t paying taxes on your online purchases, then point the finger at yourself first.
I wish I’d seen that this ship was sinking before I bought a home here. If it were any easier to leave, I would.
Veena Malik: Don’t Tread on Me
April 3, 2011
The above video gives me hope for the future of Islamic nations. The uprisings sparked in Tunisia have spread like wildfire through nations repressed by religion, censorship, and income inequality. Some have been successful, while others haven’t, and the deciding factor seems to be one of courage in numbers.
In places like Tunisia and Egypt, the people came out in such numbers that there was no way for the government to win. At best, they could slaughter their own workforce in order to maintain control of their compound. In China, the internet surveillance was on high alert, and the police response was swift, dragging people out of their homes in the dead of night. Had four protesters come up for every one they took away, China would be the only thing in our news right now.
People like Veena Malik are very important. By coming out on national television and saying several things that would likely get her swiftly killed if she said them in the streets, she has given the church and the government an impossible dilemma. If they kill her, she becomes a martyr for her cause. If they don’t, she gives courage to all of those who were previously afraid to speak out to follow her example.
The United Kingdom, Great Britain, and England – Explained
February 6, 2011
The above video does a good job of explaining the differences between Great Britain, The United Kingdom, England, The British Isles, The Commonwealth Realm, who is under the jusrisdiction of the crown, etc. It’s one of those things I and other Americans have trouble distinguishing with confidence. After watching the video, I can’t say I know it all now, but at least I feel justified in my bewilderment, and I feel like I know what it is that I don’t know, or as Donald Rumsfeld put it:
“There are known knowns. These are things we know that we know. There are known unknowns. That is to say, there are things that we know we don’t know. But there are also unknown unknowns. There are things we don’t know we don’t know.”
Sad News from the Osterley Times
December 14, 2010
I just got the sad news today that my favorite lefty blogger, Kel, from The Osterley Times died suddenly in late October. I counted him as a friend, though until today I never even knew his gender. It never seemed to matter.
He was a champion of truth. This is an important distinction. Much of politics today consists of evasion and spin. If you can’t even agree on the facts, and to meet the issues head on, then there is nothing to be gained by debate except partisan maneuvering. Kel answered all reasonable comments, and never backed down from a debate until it was done.
I feel much the same now as I did when Tim Russert died. Many times in recent months, I’ve wondered as to his thoughts on the day’s politics. The thought that he’s not here to have them removes much of the luster from tomorrows headlines.
Update: Thanks to Jason who alerted me to Kel’s true identity, Gerrard Kelly. Looking further into things it appears that he had a brain aneurysm and was found unconscious behind his door several days later by a friend. He later died in the hospital surrounded by family. His political views were no secret, but I imagine he kept his writing separate because it would not mix well with his career. A couple of articles on his life and death:
Keynesian Fail
October 30, 2010
This was our Nobel for Economics winner of 2008. More proof that our economic situation wan’t an accident, wasn’t the result of insufficient regulation, but was engineered by those very regulators.
“To fight the recession the Fed needs more than a snapback; it needs soaring household spending to offset moribund business investment. And to do that, as Paul McCulley or Pimco put it, Alan Greenspan needs to create a housing bubble to replace the Nasdaq bubble.” -Paul Krugman, 2002
(via FalkenBlog)