Net.Tax

Tech writer Declan McCullagh (who thanks to the wonders of technology is sitting here plugging away at his own laptop) has a piece up at c|net's News.com on a proposed expansion of a Spanish-American War–era excise tax to cover all data connections. An alternative proposal would tax only Voice Over IP (VoIP) conversations to compensate for the shift away from the tax's previous cash cow, traditonal land-line based phone traffic. Sixteen members of Congress blasted the proposal in a letter to the Joint Committee.

Comments

[Chuck]

It's so sad to see the empty lines at the bottom of that letter and realize that the anti-tax, hands-off-my-goddamn-VOIP coalition has a piddling 16 members. Oh, but never fear, Ron Paul has decided to oppose creeping taxation. Would've never seen that one coming.

[Larry Edelstein]

I wish the letter had some text listing who those 16 members are...it's hard to figure out from their signatures.

[Eryk Boston]

It's worth remembering that that tax was proposed as a temporary emergecy tax on the wealthy (at the time, only the very rich had phones) to fund the Spanish-American War. It's a fine object lesson to use whenever you hear about limited legislation. Perhaps Ron Pual should, for the sake of honesty, attatch a rider requiring all funds raised by the tax to be used to attack Spain.

[watchmeworkit]

What would happen if "Big Brother" mated with the Taxman? I don't want to know.