Liberal Senators About To Tax Your Internet

Center for Individual Freedom Harry Reid and other liberals in the United States Senate may decide to TAX YOUR ACCESS TO THE INTERNET? And the best thing about it for them is that they DON'T HAVE TO DO A THING TO MAKE IT HAPPEN! Right now, states and localities are banned by federal law from imposing new taxes on Internet access and on the goods and services you purchase online.  But  the federal Internet tax moratorium is set to expire on November 1. And if it isn't extended or made permanent by that day -- if our elected leaders simply sit back and do NOTHING over the next several days: Tax-hungry politicians at the state and local levels will make you cough up more of your hard-earned money to send an email to a sick friend or an aging parent or a soldier overseas. JOE says: VERIZON HAS SAID THAT SUCH A TAX ON INTERNET ACCESS COULD ADD AS MUCH AS 17% TO YOUR ONLINE COSTS. They'll tax you for the games you play, the music you love to hear, the bargains you find online. They'll tax you for reading your favorite online news source or columnist or -- for that matter -- sending them your Blast Faxes. In fact, you can be taxed just for logging on to read this letter. The House of Representatives just passed a bill that will extend the Internet tax moratorium for another four years.  And now, the decision lies with the Senate: Joe says: THE SENATE HAS APPROVED A BILL THAT WILL EXTEND THE INTERNET TAX MORATORIUM FOR ANOTHER SEVEN YEARS. THE TRICK IS GETTING THE HOUSE AND THE SENATE TO MEET SOMEWHERE IN THE MIDDLE BEFORE NEXT WEDNESDAY. where all the dirty deals are cut and parliamentary tricks are played; and where the future of this bill is uncertain unless our elected leaders act in the next few days! If they do nothing in the next several days, TAXES ON YOUR INTERNET WILL BECOME LAW! Use the hyperlink below to send your urgent 50 Blast Fax messages to President Bush and each and every one of the 49 Republicans in the Senate.  Tell them that any attempt to tax the Internet must be regarded as yet one more attack on the First Amendment and the American people. Tell them that you know that lack of action is effectively a vote to TAX YOUR INTERNET!  Demand that they use every means at their disposal to extend the ban on Internet taxation AND THEN make it a permanent part of federal law. It's more than just the money.  The Internet has become the newest, most effective arena for the exercise of political speech.  Taxation of the Internet would simply open the door to government suppression of our First Amendment right to free speech! http://www.cfiflistmanager.org/internettax.html AOL Members Use This Hyperlink If the hyperlink below does not function, please copy and paste it into the address bar of your browser. Internet Taxes Are Regressive Taxes. Suppose the Internet Tax Freedom Act (ITFA), originally passed in 1998, is NOT extended.  Suppose Harry Reid, Teddy Kennedy and Hillary Clinton -- with the help of a few turncoat Republicans -- allow the ban on Internet taxation to expire?             What happens then? I will tell you what happens.  Merry Christmas from Harry and Teddy and Hillary!  Most of us will be paying Internet taxes before we know it. And that could particularly affect lower-income folks -- the people the Democrats always say they're defending. Steve Stanek -- research fellow with the Heartland Institute -- explains just how devastating taxing of the Internet could be to those with limited resources: "For about the price of an ordinary television set, even the poorest families and the smallest businesses can buy a computer and enjoy the same access to the Internet as the richest families and largest businesses.  However, if Congress allows the moratorium on Internet access taxes to expire in November, new taxes and the resulting higher costs will cause those who already are struggling to struggle harder or give up their Internet access entirely." Oh Yes!  And small business will be disproportionately hurt by such a cruel and vindictive tax. The Democrats KNOW that economic growth in our country is not driven by big business, but by small business -- by entrepreneurs who more and more are offering goods and services on the Internet or rely on the Internet to market and sell their wares.  In many cases, small businesses won't be able to survive with this extra burden. And if that happens, the entire economy may begin to tremble and wobble. Don't let the liberals play with the lives of the most vulnerable.  A free Internet is our best hope for the future.  States and Local Governments Are Busy Lobbying Congress for the Ability to TAX Your Internet Access. State and local governments would love to tax your e-mail, your downloads, and just about every other transaction they can divert into their already bloated treasuries. So they are up on Capitol Hill, lobbying fiercely to let the law die an unceremonious death so the feeding frenzy can begin. Don't think American business isn't worried, particularly manufacturers, their suppliers and their customers. As Monica McGuire of the National Association of Manufacturers put it:   "New taxes on Internet access amounts to turning the information superhighway into a high-priced toll road." Walter McCormick, president and CEO of United States Telecom Association, went even further: "Consider what an Internet tax is actually taxing.  [It's taxing] access to information, to knowledge, to a voice in the democratic process, and to economic opportunity." One of the strongest advocates of making the ban permanent was -- surprise! -- Representative Anna Eshoo of California.  SHE IS A DEMOCRAT!  Here's what she told the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation: "The moratorium [on Internet taxation] has served us well and the Internet is now an integral part of everyday life.  Americans across the country utilize the Internet for communication, commerce, business, education and research... Now is not the time to reverse the course and kill Golden Goose.com.  It's more critical now than at any time since the moratorium was established to protect the Internet from new taxes and fees."      There's No Time To Waste. Remember, there is not a lot of time for the Senate to act.  The current ban on Internet taxation expires on November 1.  Please join us in fighting to keep the Internet free from regulation and taxation.  As former Senator George Allen (R-VA) recently wrote in the Washington Times, "The guiding principle of the Internet tax moratorium has always been that the Internet should remain as accessible as possible to all Americans in all parts of the country forever."  As the Internet continues to grow as a critical tool for information, education, medicine, commerce and everything else in our daily lives, that guiding principle rings just as true today as it did in 1998 when Congress passed the first Internet tax moratorium. Yours In Freedom, Jeff Mazzella President www.cfif.org   P.S.  Please forward this to at least 10 of your friends.   The CFIF Action Alert is a service to the conservative community.  If you would like to subscribe please go to www.cfif.org/signup. Center for Individual Freedom 113 S. Columbus St., Suite 310 Alexandria, VA 22314 703-535-5836 Fax:703-535-5838   CFIF is a 501(c)(4) not-for-profit constitutional advocacy organization with the mission to protect and defend individual freedoms and individual rights. Contributions to CFIF are not deductible as charitable contributions for federal income tax purposes. Contributions may be deductible as a business expense. Powered by GrassTopsUSA