California - a new addition to the old Horror File

[Selene]

Governor Moonbeam's solution to the State that has 38% of it's population working and 62% of its population taking.

Moreover, of the 38%, a significant amount of them are government employees.

So, now to close the largest state budget gap, the marxist, leftist, liberal [pick your descriptive term], is going to tax and chase more business out of the state!!!!

Amazon ends it's deal with 25,000 of it's website affiliates here! Way to go Jerry! You would do better with Jerry Lewis as your governor.

In this story was the following:

Gov. Jerry Brown has signed into law California's tax on Internet sales through affiliate advertising which will immediately cut small-business website revenue 20% to 30%, experts say.

The

bill, AB 28X

, takes effect immediately.

The state Board of Equalization

says the tax will raise $200 million a year, but critics claim it will raise nothing because online retailers will end their affiliate programs rather than collect the tax.

Can you believe that there is a State Board of Equalization!

Adam

[Reidy]

This happened in Colorado over a year ago. (Google Amazon Colorado affiliates for more). As far as I know the boycott is still in effect.

[Bryce]

I wouldn't support the bill, either. But Amazon wants to play a victim here, which shouldn't fly. From their letter:

We oppose this bill because it is unconstitutional and counterproductive. It is supported by big-box retailers, most of which are based outside California, that seek to harm the affiliate advertising programs of their competitors.

The people at Amazon want and need their competition to charge tax and to be exempt from the same requirement. So what would you call someone who operates a business that exists only if his competition is kept at a disadvantage by the state?

Edited June 30, 2011 by Bryce

[Selene]

This happened in Colorado over a year ago. (Google Amazon Colorado affiliates for more). As far as I know the boycott is still in effect.

Pete:

Interesting. Do you know whether there was any adverse impact on Colorado's tax collection intake directly due to this law?

Adam

[Selene]

I wouldn't support the bill, either. But from Amazon's letter:

We oppose this bill because it is unconstitutional and counterproductive. It is supported by big-box retailers, most of which are based outside California, that seek to harm the affiliate advertising programs of their competitors.

The people at Amazon want and need their competition to charge tax and to be exempt from the same requirement. So what would you call someone who operates a business that exists only if his competition is kept at a disadvantage by the state?

A neo criminal enterprise?

A looter.

[Reidy]

#4: Don't know about revenue consequences, but HuffPost was writing about the policy in May, so apparently it's still in effect.

#3: First off, I wonder how you came to the conclusion that they "need" this disadvantage to their competitors. To make this judgement stick you'd have to present a lot of data about Amazon's revenues and its competitors' and from which states, their current and planned business activities and so on and on. The floor is yours.

Second off, ad hominem pronouncements on people's motives are tacky. I should think this readership would be happy to see somebody, especially a large corporation, take a public stand agains taxes.

Edited June 30, 2011 by Reidy

[Bryce]

Reidy, I don't have that information. They need it so far as it is a competitive advantage to their business. And if I'm wrong, then why are the affiliate taxes even such a big deal?

Like I told Selene, I wouldn't support the bill. But think about what you just wrote: what tax is Amazon taking a stand against?

[algernonsidney]

I lost a lot of respect for our local book store here in Austin for the same reason. They are always complaining on their Facebook page about how Amazon avoids taxes, instead of working to reduce their own taxes. It is very telling when people will lobby to raise someone else's taxes, but do nothing to lower their own.

[Reidy]

I can top that. Last year I was in a checkout line to buy a magazine at an independent bookstore when I spotted a sign asking us to sign a petition, write our congressman or what have you, promoting taxes on Amazon. I put the magazine back on the shelf and walked out, never to return.

[algernonsidney]

I can top that. Last year I was in a checkout line to buy a magazine at an independent bookstore when I spotted a sign asking us to sign a petition, write our congressman or what have you, promoting taxes on Amazon. I put the magazine back on the shelf and walked out, never to return.

And it's sad because it has often been the independent book stores that have taken principled stands. For example, a government issued a warrant to Tattered Cover in Denver to give them a list of books that a customer had purchsed. To their credit, Tattered Cover refused and took it all the way to the Supreme Court. They won and later revealed that the book purchased was a book about Japanese caligraphy (nothing illegal at all).

It was Borders who totally caved in on that issue of Free Inquiry which reprinted the Danish cartoons. I would like to believe that this is why Borders is in trouble.

Independent, local book stores are a treasure in so many ways.

[BaalChatzaf]

And it's sad because it has often been the independent book stores that have taken principled stands. For example, a government issued a warrant to Tattered Cover in Denver to give them a list of books that a customer had purchsed. To their credit, Tattered Cover refused and took it all the way to the Supreme Court. They won and later revealed that the book purchased was a book about Japanese caligraphy (nothing illegal at all).

I worked in Colorado a year and half on contract and the Tattered Cover was almost a home away from home for me. I spent many a happy hour there browsing its shelves. I am glad to hear they are still in business. Times are very rough for independent booksellers.

Ba'al Chatzaf

[Selene]

Michigan Joins the Horror File

Oak Park - When Julie Bass planted a vegetable garden in her front yard, the last thing she expected was to be visited by city enforcement officers, ticketed for a code violation, charged with a misdemeanor, and facing jail time for refusing to remove the plants. The Bass story began in the spring with the replacement of a sewage pipe in front of the home owned by Jason and Julie Bass in Oak Park, Michigan. Instead of replanting grass Julie decided to grow a vegetable garden to be able to feed her family quality organic vegetables while giving the neighborhood children something interesting to look at instead of a grassy lawn. She had five large vegetable planter boxes built in the area and filled them with herbs, tomato's, cabbage, cucumbers, peppers and more. While most neighbors seemed to enjoy the new garden, a few didn't and neither did city code enforcement officers who soon arrived to give the homeowners a warning to remove the vegetable garden or face a ticket from the city for not planting 'suitable' plants.

Read more: http://www.digitaljo...5#ixzz1SC6uK5G4

[Selene]

New charges filed against Vegetable Garden lady after original charges are dropped

Vendetta: Oak Park City pursuing criminal charges of unlicensed dogs against Julie Bass

<<<<This is the "old crime scene!"

Despite the fact that city authorities have

temporarily dropped a case against

Oak Park resident Julie Bass for growing a vegetable garden in her front yard after the story received nationwide attention, Bass has now been hit with a new criminal charge for owning unlicensed dogs, clear evidence says Bass that she's the victim of a vendetta.

Edited July 16, 2011 by Selene

[equality72521]

This is John Galt speaking...