The Marketplace Fairness Act is working its way through congress.  This bill is being portrayed as some “magic bullet” in which state and local governments are said to gain billions in tax receipts.  The truth is those billions in tax receipts will replace products and services we would have bought.  For those that think this is about this little guy, I would urge you to dig deeper – The Internet Sales Rush – Harry Reid and Wal-Mart hope nobody will notice their online revenue raid.  The largest retailers already have to pay multiple sales taxes because they have locations in most states and are for this bill.  Amazon, for example, is pushing for same day shipping which requires them to have a physical presence through-out the country.

Yes, our leaders in government want more control over the freest marketplace in history.  The direct connections between individuals that is available through the Internet today largely eliminates much of the need for central planning and it greatly empowers small business and consumers alike.  The businesses that are starting now are the ones which are going to pull us through in the long run.  The lowering of barriers to entry has produced an environment where good companies are rewarded and bad companies are pushed out of the market.  An atmosphere with the most stringent, but crystal clear set of rules for business; take care of your customers.  It is worth defending from a sales tax and the tools provided to government through this bill.

Using blogs, email, and social media businesses can be set-up with a communication tool set only available to the largest of companies a decade ago.  We help businesses everyday plan their communications strategy, provide the infrastructure, procedures and training to execute their plan.  This ability allows business, no matter how niche, to reach millions of potential customers like never before.  Individuals have more capabilities to do what they love and profit from their passion.  Read more about our approach.

The first rule of governing should be: do no harm.  The potential for harm from this bill is too great for the minimal benefits we will gain.

I don’t believe finding new revenue streams or forcing compliance on current ones is the solution to the problems our country faces.  We need to focus government on the things they are supposed to do, get better at them and tighten the scope of their activities.  Then, at least it can be driven by the people.  We also need to stop thinking we can accomplish more with less through government.  There are much more efficient methods available through our voluntary civil society which has also been made stronger through connections now available with online tools.

I would urge you to tell your Senators to stay away from the Internet and say no to the Internet Sales Tax rush.