Taxing the Internet

I just found out today while skimming some articles, that the U.S. Senate has agreed to go forward on the "Marketplace Fairness Act of 2013". This is a bill that, if passed, would force retailers to collect local and state sales tax on all purchases made over the Internet. Don't buy into the notion that this has anything to do with fairness, because it doesn't. Those small "mom & pop" stores who can't compete against the likes of Amazon or Wal-Mart have long since ceased to exist. No, this is all about money and big corporations like Amazon and Wal-Mart trying to further squeeze the smaller businesses this Internet taxation is supposed to help. Local businesses that are still around have thrived in part because of the Internet. State governments are chawing at the bit for this because they don't know how to cut spending and balance their budgets and anything they can do to get more money in their pockets, they will. If you read the articles about this, they'll talk about a theoritical $23 billion that states are losing because of the loss of sales tax because of the Internet. Notice the key word there: "theoretical." If people end up having to pay more to buy products off the Internet, they aren't going to shop there as much. People, unlike our federal and many of our state governments, have to cut spending when the price of goods goes up. There isn't going to be any major boon to state governments because of this. Don't buy into the lies, the truth is out there.

2013 Graphic Novel Challenge

Do you like to read graphic novels? Are the only books you read the ones with pictures? Then, perhaps, you should check out the 2013 Graphic Novel Challenge. I'm an avid reader and there are all kinds of reading challenges out there, but the only one I've ever participated in is the Graphic Novel Challenge. It's really quite easy to do and is one of the easier reading challenges promoted on many book blogs. Take a gander over the website and if it piques your interest, sign up.