Got a strange pitch from eBay today. A warning that the Supreme Court is going to force online businesses to start collecting state sales tax!

What a great idea.

It’s a little late don’t you think? Now that malls all over America have closed, or are on life support.

The email read:

Dear Robert,

The U.S. Supreme Court will make a decision in the coming weeks that could give states the right to tax every small business on the Internet. The issue is just as pressing on Capitol Hill. States, shopping center owners, and giant retailers are lobbying hard to increase taxes on small business owners like you, and everyone who buys from you online. When the Supreme Court makes its decision, it will bring together the various threads on the issue of Internet sales tax.

eBay supports tax policy that is fair to entrepreneurs, artisans and small businesses and opposes efforts to impose taxes that are harmful to sellers like you, who are vital to the American economy. For all the small business sellers that use eBay there has never been a more critical time to stand against new and unfair Internet taxes.

Signed, eBay (The Giant Monopoly that has raised its rates so high to please investors that it feels threatened if its sellers suddenly have to pay their fair share of state taxes.)

They wanted me to digitally sign an online petition. How ironic. People used to stand in malls and outside department stores with petitions. Real people, you could look in the eye.

I vividly remember when the young budding Internet was a delicate flower. It was too fragile to pay sales tax. We had to nurture it along.

The 1998 Internet Tax Freedom Act was signed into law October 21, 1998, by President Bill Clinton. It’s stated purpose was to promote and preserve the commercial, educational, and informational potential of the Internet. Slick Willy didn’t mention there’d be free porn. That was a bonus, I guess.

Hey, I was as excited as anyone to see the World Wide Web prosper. But I think it’s safe to take the training wheels off now.

Bob

PS. I read a powerful piece today that stuck with me. I’m still processing it. This is a #MeToo story to make you think. It left me with more questions than answers.

At first, I thought the author was being a bit melodramatic. By the end of the piece, I came to believe every man should read it.

If you do something like Elie is alleged to have done to this woman, are you a hypocrite? Does exposing it cancel out your life’s work? Should he lose his Nobel Peace Prize?

Do all good people do bad things? If so, how do we handle this kind of information?

In a world where everyone has a global media outlet at their fingertips, is it right to publicly air our grievances?

The article makes a powerful statement about the damage we do by sweeping things under the rug.

https://medium.com/@jblistman/when-i-was-nineteen-years-old-elie-wiesel-grabbed-my-ass-10370829c4bd