Marketplace Fairness Act is anything but fair
A couple of weeks ago, the Senate began debating the Marketplace Fairness Act. Today, it is expected the Senate will put the legislation up for a final vote. We urge you to call your Senators and tell them to vote NO on this bill.
Tea Party Patriots has examined the Act on several occasions in recent weeks, and is opposing passage of the legislation. Yesterday, Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) outlined why all supporters of free markets and low taxes should oppose this bill. Among other reasons:
Naturally, state and local governments are salivating at the prospect of getting a purported $23 billion in new revenue from the private economy. Especially when the out-of-state consumers paying those taxes and the out-of-state businesses owners who collect them can’t vote them out of office.
Last but not least, this bill doesn’t pass constitutional muster. The MFA overturns the fundamental idea that states’ taxing authority ends at their borders. The Supreme Court has said that an out-of-state business could subject itself to a state’s taxing power if due-process concerns are satisfied, namely that the business purposefully targets its activities in that state. But because pure Internet sales by their nature don’t target any one state, this legislation presents a serious constitutional problem.
In addition to the Senator’s reasons cited above, the bill would make bad law because it would be a bureaucratic nightmare. Again, from the Senator:
Senators who vote for it are voting to impose audits, compliance costs, lost wages, and inefficiency on small businesses in every state. And they are potentially crippling an engine of new job creation at a time of economic struggle. This bill will not create jobs; it will not create new opportunities; and it will not create the economic growth our country needs and our people deserve.
This bill would make for extremely bad law. It’s time to put the quash to it today, and not risk its passage in the House. Tell your Senators to vote NO on the Marketplace Fairness Act.
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