Mitch Landrieu: “In just 13 days the Internet tax moratorium will expire. If Congress has not acted by then, State and local governments…”

“In just 13 days the Internet tax moratorium will expire. If Congress has not acted by then, State and local governments will be free to impose new taxes on Internet access-- and trust me, they will. We need to be straight with the American people about what is happening. The majority wants to preserve at least the possibility of taxing access to the Internet. The Internet has literally transformed this country. It has cleared new pathways to learning for rich and poor. It has brought a level of efficiency and innovation to the shop floor, the home, and the corner office that were unimaginable just a decade ago. Just think of the millions of middle-class Americans who have lifted their fortunes through online auction sites or made their first stock purchases over online trading sites. The Internet has been at the heart of America's economic growth over the past decade--all because Government has not gotten in the way. But those days are over if the people on the other side of the aisle in the Senate open the Internet to new taxes. We cannot let that happen.”