Thomas Massie: “I would like to remind my colleagues that Mr. Daines represents the great State of Montana, which operates with a lean…”

“I would like to remind my colleagues that Mr. Daines represents the great State of Montana, which operates with a lean government and has, so far, got by without a sales tax. That's the great thing about these United States of America. We have 50 States competing with different models for how to run their governments. This tax, as I call it, the interstate commerce tax, is more about harmonizing tax laws across the United States and taking away the competition between States. Now, my fair State of Kentucky has a sales tax of 6 percent. But I don't think it's fair that we impose a sales tax on the State of Montana when they've worked very hard not to have one. Their businesses aren't subjected ever to a sales tax audit if they don't have to collect a sales tax. So I think he's too modest in not reminding us that he's coming from the State of Montana that has no sales tax. This Marketplace Fairness Act could be called the ``Offshore Online Retailers Act,'' because, while as Congressmen and Senators we can force the States to collect these taxes, we can't go into other countries and force them to collect taxes. So what will happen is a lot of our online retailers will move across the border where they enjoy the advantage of collecting those sales taxes, and there's no way to reach them and impose that tax upon them. Now, some say this is not a new tax, don't call it a new tax, while others say that it's not a tax increase, don't call this a tax increase.…”