Political Quotes

“Mr. President, first let me thank Senator Enzi and Senator Alexander. I completely agree with their position. I had a chance to talk about this issue when we were debating it on the budget issue. The bill simply removes an impediment from the States being able to collect the sales taxes that are due. It responds to the Quill decision about requiring a physical presence in a State in order to require that State to collect the sales tax. Senator Enzi points out there are no new taxes; that it is a matter of basic fairness. It really does help small businesses. The brick-and- mortar companies located in our neighborhoods, small shopowners who build a neighborhood and build a community, are the ones who are at risk where they have to pay sales taxes and yet their competitors don't. I will give a short example with a story told to me about a retailer selling electronic goods. The consumer came into the shop, looked and found the product she wanted, went on the Internet, found the product for the same price on the Internet but didn't have to pay the sales tax, and literally bought it while the shopowner was watching--after the shopowner had given that individual personal service. The shopowner didn't lose the sale because of competitiveness but lost the sale because of tax avoidance. This bill would correct that. This is $23 billion. This is a lot of money our States are not collecting. These are taxes that are already imposed.…”