Political Quotes

“I think the amendment pending before the Senate today is an example of why we should have invoked cloture, because it is nongermane to the pending subject of unfunded mandates. As has already been mentioned during the course of this debate, this nongermane amendment has not had a hearing from the committee that rightfully would consider it and is responsible for tax legislation-- that is, of course, the Finance Committee. There was one hearing on this issue in the last Congress that was held in the Small Business Committee. Last night I joined the Senator from Maine [Mr. Cohen] in opposing this amendment because it not only oversimplifies an issue that should be properly discussed and analyzed by the Finance Committee, but it also disregards the true balance that exists between the mail order companies and local businesses with the already tested options and the viable options that are available to States and mail order companies, and certainly the options that have been pursued already by the State of Maine. There is nothing that precludes any State in America from collecting these taxes. We have already demonstrated that in the State of Maine. Taxpayers in the State have a choice. They either can pay a flat tax percentage of their income on their income tax return, or they can pay for the specific tax on their out-of-State purchases.”