Frank Lautenberg: “I agree that the American consumer should be encouraged and not taxed to access the Internet. I also agree with the…”

“I agree that the American consumer should be encouraged and not taxed to access the Internet. I also agree with the stated purpose of this legislation, that the Federal Government should ensure tax-free access to the Internet, irrespective of the technology the consumer uses, whether it is the regular dial-up modem, cable modem, DSL, wireless, or satellite. My concerns with this legislation don't stem from its stated purposes. My concerns are with the legislation's unstated purposes and unintended consequences which most State, county, and local tax experts believe would jeopardize important revenue streams, such as the gross receipts tax, that were permitted under the first two iterations of the Internet tax moratorium. Now that the bill has been rewritten and greatly expanded, it has as a result become another corporate giveaway of potentially enormous and devastating proportions.”