Political Quotes

“I have similar stories to those that have been described on the Senate floor today. Indeed, a former Member of this body, who is now the Governor of our State, Governor Chafee, wrote to me about a bookstore owner in Middletown, RI. The bookstore owner talked about patrons who would browse for books in his store, only to leave without actually making a purchase. He said they would make a list of the books they wanted to buy and then went to get them more cheaply on the Internet. I have been approached by a Rhode Islander who works in a shoe store. He said he has seen people come in and have his employees bring them boxes of shoes to try on so they can find the exact size and model shoe they want only to then walk out the door without a purchase. They have seen it happen enough that they think what happens is the potential customer is instead going to an Internet site so they can buy the shoe more cheaply. Now, there are true efficiencies and true benefits to shopping over the Internet. It is very valuable, and it is very sensible. Those are real factors. That is part of progress, and we have no quarrel with that. However, we should not be using discrepancies in taxes to favor shoe companies, one over the other, because one sells over the Internet and the other sells out of a brick-and-mortar store where people can actually come in and try on the shoes.…”