Political Quotes

“I rise in support of the legislation that is on the floor, the Marketplace Fairness Act. I rise as someone who has spent 20 years in the technology business helping to fund and develop online businesses, understanding the importance they play to our economy, and applaud the enormous growth of Internet-based businesses. But I also rise in support of this legislation, because in addition to being a technology investor, I also was a Governor and know the importance that sales tax plays in funding so many critical State and local functions. Unfortunately, under the current circumstances, we have an uneven playing field because local small businesses, oftentimes bricks and mortar, follow the law and collect sales taxes from customers who make purchases in their stores while, on the other hand, many large online businesses that may be located or domiciled in some other State do not collect the same sales taxes. I think on this floor already we have heard repeated stories of some online retailers that even encourage people to go to the brick-and-mortar store to look, go out and price a product and then go back and go online and purchase that product. Not only does that discriminate against the brick-and- mortar store, but from a public policy standpoint, if these sales taxes are not collected, it creates an unlevel playing field between the online vendor and the brick-and-mortar store. This legislation will help level the playing field. It is about fairness.…”