Governor Doyle and Internet Taxes = Double Trouble

Statement

Lately, the Democrats have been really into IPODs. First, the President gave the Queen an IPOD with his speeches on it as his gift (at least the IPOD worked, unlike the DVD's the President presented as the official gift to Britain's Prime Minister Gordon Brown), and now, Wisconsin Governor Jim Doyle wants to tax the songs you download to your IPOD - among all your other online purchases. This means that buying something online will now be double taxed in Wisconsin, as Governor Doyle intends to keep the Internet access tax on the books (look on your next service bill - it's there).

This past Wednesday, Governor Doyle's Secretary of Revenue and Tax Administrator were in D.C. to lobby for state taxes. I've never voted for a tax increase and I don't intend to start now so that Governor Doyle can continue on his wasteful spending spree.

Wisconsin currently has a budget deficit of more than $6 billion. Rather than trying to figure out where else he can impose a tax, Governor Doyle needs to start saying NO. One of the reasons Wisconsin is struggling right now is because our taxes are too high and Governor Doyle attempts to tax everything that moves. After all, I'm pretty sure Al Gore didn't invent the Internet just so Governor Doyle could tax it.

Wisconsin is one of only a handful of states that has not stopped unfairly taxing an individual's Internet service access. In the 1992 case of Quill vs. North Dakota, the Supreme Court concluded that states can only require businesses to collect state taxes in territories where they have offices or stores. Governor Doyle is exploiting a loophole to take more money from Wisconsinites to access the Internet, and he actively supports efforts to legislatively circumvent Quill so he can collect even more money now.

Through this proposed online purchase tax, Governor Doyle is doing more harm to Wisconsin than good. Many of the Governors in the 45 states that don't tax their residents Internet usage know that when an economy is struggling, taxing customers double is not the way to increase consumer spending and improve the economy.

Wisconsinites don't want to pay more taxes, they want more economic relief. Governor Doyle should do better and want better for the people of Wisconsin.

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