[who_would_fardels_bear]

I didn't know Rand Paul was a cynical libertarian. I thought he was a ideological libertarian.

If there is a sales tax on purchased goods then it should be applied equally regardless of how the goods were purchased.

If Rand Paul were a true libertarian he would either be asking all states to eliminate their sales taxes or lower all sales taxes so that when internet purchases are added in the taxes are revenue neutral.

Instead he adopts the cynical ploy of opposing all new taxes even though the current situation is a massive violation of basic free market principles. Amazon and other companies are able to sell for less, not necessarily because they are smarter or do things better, but merely because they escape having to pay taxes.

I guess libertarians have a right to be cynical and just oppose every new tax rather than trying to create a system of taxation which is fair across the board. The chances that our country's economic system will ever adopt anything close to what Ayn Rand proposed is vanishingly small.

All that's left for them to do is carp and yell 'Stop!'

[xzins]

It’s the logic, wwfb. Because others are being punished, let’s punish these businesses, too. The real answer is to find a way for all to prosper.

The lack of taxation on internet sales has been promoted because the internet is a much more fruitful field for new businesses to start up, because they don’t have the brick/mortar costs of old economy businesses.

The idea is that those which succeed DO end up creating jobs, so this is really no different than Ohio, for example, wooing a large manufacturer with promises of zero taxes for X number of years.

And states do those things.

[JAKraig]

You fail in the logic department. Each state is its own tax department and is in competition with other states. The state with the least taxes will have the most people coming to do business. That is the condition in Florida and Texas right now. It would be unwise to make Texas and Florida pay for the mistakes of the mismanagement of the rest of the country. That is the reason the framers of the constitution placed the prohibition on taxes across state lines in the first place, to promote that competition.

Now the wasters want to make the penny pincher's pay more so that they can continue to waste. I say NO! Leave it alone.

[BfloGuy]

If there is a sales tax on purchased goods then it should be applied equally regardless of how the goods were purchased.

Oh. I see.

So, if I cross into Pennsylvania from New York and buy some clothing there [no sales tax on clothing in PA], then should Pennsylvania be required to charge me sales tax because I'm from New York?

Sounds like you're more interested in carping on libertarians than making economic sense.

[JohnPDuncan]

It’s not really cynical...

He has no say over the state governments. He’s a Federal official and they’re considering a Federal law.