These articles discuss the debate and approval of a budget bill by the Senate. Neither article provides readers with a clear basis for assessing its impact on spending for next year. These articles report on the progress of a commission that is studying taxation of the Internet. Both articles include comments from members of the commission who are opposed to applying state sales taxes to the Internet. These assertions, in reference to Internet commerce, are absurd on their face.
Economists believe that most taxes have some distortionary effect that reduces economic output.
The question the commission is considering is not whether sales taxes on the Internet would reduce commerce on the Internet, but whether it is better that other taxes are higher so that the Internet can remain tax-free. There is no economic rationale for making Internet sales tax free at a time when sales in traditional retail outlets are subject to tax. If their service is comparable, then they would not require special tax treatment, as Governor Gilmore is claiming. More about Internet . This article gives an informative account of a strike by janitors in office buildings in Los Angeles.