Say Anything Blog

I think the government, rightly, fought hard to stop free downloads because many of them were an eggregious violation of copyright laws.

As for this tax though, it seems totally ridiculous that our politicians would be devising new ways to tax Americans without an actual reason for the taxation.  Their thinking goes like this: "It exists, it hasn’t been taxed yet, so now we will tax it."

Does the government need the tax revenue?  No.  Tax revenues are still climbing thanks to Bush’s tax cuts.  And Americans certainly don’t need to be paying another tax.  What Congress needs to focus on is cutting the amount of spending they do. 

When the people fear their government, there is tyranny; when the government fears the people, there is liberty.

-- Thomas Jefferson

Rob’s recently listened-to songs:

"Government’s view of the economy could be summed up in a few short phrases: If it moves, tax it. If it keeps moving, regulate it. And if it stops moving, subsidize it."

- Ronald Reagan 

Rob this seems to be states that are taxing the downloads, at this point. 

It’s the same story.  Governments should look at cutting waste before they raise taxes.  

I also wonder how it is that they are able to tax downloads when they are unable to tax internet purchases.  (?) 

Democrats Want To Tax Your Music Downloads

And so do Republicans.

Rob,

I think the government, rightly, fought hard to stop free downloads because many of them were an eggregious violation of copyright laws.

You mean the RIAA and like organizations did.  For the most part our copyright laws rely on the copyright holder to police their copyright, to take cases to court, etc.  The great thing about iTunes is that it bypasses the RIAA and its failed business model; it has also been a boon to artists from an accounting standpoint. 

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,46557,00.html

http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=FB0C10FD3A5A0C778EDDAB0894DA404482

Anyway, Congress isn’t involved in these efforts, state governments are. 

OK, but mostly Democrats.  Unfortunately the Republicans as they’ve grown into majority status have fallen into the same thinking as Democrats.  They are working for the benefit of the bureaucracy rather than the voters.

It’s much the same thinking as is going on in schools all over this country.  Schools are being run for the benefit of the teachers, not the students.