Dakota Today

*** Convoluted, complex, idiotic internet sales tax raises ugly head again

South Dakota newspapers have been making a mediocre case for an internet sales tax apparently as a way of pandering to their advertisers as they poke a stick in their reader's eyes.  A tax increase is a tax increase just as a skunk by another names stinks the same.

My argument against the endrun around the US Constitution commerce clause is that it is a huge intrusion into privacy with all kinds of data bases being required to make the baling wire mess work.  If it passes be prepared to pay taxes you don't owe and let every state in the country know what you buy.

Newspapers whine that the poor brick and mortar stores are disadvantaged by having to collect sales taxes from their customers while distant catalog or internet sales don't require such collection.  Judges twist their corrupt minds into knots by justifiying a "use" tax which only applies to purchases from an out-of-state seller.

Justification for distant transaction taxes by states and local governments is a perversion of good sense, good taxaction, and an insult to the US Constitution the wingnut right regularly claim to worship as if it it the 10 commandments on the lips of God...well at least as far as it concerns guns and ammunition.

I don't care if I have to pay taxes on internet purchases or distant transactions because the few percent taxes is not why I or anybody else buys from a distant seller.  We buy because the product is not available locally or even in state.  We buy because local or instate marketers rip us off with prices two or three times the national price.  A sales tax is not the reason for not buying from your friendly local smiling ripoff artist.

Very frankly, the arguments for further extension of state and local sales taxes to internet or other distant taxes are pure, unadulterated, stagnant bullshit.

If there is to be a tax on distant transactions, it should apply to all such trnasactions and it should be a federal tax 90% refunded to states on the basis of population rather than sales.  It should apply to stocks and bonds as well as chastity belts, Viagra, tampons, or whatever else the states are eager to get into a data base relating you to sales.

A Forbes writer has a kind of weak-knee criticism of the internet tax:  Forbes: The Internet Sales Tax reveals its Foolish head Again.

A federal tax will not require data be kept on sellers location, buyers location, or even what is purchased.   If this is to be a national tax, it should be administered by the federal government which can just add a line to the 1040.

There is no need for tremendous growth of state Revenue department staffs or databases and so-called "tax fairness" is a smokescreen for simple tax increase.

Let your legislators know you are not impressed with the state's incredibly stupid, privacy intruding sales tax consortia mechanisms too similar to Rube Goldberg contraptions.. and let your newspapers and Governor Daugaard know you are not impressed with their BS.

*** Stay tuned.  You will not be taxed for reading this YET, but give the bastards some time and they might find taxable value in the information here.--- Doug Wiken

Related articles

Daugaard parrots nonsense on Online Sales Tax

10 really devastating effects of the internet sales tax

The Next Shoe to Drop: Internet Sales Tax to Become Reality

Gov't to Launch Internet Sales Tax on Back of CISPA

The New Internet Sales Tax and 'Rendering to Caesar'

Opposition to Internet Sales Tax Bill Grows as Vote Looms

Kirk votes no on Internet sales tax procedural vote

Meet the Disastrous "Internet Sales Tax" Bill Congress is Trying to Sneak Through

Cautions about Durbin's Internet sales tax

*** Boehner's Eunuchs

The Republican Congress Critters have returned to their long sleep in DC.  Boehner holds on to his worthless majority like a manger dog preventing cows from eating hay.

The GOP Congress Critters have voluntarily made themselves partisan eunuchs by signing private citizen Grover Norquist' absurd pledge on tax rates.  They should be left howling useless in the wilderness for 40 years, but their retrograde obstructionism may have such disastrous consequences for our economy and commonwealth that those of us harmed by their misfeasance may ourselves be howling in anger and ire or screaming in fear as we all roll over the fiscal cliff into the GOP-generated quagmire of despair..

Note.  Right after I posted this, I found Jana's comment at Madville Times quoting a poster at Huffington Post. It details the  GOP Eunuchs great nothingness and irrelevance.

From Jana's comment:

One commenter at the Huffington Post shows us how serious they were:

Two Years Ago, John Boehner promised to be "Laser Focused on Jobs and the Economy" So what has the GOP House been up to?

"House Bills passed:
46 Bills on Abortion
113 Bills on Religion
73 Bills on Family Relationships
36 Bills on Marriage
72 Bills on Firearms
604 Bills on Taxation
437 Bills on Govt Investigations

Bills attempted and failed to be passed even by the GOP:
33 attempts to Defund Obamacare.....Failed
15 attempts to Cut Funding for Planned Parenthood......Failed
3 Attempts to Cut Funding for VA Hospitals.......Failed.

GOP blocked bills:
Blocked bill to aid Small Business
Blocked Unemployment extension
Blocked Bank Reform Bills
Blocked Campaign Finance Reform and open Contributions Law
Blocked MULTIPLE Jobs Bills
Blocked Infrastructure Bill
Blocked Ending Tax Breaks for companies that Outsource Jobs
Blocked Wall Street Reform
Blocked Energy Legislation
Blocked Mine Safety Bill
Blocked Oil Spill Liability Cap increase
Blocked Bill to lower Oil Company Tax Breaks
Blocked Bill to impose charging American Oil Companies on Oil achieved in the Gulf"

*** Stay tuned.  Maybe the GOP Congress critters will get their heads out of Grover Norquist's ass--- Doug Wiken

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*** NRA explains why the solution to too many guns is ...more guns

Apparently the NRA finally came out from under the blanket of symathy for the slaughtered children and commented in their usual way on guns.   The solution to too many guns is obviously more guns.

A US Representative has a comment:

Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.)

“The NRA’s response to the Newtown massacre is both ludicrous and insulting, and they are fundamentally out of step with the American people on the issue of gun violence. Instead of making a sincere and good faith concession toward gun control reform – like enhanced, universal background checks, which the vast majority of its members support – the NRA has offered a fantasy suggestion for congressional action on a massive federal spending increase, backed by a disingenuous offer of NRA-funded training premised on that fantasy being actualized.

“What happened to their promise for a ‘meaningful contribution?’ To argue that kids are not safe because too few ‘good guys’ have guns is to ignore every fact on the ground. The armed personnel at Columbine and Fort Hood, tragically, could not prevent the shooters from committing mass murder.

“And, beyond the cost of providing armed guards for each school – $5.4 billion a year just for salaries, in some estimates – this remedy does nothing to provide checks on ‘bad guys’ gaining access to guns or to remove the most dangerous and unnecessary types of firearms from circulation. What we need is NOT more guns but sensible gun control legislation, including a ban on assault weapons and a comprehensive buyback program, a robust and centralized system of background checks, and a reassessment of our mental health services.”

And Andrew Rosenthal of the NY Times  is not amused by La Pierre.  

Rosenthal introduced his column:

Wayne LaPierre, the spokesman for the National Rifle Association, would have been better advised to remain wherever he had been hiding after the Newtown massacre, rather than appear at the news conference on Friday. No one seriously believed the N.R.A. when it said it would contribute something “meaningful” to the discussion about gun violence. The organization’s very existence is predicated on the nation being torn in half over guns. Still, we were stunned by Mr. LaPierre’s mendacious, delusional, almost deranged rant.

And almost while LaPierre was speaking, some of the "armed guards" he thinks will solve the excess gun problem were being shot in Pennsylvania:

Update, December 21, 2pm EST: The Associated Press reports that a shooting rampage in Pennsylvania has left four people dead, including the shooter and two state troopers. If confirmed, the incident will add to the victim count for a year that has already seen a record number of lives lost to shooting rampages. Reports of the killings emerged just as National Rifle Association head Wayne LaPierre concluded a press conference on the Newtown massacre.

The link for this post includes a list of the 151 people killed in US mass killings this year. 

 And, Clarification Troppers were not killed, others were however

I guess it is time to try to forget about this tonight, but I subscribe to a  magazine or two from Taunton Press which happens to be in Newtown, Connecticut.  They are requesting contributions.  I think the gun industry should be fined and taxed every time killings like this occur.  A $26 Million "contribution" from the gun industry might be appreciated by the community.

If you would prefer to send a donation by mail, please mail to:

Fairfield County Community Foundation
383 Main Ave.
Norwalk, CT 06851
Attn: The Taunton Press Fund

On behalf of the entire Roman family, the employees of The Taunton Press, and our Newtown friends and neighbors, thank you for your support.

*** Stay tuned especially if you don't quite understand why The solution to the problem of too many guns is ....more guns ---- Doug Wiken

 

 

*** Gun deaths plot a roadmap to political failures

The needless gun deaths in the US provide a roadmap to the incompetent, hypocritical, useless, spineless, gutless blowhard wimps who occupy seats in legislatures and the US Congress.

Why do we pay legislators to lie and pretend they are doing something beyond trying to get themselves re-elected by the easiest method possible so they can get elected again.

Gun control.  Debt Control, End welfare for the rich...Oh well, never mind.  We gotta worry about gay marriage and important things like unmarried priests and bishops perspective on women's rights.  And, the football and baseball leagues need tax exemptions and taxpayer welfare.  We need to poll the astrologers about climate change.  Check your stars.

Oh, and what about all those broadcast licenses that give the very rich another way to pollute society with violence. Oh, nevermind.  Just as long as they don't broadcast pornography, why worry?  They will rebroadcast the same video over and over again with the most violent implications possible.

Our spineless congress critters have become threats to the general welfare at our expense.

*** Stay tuned, but watch PBS and listen to NPR to get a reasonable mix of facts and commentary.---- Doug Wiken

*** Dig deep in RC Journal and Find DICK ARMEY

The RC Journal put in a small article that should be of interest to all the TEA party rank and file in South Dakota.  Dick Armey quit the TEA Party .....sliding out with the way greased by an $8 million payout provided by a GOP fundraiser.  Armey will get "consulting fees" of $400,000 each year which might even reduce his tax liability...who knows.

Armey and Tom Delay are great flagwavers and wonderful advocates of "Let's your kids fight my wars".  Check the GOP War Hero Wall of Fame

Now, I must confess I did everything I could to stay out of Vietnamese rice paddies and worked to make sure as few other young people died there as possible.  The GOP warhawks always seemed particulary hypocritical about their gung-ho war positions often fired from behind the protective bulwarks of deferments..

But back on track of Armey money.  The RC Journal article of December 5, 2012 indicates his windfall for exiting was funded by Richard J. Stephenson.   

So, if you are one of those TEA Party block workers, you might want to promise to quite tomorrow and see if you can work out a windfall golden parachute deal for yourself.  Before you get that all worked out however, you might want to think about why the very, very rich wanted you to be astroturf for their reactionary, obstructionist,self-interested policies...and how in the world those politicies might have ever benefited you in any way whatsoever.

*** Stay tuned for more news of the ships leaving their lab rats in the deep--- Doug Wiken

*** Oh, Joy. Marion Michael Rounds finally announces

I have hardly been able to sleep at night wondering for over a year if the insurance man Rounds would jump into the race so he could help his insurance buddies destroy "ObamaCare" or whatever they imagine it actually is.

Why would anybody want somebody in the US Congress so stupid that he built a house literally inches above the Missouri River and then when it was flooded by a release of reservoir water about 1/5 of the maxiumum release volume blamed the US Corp of Engineers for his own stupidity? Also, of course, never mentioning that another ripe hypocrite, Bill Janklow sued the Corp of Engineers to keep reservoir levels high.

With global warming threatening infrastructure along our coasts, we do not need anybody in Congress ready to pour more federal money down a rathole filling with water.

Rounds is whining Republican looking for free lunch for the rich and crumbs for the rest of us.  He is both a danger to the United States and South Dakota interests in the US Congress.  He is a glib promoter of economic and political mythology coupled with a willingness to pander to the most backward superstitions of the Catholic Church and other fundamentalists.

And in case Rounds runs on his "record", it is not one of great accomplishments and acute vision.  South Dakota Democratic Party on "Merry Go Rounds".

*** Stay tuned and sleep tight but you have been forewarned--- Doug Wiken

*** Mitt flunked arithmetic

All kinds of Republicans are trying to figure out why they lost the election they were absolutely certain they would win.  George Will had it upside down.  Obama won with the numbers Will projected for Romney.  Romney himself has taken a shot at explanation and it was about as good as all the rest of his explanations.

Mitt for being such a tremendously shrewd businessmen, flunked arithmetic. 1% of the top 1% in income no matter how many times and places they vote, will not out-vote 47% of the population. 30,000 is significantly less than roughly 150,000,000.  First graders can probably tell you that no matter how many pieces of candy you give them to persuade otherwise.

And, the dollar arithmetic with all the billions of dollars pushed into political advertising indicated  that there are a lot of people and corporations who and which can easily afford to pay a lot more taxes.  The GOP opposition to taxes on the very, very rich is entirely expected, but also incredibly stupid and dangerous for the country.

The GOP has made itself into the GIP....Grossly Irrelevant Party.. by opposing everything in the Congress to prevent Obama from getting a second term.  Romney made himself one of the most irrelevant men in America and his explanation of why he lost makes him even more irrelevant.

**** Stay tuned for military apparat-chicks... Doug Wiken

 

*** Trust me, you don't live at 740 Park Avenue...Why vote that Way?

PBS on Independent Lens today ran on SDPB-TV  the video "740 Park Avenue".   It may be on again tonight around midnight.  The Koch Brothers and other sources of lots of political money and ..thus control of politicians of both parties..have these expensive digs as their little isolated world.

Lyin' Ryan has connections to this place via his support of Ayn Rand and Randian nonsense.

If you aren't among the richest 1% of the richest 1 percent, you should find this video interesting.  TEA Party knotheads should see it to understand how they have been played like fiddles by the richest economic plutocrats.

There is some information at links below:

PBS Press Room

A sample of the Video at YouTube

Stay up late ..watch and record the video from SDPB-TV.   Your rising blood pressure will keep you awake.

*** Stay tuned even if you also tune into public Tv...well expecially if you also tune into public TV--- Doug Wiken

 

*** The big question for GOP gasbags criticizing the Obama Victory

I had trouble staying awake through CBS this morning.  I saw bits of this and that.  Haley Barbour was going on and on about how Obama's win last night was insignificant compared to wins by other presidents.

Here is a question, ala Sarah Palin, that needs to be asked of all the irrelevant Republicans the talking heads dig out of the dustbins of history:

How is that Mitch McConnell -obstruct- everything -to- prevent- Obama- from- getting -a -second -term thingy working out  for you guys?

Before the talking heads get into their ritual blather about how Obama failed to compromise and what can he do to compromise with the retrograde obstructionists, they need to add the above preface question.  Talking about what comes next is silly without the McConnell frame on the issue.

*** Stay tuned, but don't hold your breath waiting for sanity and rationality in South Dakota Republican minds--- Doug Wiken

 

 

*** Election Day, Tripp County South Dakota

A quiet day in Lake Woebegone...well not really...not even Lake Woebegone, but Winner, SD in Tripp County.  I usually take a photo or two on election day.  About the first year I had access to a digital camera, we had a regular blizzard on election day.  This year the weather was probably seasonal temperature, but pleasant with some sunshine and little wind.

I voted a week or two ago, but thought I would get the usual photo or two anyway.  The minute I walked into the 4-H Center, the ladies at the Sully District appeared to be in a tizzy. I walked up to them and they said, you have already voted.   They didn't even need my photo ID to tell me that which is interesting. The voter ID law in South Dakota serves no real purpose.  I told them I knew that and was just there to take their pictures for this blog.  Below are the smiling ladies.

The news on voting in our small district was high turnout..possibly nearly 100%.  That was around 4PM this afternoon.  It is now about 6PM here.  SD Polls close at 7PM.  A clerk from the Auditor's office showed up with some more absentee ballots for this district.  She said that about 550 absentee ballots had been cast in Tripp County.   I don't remember the usual total number of voters, but the 550 is a significant percentage of them.  The idea of voter fraud here brings laughter.  It is hard enough to get people to vote once let alone multiple times.  Below is a photo of the north door of the 4-H center.  No direct sun there, but still not uncomfortably cold.

By now, we have had a colorful sunset.  I may add that photo later when/if I get some complete election results for local and state.

I stopped at the Tripp County Courthouse yesterday.  The Auditor said actual county turnout was around 71 or 72 percent.  3830 voters are registered here. 2740 voted.

Julie Bartling and Billie Sutton were the two Demcrats elected in this district to be in the next SD Legislature. 

*** Stay tuned...the night is yet young---- Doug Wiken