Thursday - November 15, 2007

Hell has Some Policy Suggestions for Gov. Eliot Spitzer 

Eliot Spitzer, Democratic Governor of New York, doesn't seem to have a feel for what makes good public policy.

First, his plan to issue driver's licenses to illegal aliens was pulled back after a firestorm of public opinion against it.

Then, today, he cancelled plans to charge New York sales tax on internet purchases.

Late this afternoon, Gov. Eliot Spitzer's office released a statement rescinding the new tax policy that would have required online retailers to begin collecting state sales taxes starting Dec. 7.

"Governor Spitzer believes that now is not the right time to be increasing sales taxes on New Yorkers. He has directed the Department of Tax and Finance to pull back its interpretation that would require some Internet retailers that do not collect sales tax to do so," State Budget Director Paul Francis said in the statement.

The policy would have directly affected retailers such as Amazon and Buy.com that use affiliate marketing programs, where Web site operators include a link to an online retailer and receive a portion of any sales resulting from the click-through.

The governor's office would not comment on whether the legal challenges to the policy that the state could have faced played a role in Spitzer's decision.

"Gov. Spitzer probably sees the state as overreaching," NetChoice Executive Director Steve DelBianco wrote InternetNews.com in an e-mail.

Retailers would likely have challenged the tax policy on constitutional grounds, although such a fight could have taken years, said Catherine Fox-Simpson, tax partner at tax consulting firm BDO Seidman. Read on....

In case Spitzer starts to run out of other bad public policy ideas, We in Hell suggest the following:

• Bills of Attainder to be made legal in New York.

• all future taxes to be made ex post facto.

• to save money, all New York National Guard troops shall be housed by citizens for free.

• to cut the state Medicare burden, require all Republicans to committ suicide by age 70.

• to increase state revenue, titles of nobility will be sold to those who make over a million dollars a year.

If Governor Spitzer's office needs anymore policy ideas, he knows how to contact us.

Author: Satanic Source
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