Almost Too Funny To Post About
My sides hurt. Really, they do. The increasingly inept Eliot Spitzer has just reversed himself on his plan to tax internet sales! In ONE day the man wrote the plan into policy and then abandoned it entirely.
In a second major policy reversal in less than a day, Governor Spitzer is backing down from a plan to require Amazon.com and other online retailers to charge state and local sales taxes on all purchases from New York.
Yesterday, just hours after The New York Sun reported on the new revenue collection scheme, the Spitzer administration announced that it was burying it for the time being — at least until after the Christmas shopping season. The move saved New York City shoppers from having to pay an additional 8.375% on many Amazon.com goods.
"Governor Spitzer believes that now is not the right time to be increasing sales taxes on New Yorkers," Mr. Spitzer's budget director, Paul Francis, said in a statement. "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."
Drat! Now he'll have to find another loophole. Holy cow, who is planning strategy for this guy, Daffy Duck? By the way, notice the wording of the announcement. Yesterday Spitzer was calling it closing a loophole; today he admits it was raising taxes. Best laugh of the day so far - and the day is still young! Spitzer still has time to reverse another policy before dinner!
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Blue Crab Boulevard » Spitzer Finds A Loophole — Thursday, 15 November , 2007 @ 1:39 pm
By martian, Thursday, 15 November , 2007 @ 9:26 am
I will bet, right now, that the people of the great state of New York will re-elect Spitzer at the end of his current term. Any takers? (Keep in mind that these are the people who re-elected Cuomo and Hillary Clinton)
By Anthony (Los Angeles), Thursday, 15 November , 2007 @ 10:28 am
Nah. Not Daffy Duck. His policy adviser is clearly Screwy Squirrel.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Screwball_Squirrel
By Jonn Lilyea, Thursday, 15 November , 2007 @ 12:58 pm
Well, in his campaign, Spitzer claimed to be a “pragmatic liberal”. It seems he’s taken the concept of being pragmatic to new levels.
By Mockinbird, Thursday, 15 November , 2007 @ 2:23 pm
If Eliot needs more revenue for the State of New York, why he could just lower the income tax rate.