Kurt Kelly’s Efforts to Have All Internet Sales Taxed
Kurt Kelly’s Efforts to Have All Internet Sales Taxed
By Mickey Spencer
On whose side is Kurt Kelly really on? He claims to be against new taxes when asked about it, but it was State Representative Kurt Kelly who filed Florida House Measure 157 on 9/30/2009. He referred it to the House Finance and Tax Council on 10/23/2009. And then on 1/4/2010, his proposed measure was withdrawn prior to introducing it. http://www.myfloridahouse.gov/sections/Bills/billsdetail.aspx?BillId=42246&
What is Florida House Measure 157? It’s commonly known as the Main Street Fairness Act. But even that is a large misnomer for the intent of this bill. After all, who would not want to be for a little fairness on Main Street? Good Ol’ Kurt’s act “Calls upon members of Florida congressional delegation to join as co-sponsors of Main Street Fairness Act & support adoption by United States Congress; urges President Barack Obama to sign Main Street Fairness Act into law upon passage by Congress.”
In the US Congress, the bill is known as HR 5660 (Main Street Fairness Act). HR 5660 is legislation that would authorize the 24 states in the Streamlined Sales and Use Tax Agreement (SSUTA) to require remote retailers to collect and remit sales tax on ALL sales conducted over the internet.
So whatever you do, don’t fall for it when Kurt Kelly tells you he’s against new taxes. Clearly he’s not only for it… he tried to introduce legislation as the primary sponsor of a bill to introduce new taxes.
Kurt’s campaign keeps assuring us that Kurt can’t possibly be a professional politician claiming he’s only been in office one term. The sneaky little detail they neglect to acknowledge is that he was elected to that position in a special election in June of 2007 and re-elected in 2008. Prior to that, he served six years on the Marion County School Board. That’s NINE years in elected office for him. It sure sounds like he’s making a career out of being a politician.
Let’s review…
- Kurt Kelly is against new taxes, but he sponsors legislation which supports new taxes
- Kurt Kelly claims to not be a career politician, but he’s served in elected office for NINE years
It sort of makes you wonder if there’s anything at all about Kurt Kelly that’s genuine or above aboard that would lead you to believe you could trust him about anything at all.
Seems Kurt has a little explaining to do. I wonder if he talks real loud with a deep voice he can make it look as if he’s really not addicted to political power, and that he’s not as bad as any Democrat tax and spend liberal. Kurts’ yes vote on Sun Rail isn’t his only vote against the people of the district, we now have him leading the charge for more taxes. We already have a representative, Al Grayson, who likes to spend our tax dollars while ignoring us, we don’t need his clone. We need an ethical person like conservative Republican Patricia Sullivan as our Congressional Representative. Talk all he wants I don’t think Kurt can put a positive spin on this or sweep it under the rug.
Sorry Mickey. 3 years does not make a career politicians… and I’m sorry to say that School Board positions do not qualify as political — while elected and perhaps occasionally requiring a political “touch,” it is an educational leadership position.
Duh.
And now you’re bashing Kurt Kelly for a bill that… umm… he never introduced? About a tax that he doesn’t support? Wow, this is amazing journalism.
Many hundreds of years ago, I said that as scholars we should “Give light, and the darkness will disappear of itself.” Pray be that the cloud from desperate challengers making hay out of nothing will disappear itself and we let the only conservative who can beat Alan Grayson actually fight on.
Kurt Kelly does NOT support taxing the internet- a complete distortion of the truth by Mickey Spencer, a Sullivan supporter.
If you read the memorial, you note it is not a bill but a memorial for interstate collection of taxes already paid.
For example, I recently order a book from a small press in Iowa and paid Florida state tax on it. I do not know if this was sent to the state or not- probably it was not.
Florida Taxwatch estimates that many of the vendors do not send their taxes in- and you the taxpayer, Mickey, lose out.
The memorial addresses this interstate issue.
Kurt Kelly does not support an internet tax- or any tax increases for that matter.
no offense but so what? kelly is taking the fight to grayson which is more than i can say for anyone else man
Whose side is Mickey Spencer on? Is he on the side of truth or on the side of spewing lies?
It seems to me after reading this article, he is on the side of spewing lies.
First of all, it is not a measure, it is memorial. It urges the Congress to pass a bill that enforces the law in all 50 states. This does not raise taxes, but forces people to pay their taxes that they owe their state. It is obvious that Mickey is not a lawyer, i have talked to numerous lawyers, and they say that this is the case. Mickey, you have no legal training and obviously are just taking talking points from the Sullivan and Long campaign’s to berate a great conservative.
Second, a career politician is defined as one who gets his income from politics. It is also obvious that you do not know much about politics here in Florida. State reps make $30,000 and that is not enough to make a living off of. Virtually every florida legislator has a job outside of their political office, Kurt owns a background search business.
It is obvious that you are trying to sling mud using false information in order to advance your candidate.
Richard- Please let’ not beat the sunrail drum to death. Kurt has explained his position to the Sullivan supporters several times.
You must be a liberal Democrat, a union sympathizer, or a trial lawyer- they were the ones who voted against it. The Orlando conservatives- Dean Cannon, Eric Eisnaugle, Steve Precourt, and others asked him to vote for it for fiscal reasons He had no correspondence of concern from the people of District 24- .
Mickey, maybe if Kurt was on your school board, you would have learned something in school besides mental gymnastics. Do you think people are getting rich off serving on the school board? When did we start considering school board members “career politicians”? The same thing is going on with the Hillsborough sheriff. Do these people really fit the bill of “Washington Insiders”? I think all politics are local, so people that serve in local government roles are to be commended.
I believe that Mickey is correct in his assessment. Kurt is not a bad man, but he is a politician of the standard (read common) variety.
First, look at the states supporting the bill. It’s a mix of red and blue states, but appears to tilt red. It’s not like its just New England and California. From the bill:
“as of October 1, 2009, 23 states, Arkansas, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, Nebraska, New Jersey, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Tennessee, Utah, Vermont, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin, and Wyoming, representing more than 35 percent of the total population of the United States, enacted legislation to bring their state’s sales and use tax laws into compliance with the agreement”
Utah is the most conservative state in the union and even they support it, so what’s the matter with you? I will give you credit for putting me in a position of having to defend a new tax. But do you support a flat tax? That’s a new tax. Do you like the status quo?
Why should online corporations get welfare in the form of tax free status? Are they a 501c? The Mainstreet Fairness Act IS aptly named. It seeks to level the playing field between brick and mortar stores and online superstores. We already have to pay sales tax on ebay. How long did you think the free for all was going to last on the internet?
Let me give you a practical example. Let’s say Ross and other clothing stores go out of business because the overhead of maintaining a storefront is so high that they can’t compete with online sellers. Do you want to buy your all of your clothing on the internet? I like to try my clothes on before I buy it. Sometimes brick and mortar stores are superior to internet stores.
Look at the organizations supporting it: Walmart, Radio Shack, PetSmart, Ross, Sears, Simon Malls, Kmart, etc.
Is this a secret cabal of evil unions like SEIU? NO. It’s the brick and mortar stores that are getting hammered by Amazon.com and such. The bill is aptly named the Main Street fairness act because it seeks to take away the unfair advantage of online sellers.
there is no reason to be rude, gabe.
sullivan isn’t qualified to go to washington, but she is a genuinely concerned patriot. you had better hope she doesn’t win the primary.
i did not see fox business, but i saw mr. grayson on msnbc because i was changing channels. i never watch msnbc but i stayed to see what stupid things mr. grayson would say this time. i was not disappointed.
kelly has the cojones for the job if he is willing to get on these shows. yes, he could come across as a little upset, but he has the right. grayson representing district 8 is terribly insulting. i just wish i could vote in the district.
You guys supporting Kelly are really funny. The knee jerk reactions you have support the fact that your candidate isn’t for the people of the 8th district ,he’s for the PARTY as his Sun Rail vote demonstrates.He is certainly not the type of person we want as our Representative. Conservatie Republican Patricia Sullivan is the only candidate that comes to this race without political baggage or without owing anything to the PARTY or special interests. Why don’t you address the issues? Is the truth to much to handle? Instead of the vitriol you spew why not just address the problems ? Patricia Sullivan is the only candidate who will represent this district for it’s benefit and not for some personal agenda as the lawyers, millionaires, and career politicians will be guilty of doing.
“Kurt Kelly is Great he is a great conservative”, blah, blah, blah. I wonder if there is some Professor out there with said study states, if you Blog to Yourself Over and Over Again; whatever BS you spew, suddenly becomes true. If you don’t know what I mean then the clue is in my name.
It seems to me Mickey hit a nerve with Kelly supporters. Politics is politics whether it’s School Board or Governor. Voting for Sun Rail is a vote for Sun Rail, regardless of the reason. Of course the country is full of historical revisionists today so who knows what the Kelly camp will put out tomorrow as historical fact. It will be refreshing when we send Patricia Sullivan to congress, a Patriot not a Politician. Check her out at http://www.patriciasullivanforcongress.com then volunteer and /or donate.
Just what is it now that all of you do not understand about Kurt Kelly, YES he is a career politician! Do you think if enough of you say he is not it is true? Well GUESS AGAIN. Open your eyes and take a good look at the man all of you think is the real deal, he is just another loud mouth that is in the race to ensure he will have a job for the long haul.
A few more things that I forgot to mention about Kelly,here is a man that clearly is running for himself and not the people, The one and only person in the race for congress that has the interest of the people is Patricia Sullivan, she is not one of the good ole boy’s but she is committed to work for the people in district 8. Patricia is not trying to empress the other candidates with lies or throwing mud, she addresses the issues and stays on point , that is more than any of the other candidates can say, Patricia can hold her head up high for running a clean campaign, and as she is flying off to Washington to sit in her well deserved seat she will not laugh at the candidates she is leaving behind.
Richard Riker, Why don’t YOU address the issues instead of constantly giving us links to Pat’s website? The reason I ridicule you people is because every time I make a point, I only get a bunch of static in return. There is no debating you.
There is only one Gabe Ruth. The website logs our IP addresses, so they would know if we were using multiple names on the same computer. Believe it or not, more than one person out there likes Kurt Kelly.
Attention Sullivan Sycophants! If you are interested in debate instead smear, prove it. Here is your chance to take me on. I’m just one man. I picked this forum because it gives you email notifications when you reply. The comments aren’t moderated so they will be instantly visible. You can remain anonymous. With all due respect to the Orlando Political Press’ discussion board, the technological limitations make it difficult to carry on a conversation.
Come try me!
http://www.resistnet.com/forum/topics/lets-talk-kurt-kelly
I have to say that the vast majority of the comments here reflect more on those posting than it does on the candidates or the issues. I just hope we don’t lose sight of the ultimate goal, which is the removal of Alan Grayson – the person you are throwing rocks at today will be needed by your side tomorrow…
Gabe, Does this mean you are moving on from this forum? Just wondering…..
Tom, You are right on the money.
I am wondering why we don’t give stores the tax break too? I wonder if anyone has really considered the costs of goods and services increased and made it harder for small business to stay afloat and get started? My husband is an ex-trucker, and can tell you how it contributed to the downfall of the mills.
I am for the candidate that won’t add to our tax burden, Patricia Sullivan. Sorry Kelly supporters, but the is the year of hte newbie. I am supporting Sullivan because she has never held office before, and has no dog in the fight, except her family. That it the same dog I have in this fight.
Patriot,, not politican, Patricia Sullivan for me.
Richard Riker’s Island. Pay attention. I’m making a point. I want to see if you can answer it with something other than sullivanforcongress.com
The thing to consider is that home values have plummeted in Florida, so property tax revenue has fallen too. I think the state needs to cut back spending, but let’s be realistic. Florida depends heavily on the sales tax since we don’t have a state income tax. As more people buy things online, that equates to less sales tax revenue. This will only grow over time. Why do you think online merchants deserve a tax haven? Why do YOU support an inequitable tax system where only brick and mortar stores are penalized with a sales tax?
How would you make ends meet if you were in the Florida congress? Would you start a state income tax while people are already leaving our state?
I think this bold stroke on tax policy is a GOOD thing. For one thing, it preempts a FEDERAL internet tax. Also, it shows that Kurt has the bravery needed to delve into such a hot issue. We will need that if we want representatives to help us repeal the 16th amendment. Kurt supports the FAIR tax, so his action on this issue gives me the confidence of knowing he isn’t all talk on the tax issue.
Gabe, Why are you so upset with true conservatives? It makes me wonder why? Do you think that we are all so stupid that we can’t make up our own mind on who to vote for? Shall it be deemed that “Gabe” decides who we all vote for?
He is talking about your unholy coven Brasco County Jr. By my count, I am one of the only ones here that posted comments with substance. Did anybody else read and quote from the bill? I did.
Well, I for one would be affected by this tax and for that reason alone I would not vote for Mr. Kelly. Even if Patricia weren’t running, I would not vote for someone who has a history of trying to raise my taxes. Until the yahoos in government can get their tyrannical spending under control, they have no right to any more of my money.
It’s certainly interesting to watch the negative commentary from Gabe Ruth and a small handful of others. While the majority of commentary has been of the civil variety, Gabe tends to feel that name calling and attacks are his best method of making his point. In general, when someone feels the need to stoop to name calling, that’s also the point at which they’ve admitted they are out of facts. From watching Gabe’s posts for the past few months, it’s become quite clear that Gabe seems to run out of facts a lot earlier than most people.
As for claiming that Kurt Kelly has only been a professional politician for 3 years since that’s all they’ve served at the state level, that’s really just burying one’s head in the sand. I know of some politicians who have served for decades in local (city and county) elected positions… and they definitely qualify as career politicians. The mayor of Apopka, Florida has served as that city’s mayor for 57 years. The Orange County, FL tax collector has been in that office for 42 years. I think any reasonable person would agree it is in fact possible for a person to be a career politician and not have served a day in a state level office.
But for Kurt Kelly’s supporters, denying the facts has become a vocation if not a hobby.
Some of you have noted that I’m a Patricia Sullivan supporter. And that indeed is a fact. However, my article was about Kurt Kelly and what I consider his inappropriateness for the job as the next Congressional representative from the 8th district of Florida. But it speaks volumes about Kurt’s campaign that rather than address the actual issues I raised that they feel the need to lash out at the rest of the world instead.
As for Kurt Kelly’s support of SunRail, Florida voters rejected SunRail TWICE in state elections. Never once have Florida voters ever approved SunRail. Kurt Kelly was definitely not alone in his support of SunRail. ALL legislators who voted for SunRail were either ignorant of what they were doing or knowingly defying the will of the people. In which category was Kurt. I will say one thing that sets Kurt apart from the others who voted for SunRail… Kurt alternately denies he did it or justifies that he did it because it’s what the people wanted. Instead, it’s pretty obvious that Kurt entered into an unholy alliance with party leaders, power brokers, and other career politicians to support it when instead he should have been representing the will of the people who’d already proclaimed loudly and clearly they did not want it.
As for those people who are clearly uninformed about Kurt’s stance on new taxes, the measure (it was a measure and not a memorial as one Kelly supported tried to state) was that Kelly sponsored and attempted to introduce (but it failed in committee) was to show the Florida state officials’ support of the bill in the US Congress to introduce a new sales tax on all internet sales.
Taxes on internet sales are only to takes place when physical material (not a download) has been purchased on the internet by a purchaser residing in a state where the seller has a “brick and mortar” presence in that state. The seller cannot legally collect sales tax on items falling outside that definition. Whether Kelly and his minions like it or not, the vast majority of Americans like that scenario. The only ones who want the status changed (per the measure sponsored by Kurt Kelly) are those who support new and higher taxes on us American consumers.
As for one person’s comments about the Fair Tax (which I support), the Fair Tax should ONLY be implemented in conjunction with the repeal of the 16th amendment and coinciding dissolution of the IRS.
But it was a nice stab by Kurt Kelly’s supporters to critique the article which I authored, albeit their commentaries were short on fact by charged with innuendo. As for Gabe Ruth, I’ll refrain from granting him any further attention as his comment show a lack of knowledge and an inability to compete on a level with the rest of the people.
Doesn’t anyone read…it is NOT a tax.
If you buy an item on the Internet and the out-of-state company has ALREADY charged you for a TAX for that item, the State of Florida does not collect the ALREADY charged tax from that the company. In other words, the out-of-state company is ACTUALLY pocketing the additional charge.
Goodness, ya’ll need to get your facts right.
I support Kurt Kelly!!! Kurt is the only one who is standing up to Alan Grayson.
Ha! Yes, your side is blameless. only Kelly supporters are bad.
Thanks for clarifying that you put Kelly’s 3 year career in the same category as people that served 42 and 57 years. Don’t forget about the lucrative school board position.
I’m glad you agree with Kelly on the repeal and replace of the 16th amendment with the Fair tax. You have more common ground than you think.
I seem to remember light rail becoming a constitutional amendment back when Jeb was Gov. People voted for that. I will admit that I’m not crazy about SunRail either, but if you are going to crucify Kelly for it, you better do the same to Rubio because he was speaker of the house when he voted for it. Will you pledge to vote for Kedrick Meek? He didn’t vote for SunRail.
Think about what you are saying for a moment. In what way does it make sense for a Republican running for higher office to propose a new tax in an election year? Especially one who signed Contract from America:
http://www.thecontract.org/supporters/
And Grover Norquist’s americans for tax reform pledge:
http://www.atr.org/taxpayer-protection-pledge-a2882He also is on the record supporting the Fair Tax. Clearly there is a disconnect between what you are representing and reality. The disconnect is this:
When you are responsible for a state budget, you have to have enough revenue to keep the government in the black. Home values plunged and Foreclosures skyrocketed, and therefore property tax revenue crashed. Suddenly. Where have you been? What does all of that revenue get replaced with? The state can’t print money like the feds can. You can balance the books through spending cuts (which kelly did. He voted for $1.24 billion in spending cuts in 08-09. https://www.votesmart.org/voting_category.php?can_id=88823). But that can only get you so far. States are hamstrung by federal medicare requirements for example.
Again, i have to ask, why do people feel entitled to avoid sales tax on the internet? This sounds like the people that feel entitled to download free music from the internet. You gladly pay sales tax in a walmart, so why shouldn’t you pay it at walmart.com?
Mickey accurately described Kurt Kelly’s position regarding the “Internet Tax” He introduced a bill, then later withdrew it. For whatever reason, he decided it was a law he no longer wished to support. Fair enough.
The other issue discussed in Mickey’s article, is Kurt’s status as a “career” or “professional” politician, based on his nine years in elected office. Considering that the positions he filled were part-time positions with part-time compensation, it would be difficult to classify them as “career” or “professional.” His elected duties were in addition to the career he used to provide the bulk of support to his family. A more accurate way to describe his participation in government would be as a “citizen” politician, a longstanding custom going back to pre-Revolutionary times.
The same can be said about most of the candidates for Congress in the 8th District. Those with prior elected experience held their positions as “citizen” politicians while maintaining other jobs or businesses to support themselves for the majority of the year when the legislature was not in session. Perhaps we should be thanking them for their service, rather than hurling the dreaded “career politician” epithet at them like a firebrand.
Alan Grayson, on the other hand, derives a full-time income of over $150,000 from his position in Congress. Still serving his freshman term, he hasn’t yet made a career of politics, but there seems to be a good chance that his intention is to remain a full-time politician with no involvement in another career, at least until he leaves that position. It would seem accurate, therefore, to classify him as a “professional” politician, although I would hope that after November we could not call him a “career” politician. Personally, I save the label of “career” politician for people with longstanding, full-time, paid political involvement, such as Bill Nelson, John Kerry, Nancy Pelosi, Teddy Kennedy, Mitch McConnell, and John Boehner.
It seems a bit incongruous to see people being accused of being “career” politicians when the position to which all our candidates are aspiring would be considered a career post. While some of the older candidates might not desire to pursue a Congressional career in lieu of retirement at an appropriate age, some of the younger candidates could certainly be hoping for a full-time career in Congress spanning twenty years, or longer. No candidate has promised to limit his or her term at this point in the 2010 election.
From my own standpoint, some government or business experience would be an advantage for anyone aspiring to fill the full-time, professional position as our District 8 representative in Congress. While someone with limited experience could certainly learn the job while occupying the position, it would be nice to know that our representative had some first-hand knowledge of the legislative process, organizational leadership, and parliamentary procedure.
Alan Grayson, of course, had no political experience before beginning his first term in Congress. He’s taken to the position like a duck to water, but it might have been instructive to us as voters to see him in action in the Florida State Legislature before electing him to Congress. Had we seen some of his current self-serving antics, perhaps we would not have been quite as quick to allow him to become our “professional” representative in Congress.
Kurt Kelly has signed a pledge to support the Rebublican nominee-whoever it is. Tom is correct. Our goal is to defeat Alan Grayson. If we are fragmented, we will see more years of Grayson and his support of the liberal Obama/Pelosi agenda.
That’s Republican- sorry for the typo
Mr. Kelly is a “Career Politician” and it seem that the only so called solutions a career politician can put forward is increase taxes and layer on more government regulations. These types of solutions (?) are the reason why we must replace the Career Politician. Patricia Sullivan is a Non-Politician that has a grass roots army that understand what her core principles are…smaller government, small business support, representation of all of the citizens in the 8th district, personal responsibility just to name a few. She understands that the way to grow an economy is for the government to “…GET OUT of the WAY…” So, let’s get rid of the career politicians like Kurt Kelly and replace them with non-politicians like Patricia Sullivan
Kurt Kelly has a few years (3 years) of legislative experience but so does MARCO RUBIO (8 years), JEFFERY ATWATER (8 years), and SARAH PALIN (3 years). In addition, these folks also have earned a bachelors degrees or higher.
So, am I reading that Pat Sullivan supporters prefer someone with NO legislative knowledge and experience. Hmmmm..so, Pat Sullivan supporters prefer a contractor to build their home who has never built a home? or Hmmmm..so, Pat Sullivan supporters prefer an ER doctor who has never set a broken bone? Interesting!!!
Kurt Kelly is THE CANDIDATE that can defeat Alan Grasyon.
Gabe, So you and Kurt are saying that even though we are inundated with a plethora of taxes that our career politicians, like Kurt with his yes Sun Rail vote, waste, we should add more taxes. That reminds me of a Ronald Reagan quote about the governments view of the economy, “If it moves tax it, if it still moves regulate it and if it stops moving subsidize it.” We have a Representative now who operates on this principle we don’t need his clone. Kurts’ liberal championing of more taxes is an in your face example of a career politician saying one thing to the voters but doing just the opposite as their representative. That’s why we need a representative who means what they say, we need PATRICIA SULLIVAN. Unlike Kurt and Todd who are trying to get some free press regarding Al Graysons’ use of his franking privilege when they know or should know there is nothing in the House Rules Book that makes what he did a rules violation, PATRICIA SULLIVANS’ House Ethics Complaint last October forced Al to alter his web site. She is the only one of the candidates who has actually stood up to Grayson and don’t forget, SHE WON. http://patriciasullivanforcongress.com/blog/
Listen to Dan Webster get thrown off the air
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AtYMAZXJQrU
And check out this website on Webster’s record in the legislature
http://worsethancristwebster.wordpress.com/
Go Patricia!
Everybody that supports the Fair Tax, supports a new tax. That includes you Richard. The sales tax is not a new tax. It is an old tax, this bill was just applying it to a different store front. If you oppose applying a sales tax to internet storefronts, then how do you propose to operate the government? If you are opposed to balancing Florida’s books, then you are opening the door for either other taxes or bankruptcy like California.
Now, who is paying for the SunRail, Richard? Obama or Florida. Last I checked, Obama is paying for it. How does that affect your property taxes?
richard riker:
who cares if it says it is strictly legal or not by ethics rules? does it square with *your* ethics? it doesn’t with mine or most people’s… i think the sentinel had a poll saying 93% agreed it was an abuse. just use your common sense man, it isn’t some kind of death struggle to kill the republican opponents. todd long is probably right that it is unconstitutional. kurt kelly is probably right that it is an abuse of taxpayer money. it’s okay man!
didn’t rubio support sunrail by the way? no one is screaming about him.
Steve Pickering must be entirely unfamiliar with the fact that Patricia Sullivan has promised (on numerous occasions) to stay in Washington as a US representative for no longer than 4 years (2 terms). Perhaps Steve is too hung up on the fact the other candidates in this race are clearly dedicated to make this position their career.
In the meantime, Kurt Kelly and Todd Long are grandstanding by filing suits (Todd) and charges FEC complaints (Kurt) over Alan’ Grayson’s use of kiting privileges. Granted, I find virtually any action taken on the part of Alan Grayson to be despicable. But the fact remains that some of them are in fact legal and within the rules.
All of us desire to have our Congressional representatives to remain in contact with their constituents. But rather than employ Kurt and Todd’s recent grandstanding approaches to get some free publicity on hollow charges, would it not be better to vow to change the rules. Perhaps altering the rules so that an incumbent is not allowed to use those kiting privileges once they’ve set up a re-election campaign… or perhaps stating they’re not allowed to use them within 6 months of the election. Filing those suits and complaints over perfectly legal actions by Alan Grayson makes Todd and Kurt look like children trying to play in an adult’s world.
On the other hand, I guess people have forgotten about this past October when Patricia Sullivan filed an FEC complaint over violations on the part of Alan Grayson and his tactics when they genuinely were against the rules of Congress. Patricia filed a complaint with the Office of Congressional Ethics. Grayson didn’t like it, but he was forced to back down and stop practicing his illegal activities.
So let’s review… Patricia Sullivan files a complaint about Alan Grayson and Alan Grayson is forced to back down and cease his illegal activity. Kurt Kelly files a complain about Alan Grayson’s legal activity and Alan Grayson laughs in the face of Kurt Kelly. Todd Long files a suit against Alan Grayson for his legal activity and Alan Grayson laughs in the face of Todd Long.
It would appear that perhaps Patricia Sullivan employed her Mama Grizzly tactics to protect the voters in this district (and win!!!) while the weak little boys against whom she’s contending for this office engage in the folly of filing frivolous complaints in their failed attempts at grandstanding.
But perhaps Kurt and Todd are merely looking to Grayson for inspiration. It was not too long ago that Grayson filed a similar frivolous complaint against Angela Langley for her website ( http://www.mycongressmanisnuts.com/ ). That rather places Todd, Kurt, and Grayson in one giant happy bed where they can continue filing frivolous legal actions… and even occasionally against one another. Have a read of this article about this particular the one I just spoke of: http://www.opensecrets.org/news/2010/06/rep-alan-grayson-not-nuts-about-fec.html
Maybe Kurt and Todd should be looking to Patricia Sullivan and taking a few notes on how to play with the big people and actually solving problems… that is of course when they’re through playing around with the other little boys.
Incidentally, here’s the article about Patricia Sullivan forcing Alan Grayson to back down. http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2009/10/gop-candidate-filing-ethics-complaint-against-grayson.php
I know that Kurt and Todd will surely want to take notes prior to further attempts at going up against Grayson. And perhaps they might want to put their big boy pants on when they do it the next time.
I guess Gabe has deluded himself (once again) now into believing that Obama is paying for SunRail. LOL! I’ll bet Gabe also believes that businesses pay taxes and doesn’t understand that business simply add the taxes they are charged onto the prices they charge for the goods and services they sell. Maybe it’s time for Gabe and Kurt Kelly to go back to school and take some economics courses. I understand the quality of education has improved in Marion County since Kurt is no longer on that school board.
Perhaps someone can take the time out to explain (perhaps in monosyllabic words so he can understand them) that Obama is NOT paying for SunRail. Our taxes are (and will continue to be) paying for SunRail. More precisely in this case, it’s money our Federal Government has borrowed from the Chinese and Japanese and Germans (and a few other nations) that is paying for SunRail. And the debt on that credit card will continue being paid for by our children, grandchildren… and a few generations after that. And that doesn’t even begin to address the annual operating costs of SunRail. SunRail is projected (just like every other light rail project) to continue losing money annually which will require subsidies from local and state governments (pay attention Gabe: that means out of your taxes) to annually keep SunRail afloat. Present estimates are that SunRail will be losing somewhere close to $100 million each year.
As for Steve Pickering’s contention that Kurt Kelly’s 6 years on the Marion County School Board should not count against Kurt as part of his career as a politician, I presume he’s aware that the mayor of Apopka who has been serving in the part time position of mayor there for the past 56 years is generally regarded as a career politician. So Steve, perhaps you can share with us what part time elected positions go towards the count of one’s political career and which ones don’t.
George Washington served 2 terms (8 years) as president of the United States. He served in no other elected offices. And yet, after those 2 terms, he stated that was more than enough for him or anyone else to serve and he voluntarily chose not to run again. Incidentally, that includes the total of all the offices for which he won election. Washington didn’t need to serve on a school board in an elected part time capacity nor did he need to worry about denying past elected offices. He was… ummmm… honest about it. Perhaps Kurt could take a lesson from that approach.
you are right. sunrail is funded from federal state and local sources. my bad. there’s my correction. I’ve already said I’m not a fan of sunrail. Enough with the distractions. stay on course with the premise of this article: Florida doesn’t need sales tax revenue from internet businesses.
From the bill:
“the tax erosion due to electronic commerce threatens the future viability of the sales tax as a stable revenue source for state and local governments”
Do you agree with this statement or do you reject it? If you agree, then what new tax do you propose to allow Florida to raise revenue? If you reject it, why do you think that electronic commerce will decrease and make the traditional sales tax viable again?
I’m not Gabe…I am a supporter of Kurt Kelly.
Pat Sullivan does not know what she is talking about and frankly the Pat Sullivan supporters are clueless.
Sounds like Mickey needs a little history lesson. George Washington was elected to the Virginia House of Burgesses, which was the state house for Virginia, for 16 years, I guess that makes George Washington a career politician! Oh ya, and he was also elected to be commander in chief of the continental army.
Next time, get your facts straight Mickey.
LOL Marty!
Perhaps you could explain why absolutely nothing will come of the grandstanding efforts of Kurt Kelly and Todd Long with Kurt’s complaint and Todd’s suit aside from each of them looking pretty clueless about the law since what Grayson did was totally legal under the current kiting procedures. All they’ve done is served to file frivolous complaints to throw their own names out there and advertise their respective ignorance of the law.
In turn, Patricia Sullivan filed a complaint that was legitimate and forced Grayson to reluctantly back down and cease that illegal activity which she reported.
Maybe, just maybe Patricia knows more about the law and legal process than accident/injury attorney Todd Long and career politician Kurt Kelly combined. Maybe it’s time for both of them to sit up and pay attention to our local Mama Grizzly and realize when they’re outmatched.
As for you Gabe, I was only responding to your clueless remarks about SunRail. I didn’t introduce the topic.
I think you have an awful lot to learn about commerce in general and eCommerce in particular before you make any attempts to engage me or anyone else in a debate. And while you’re at it, you might want to review tax code and tax laws as well as the means states and municipalities use to fund themselves.
If a candidate says they are against new taxes and against raising present taxes and then they sponsor legislation to introduce new taxes, there’s a technical term for it: LIAR. And it would appear that term adequately describes Kurt Kelly. More likely it makes it clear that the people to which he feels allegiance are the power brokers, party leaders, and fellow career politicians who tell good old Kurt how to cast his votes… instead of listening to the will of the people.
Then again, that style of politics is pretty typical of career politicians so seeing that behavior from Kurt Kelly should really surprise no one.
What makes you a tax expert Mickey? You can’t even answer my simple question about the viability of the sales tax.
Mickey, you must think the state government runs on unicorn power. I am opposed to excessive spending as much as the next guy, but I’m not an anarchist (like you and the rest of the Ron Paul nuts on this site). I understand that government needs a minimal ability to tax.
Utah is the reddest state in the union and they support this internet sales tax act. Why would a bunch of conservative utah mormons support it if it was so bad?
The bottom line is that this mostly affects states that depend on sales tax. Why don’t we see new york and california on the list? They have income taxes. If Florida’s sales tax becomes obsolete, Tallahassee will be forced to create a state income tax. That will prevent people from moving to florida and hurt our economy further.
By arguing against the viability of the sales tax, you are arguing in favor of a state income tax. The sales tax works for Florida and needs to remain viable.
1) It is my understanding that the Fair Tax is a consumption tax on new products, designed to REPLACE or SUNSET other taxes; for example, the Federal Income Tax (by repeal of the 16th Amendment), corporate taxes, capital gains tax, gift and estate taxes, and self-employment taxes – just to name a few. So it’s not a NEW tax, it’s an alternative tax.
2) Research indicates our Founding Fathers, even those who you might call career politicians, were not getting rich on the tax payers. Much the opposite, some were bankrupted by serving the country. That does not happen today. Now, our career politicians have used their power to enrich the governing elite, at the expense of the governed. Power corrupts. Many now in our legislative branch have discovered the more powerful they are (partly because of time served) the more valuable they are to special interests who will supplement the salaries they vote for themselves.
3) We need to get back to the attitude that service to our country is NOT supposed to make you rich, or support you throughout your career. That’s why I’m voting for Patricia Sullivan; she understands that elected office is service to the electors.
LOL to the one or two Pat Sullivan supporters who write on this blog. Ya’ll need to take a dose of reality. Pat Sullivan is not smart and clueless on issues. She doesn’t have the spunk or intelligence like the real “Mama Grizzly”…Sarah Palin. Stop trying to compare Pat with Sarah.
LOL Marty! When you reduce the number of Kurt Kelly fans who comment on this site to the 2 or 3 people total they actually represent, Kurt’s not got a lot of supporters. What he does have though are 2 to 3 people who are (for whatever reason) afraid to identify themselves and instead operate under a broad range of aliases. And yes, it’s easily traceable to the actual 2 or 3 IP addresses they are using for all their posts. Often they even track back to the same 2 or 3 email addresses. But you all should keep that up as it really is a strong indicator of how desperate the Kurt Kelly campaign is.
Since no one aside from you and a few others who have no idea who Patricia Sullivan is or the principles for which she stands insist on calling her Pat Sullivan, I can only surmise that you have her confused with the 1971 winner of the Heisman Trophy.. To learn that you don’t inform yourself about the other candidates is not really a great surprise since you’re also not apparently familiar with the statements and actions of Kurt Kelly who you support.
Patricia actually has infinitely more smarts and nerve than you who insist on posting with aliases when you support Kurt Kelly. Although, if I was a Kurt Kelly supporter I’d probably feel a need to use an alias as well out of pure shame.
TerriD, you’re absolutely correct in that the Fair Tax is a consumption tax on new products. There are some leftists/progressives who’d like to introduce a consumption tax… but on top of the federal income tax. True supporters of the Fair Tax want it enacted and the 16th amendment (which created the Federal Income Tax) repealed creating the net effect that all taxes presently enforced under the auspices of the IRS (including all those you mentioned and others) would go away replaced by a single consumption tax called the Fair Tax.
And you’re also correct that our founding fathers virtually bankrupted themselves personally in order to serve their nation and fight for it. None of them became wealthy as a direct result of their involvement in government. That contrasts greatly with the career politicians of today who make a killing on the salaries they are paid in conjunction with all the money that floats under the table to them… to say nothing of the opportunities made available to them as lobbyists and guest speakers after their tenure in public office expires.
Marty, as for your contention about Patricia not possessing “the spunk or intelligence” needed for the job, I’d say she possesses quite a bit of both. Alan Grayson backed down from her when she filed a complaint about his activities. When your boy Kelly attempted to file a complain against Grayson, Grayson merely laughed in his face. Hint: that’s because your boy Kelly’s complaint was without merit since Grayson (in spite of the fact I despise him) executed that mailer by the rules governing kiting. Maybe your boy Kelly could stand to invest a little time researching his facts before he makes a fool of himself with further unfounded frivolous complaints. Then again, he’s always got you there to act the role of a jester when he needs a foolish act or statement made… LOL!