Internet Taxation – A Dual Issue For Both Sides
Internet Taxation is a hot button issue that has hit all sides of the spectrum in heated debates since the late nineteen nineties. This is an issue that covers many grounds. The common misconception is that Internet taxation is simply the taxing of purchases bought on the Internet either through consumer-to-consumer e-commerce or business-to-consumer e-commerce. But, while this does remain one of the issues, the most worrisome to those behind the scenes is the second half of this complex issue - the use of the Internet in lieu of a telephone line. Both of these issues could affect consumers & businesses alike, but in different ways. Some of these ways can be temporarily damaging to local
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Since this is still a new & upcoming technology little is known about its power, but it yields a lot of it. This was addressed last year in HR Bill 49’s counterpart S Bill 150. This was a bill that held up largely by state concerns over revenues, particularly as Internet telephony (referred to as voice over Internet protocol, or VOIP) begins to replace traditional - and heavily taxed - telephone service (Atkinson 1). There is much controversy, as one can imagine, over what this new technology would mean to the telephone industry and all that is tied to. Many fear the loss of revenue would be detrimental to local & state economies as well as cause the loss of jobs. This loss of revenue is also feared to cause a cut in services, such as emergency or police response, which are funded by such taxes. To address this issue further the Multi-State Tax Commission issued a report claiming that H.R. 49 will reduce state and local taxes by up to $22 billion annually. This result is based on the erroneous assumption that the law changes will exempt all telecommunications services from all state and local taxes. The actual impact comes from two separate pieces. The first impact comes from the elimination of the grandfather clause in ITFA that currently allows up to 10 states to continue to impose state and local taxes on Internet access. The Congressional Budget Office has estimated this cost to range from …show more content…
19 June 2000. The Illinois Tax Foundation. 17 July 2004 http://www.taxpayfedil.org/aview.htm
Atkinson, Robert “To Tax Or Not To Tax? That Is The Question” 4 February 2004. The Consumer Internet Access Coalition 17 July 2004 http://www.noemailtax.com/news/thequestion.html
Cline, Robert; Ernst & Young. “Critique Of Multistate Tax Commission’s State & Local Revenue Impact Estimates Of H.R. 49.” 1 October 2003 The Consumer Internet Access Coalition. 17 July 2004 http://www.noemailtax.com/about_s150/mtc_rebuttal.html
“Internet Taxation.” Citizens Against Government Waste. Posting Date Not Available. Council For Citizens Against Government Waste. 17 July 2004
Women started to accuse other women and they also accused a few men. Murrin details that this caused a challenge in the local judical system: “…a number of judicial irregularities, including an unusual heavy dependence by the courts on spectral evidence ( when an accused witch’s spirit or specter, supposedly tormented the victim) and the use of open confessions by the accused to escape punishment” (339). New England had a organized way of doing things when it came it witches, but once accusations arose in Salem they started a new system which led their town into hysteria. “The Salem witch panic stands out, in part, because the judicial execution of twenty people within three months became an event of enormous drama in a region that hanged comparatively few offenders and in a colony that hanged only five people for witchcraft before 1692 and only one before 1656”
The Salem, Massachusetts Witch Trials have generated extensive evaluation and interpretation. To explain the events in Salem, psychological, political, environmental, physical, and sociological analysis have all been examined. The authors Linnda Caporael, Elaine Breslaw, Anne Zeller, and Richard Latner all present differing perspectives to speculate about the events of the Salem Witch Trials. This changing interpretation and perspective has resulted in an extensive historiography to explain the
The Salem Witch Trials were a series of prosecutions of men and women who were accused to practice witchcraft or have associations with the devil. The first Salem witch trial began with two girls in 1692, Elizabeth Parris and Abigail Williams who started to have “fits”, in which they would throw tantrums and have convulsions. The random outburst of the girls threw the town of Salem into a mass of hysteria. Although historians have not found a definite reason or cause for the witch trials, they have taken different approaches to explain the hysteria that took over Salem. Some historians approach a psychological theory by proposing the girls suffered from diseases that made them act out. Other historians refer to factors such as religion, economics, and weather to explain the beginnings of an unforgettable time in Salem, Massachusetts. For over 300 years, historians have tried to reveal the truth about the beginnings of the Salem Witch Trials, but in order to do so historians must look at both the way of life in Salem in the seventeenth century and use knowledge that is available now to explain the phenomenon.
During the time of the Salem Witchcraft Trials of 1692, more than twenty people died an innocent death. All of those innocent people were accused of one thing, witchcraft. During 1692, in the small town of Salem, Massachusetts many terrible events happened. A group of Puritans lived in Salem during this time. They had come from England, where they were prosecuted because of their religious beliefs. They chose to come live in America and choose their own way to live. They were very strict people, who did not like to act different from others. They were also very simple people who devoted most of their lives to God. Men hunted for food and were ministers. Women worked at home doing chores like sewing, cooking, cleaning, and making clothes. The Puritans were also very superstitious. They believed that the devil would cause people to do bad things on earth by using the people who worshiped him. Witches sent out their specters and harmed others. Puritans believed by putting heavy chains on a witch, that it would hold down their specter. Puritans also believed that by hanging a witch, all the people the witch cast a spell on would be healed. Hysteria took over the town and caused them to believe that their neighbors were practicing witchcraft. If there was a wind storm and a fence was knocked down, people believed that their neighbors used witchcraft to do it. Everyone from ordinary people to the governor’s wife was accused of witchcraft. Even a pregnant woman and the most perfect puritan woman were accused. No one in the small town was safe. As one can see, the chaotic Salem Witchcraft Trials of 1692 were caused by superstition, the strict puritan lifestyle, religious beliefs, and hysteria.
As flawed people, achieving perfection is an impossible task. Yet, despite this inevitability, individuals strive for perfection only to reveal and witness imperfections. The Puritan lifestyle attempted to achieve this unattainable mission by setting strict morals upon the people of Salem, Massachusetts, however they struggled to do so. Salem faced a major change as a result of the Puritan ambition. Because of their thought on the ideal community as a straitlaced society, those who portrayed an imperfect model were to be isolated. Suspicion flooded the holy Puritan town, and led to accusations of innocent people. After a close analysis, it may be relevant to look at the Puritan belief system as a possible catalyst for the events that occurred during the Salem witch trials.
Witchcraft had been around long before the Salem witch trials. “Indeed by 1692 the “witch craze,” which had begun in Europe around 1500, was distinctly on the wane so that the trials in the Salem Village were among the last of the major outbreaks-if the execution of only twenty persons entitles this outbreak to be called “major” in the history of European witchcraft.” However, if this was one of the last instances of witches, why is it so famous? They are different in many ways. “Before the outbreak at Salem Village, trials for witchcraft had been fairly common events in colonial America, but they had not invariably resulted in executions or even in conviction.” The other reason the trials are so famous, is the highlight of this paper about proving that the trials were just an act put on by the children who started this outbreak. “Only in 1692 did the accusations multiply so quickly and develop an entire community.”
The Salem Witchcraft Trials of 1692 were the largest outbreak of witch hunting in colonial New England up to that time. Although it was the largest outbreak, it was not something that was new. Witch-hunting had been a part of colonial New England since the formation of the colonies. Between the years 1648 to 1663, approximately 15 witches were executed. During the winter of 1692 to February of 1693, approximately 150 citizens were accused of being witches and about 25 of those died, either by hanging or while in custody. There is no one clear-cut answer to explain why this plague of accusations happened but rather several that must be examined and tied together. First, at the same time the trials took place, King William's War was raging in present day Maine between the colonists and the Wabanaki Indians with the help of the French. Within this war, many brutal massacres took place on both sides, leaving orphaned children due to the war that had endured very traumatic experiences. Second, many of the witch accusations were based on spectral evidence, most of which were encounters of the accused appearing before the victim and "hurting" them. There were rampant "visions" among the colonies' citizens, which can only be explained as hallucinations due to psychological or medical conditions by virtue of disease, or poisoning.
The Salem Witch Trials were a time of confusion, where half a dozen girl accusers threw the town of Salem on its head. The end result was 19 hung and one crushed to death for failure to admit or deny witchcraft and 150 more were imprisoned throughout the course of the trial (Hall p38). The Puritans came to the “New World” for their religious freedom to fallow their ideals for a new way of life, the “perfect way of life.” They were issued charter--to live on the land--. The King Phillip’s war labeled as “[t]he bloodiest war in America’s history …which…took place in New England in 1675” (Tougias par.1) had a dramatic effect on the Puritan society. Their charter was revoked and reinstated at least twice throughout the course of the war. This stress of having their land revoked and reinstated without a doubt placed pressure on the society as a whole to develop and become self-sustaining entity free from England. After the war people would look to the church even more than they had in the past for guidance. This set the seen for the problems to come. The churches relentless attempt to maintain the society that they had established was the cause of the Salem witch trials.
The notorious witch trials of Salem, Massachusetts occurred from June through September. It is a brief, but turbulent period in history and the causes of the trials have long been a source of discussion among historians. Many try to explain or rationalize the bizarre happenings of the witch hunts and the causes that contributed to them. To understand the trials and how they came to be, we must first examine the ideals and views of the people surrounding the events. Although religious beliefs were the most influential factor, socioeconomic tensions, and ergot poisoning are also strongly supported theories. A combination of motives seems the most rational explanation of the frenzy that followed the illness of the two girls. This paper looks closely at the some of the possible causes of one of the most notable occurrences in history.
The University of California – San Francisco Medical Center is one the best hospitals in the country. In 2010 the hospital was the seventh best hospital out of 100’s of others. How does a hospital reach this level of success? A hospital such as UCSF they have to be willing and able to find better and new ways to approach the care for their patients. Superb patient care is only one of the reasons why UCSF is one of the best. The innovative research and the extensive education in the Science of Health at their medical school are more reasons. UCSF Medical Center has been known to specialize in many of areas of medicine but there are areas they are most popular for. They also have many strategic plans that are already being putting in affect to better their hospital reputation and for the coming years.
The Progressive Era was a time period between the years 1900-1920 and it marked a time in American history in which society was bursting with enthusiasm to improve life in the industrial age by making political and social changes through government action that ultimately led to a higher quality of life for American citizens. Progressives were known for their beliefs in limiting the power of big business, strengthening the power of the states, and were advocators against corruption and social injustice. These progressive reformers as well as the Federal Government successfully managed to improve the quality of life and establish a precedent for a move active government, although neither was completely successful in solving significant issues the nation faced.
The exhibit that I viewed at the Philadelphia Museum of Art was one about European Art between the years 1100-1500. This was a series of paintings, sculptures, architecture, and tapestry of the Medieval and Early Renaissance as well as objects from the Middle East. This exhibit was an important part of the history of the Philadelphia Museum of Art because for the first time, Italian, Spanish, and Northern European paintings from the John G. Johnson collection were shown. It gave me a good idea of what the paintings were like in these four centuries and reflected ideas of both the east and the west.
The introduction of the Internet as an additional mass communication media has created new alternatives for information transmission. The ensuing popularity of the Internet has created many challenges that the public sector must deal with. Estimates in 1999 found that there are approximately 171 million Internet users worldwide (Group Computing, Jan/Feb 2000, p. 56). Change in the societal environment has made the Internet an integral part of the American economy.
The Internet began in 1969 as a project “ARPANET” funded by the U.S. Government, since then the use of the Internet has exploded. The number of users who use the Internet has rapidly grown from 738 million in 2000 to 3.2 billion users according to a new report from the International Telecommunication Union. The Internet is constantly expanding and evolving and the use of government regulation on the internet has become a big issue. Censorship of the Internet has be suggested to prevent many things such as pornography, hateful speech, and instructions to make bombs. Censorship of this content has be justified to lead to the greater good, even if consumers are limited to the information they can find or put on the internet. The internet it a
One of the fundamental factors that has affected the process of economic globalization is the improvements in the technology of transportation and communications. This has reduced the costs of transporting goods, services, and factors of production and of communicating economically useful knowledge and technology. There is no doubt that advances in information and communications technology are the most important technological advances of the past quarter century (Mussa, 2000). By far, the most important and business altering advancement is the internet. There is evidence everywhere that the internet has greatly affected international trade. The internet has opened up the world, and brought it right into everyone's home and business. In addition, technology and the internet have greatly reduced the costs of doing business. Even the smallest operation can now go global via the internet at almost no cost. However, there are still some problems that face these e-commerce activities. These problems are shot-term challenges and can be met. The key issues center around two areas: