AN ODD-BEDFELLOW COALITION
[SOURCE: National Review Online, AUTHOR: Kristina Rasmussen]
[Commentary] What's this? Democrats and Republicans agreeing? What's next? Dogs
hanging out with cats? Key congressional players from both parties have
realized the potential gains of making permanent a soon-to-expire federal
moratorium on Internet-access taxes. This would mean no discriminatory taxes on
Internet services -- a policy more and more Democrats are coming around to
support. Why? 1) A low-tax Internet is affordable for Americans of all income
levels. Telecom taxes can add 20 percent or more to a wireless phone bill.
Because this burden tends to fall hardest on lower-income households, many
Democrats don't want to be responsible for putting Internet access out of reach
for the very Americans they profess to care the most about. 2) The ban has
helped create a dynamic Internet environment that is opening up new employment
and commerce opportunities. This is especially good news for the blue states
where manufacturing jobs are departing for warmer climates. 3) Democrats can
tune their rhetoric on the moratorium so that its in sync with the familiar
(but shrill) song about protecting the Internet with (economically
destructive) net neutrality rules. Its hard to imagine the net-neutrality
scheme having any upside, but thats a fight for another day. In the here and
now, Democrats gain an undeniable political benefit by relating these two
issues.
http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=MmQ3NWNkZTgxMDNiNGE0MGIxMGVhZmYzNDY5NTlhNmQ=
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