Jackson Jambalaya

I've gotten used to the economic ignorance somewhat at the "state" newspaper. Business editors that don't know the difference between a credit bureau and credit rating agency. Editorial writers that think the federal reserve is a government agency. You get the idea. However, their editorial yesterday about taxing internet sales deserves comment.

Maybe it escaped their notice, but Mississippi is a poor state. The internet has leveled the playing field somewhat for Mississippi businesses to compete and increase their sales. Someone should point out to them that increased sales means.....drum roll..... more income taxes. The internet has made it possible for a businesses such as Gail Pittman, Cups, Southern Breeze, and Mississippi Cheese Straws to reach customers in ways that were not possible before the internet as the costs for advertising on a nationwide scale made it virtually impossible for them to do so. Slapping them with an internet sales tax puts them at a disadvantage not just against competitors in other states but also in other countries for the internet marketplace is global, not American.

The biggest development of the last 25 years has been the rise of the internet and there is a reason for it: minimal government regulation and low, if any, taxes. However, the economic doofuses at the Clarion-Ledger would rather kill the goose that lays the golden egg. When we want Mississippi to be a leader, this is not quite what we have in mind.

However, since the Clarion-Ledger is so concerned with closing tax loopholes, perhaps it should lead by example and write an editorial calling for the closing of the sales tax exemption for newspapers.

I wonder when David Hampton or Ronnie Agnew will write that editorial.