McCain: Internet
Tax 'Pernicious'
Stumping in New Hampshire, the GOP
presidential candidate says Net taxes should be 'permanently
banned.'
By Michael R. Zimmerman, PC
Week ©
January 11, 2000 3:10 PM PT
CONCORD, N.H. -- Presidential hopeful John
McCain on Tuesday reiterated his call to keep the Internet
free from taxation and out of the hands of self-serving
politicians.
Though
McCain spent the day stumping for his tax plan, which he
officially announced here this morning, the issue seemingly
dear to the Arizona senator's heart is the Internet tax ban.
In a question-and-answer session following a
luncheon with the Concord Chamber of Commerce, McCain said,
"I think the real pernicious tax that's out there is the
Internet tax."
"My friends, that should be permanently
banned," he continued. "If it wasn't for the
moratorium we enacted a couple of years ago, there would have
been an additional $600 million in new sales tax paid by
average American citizens just over the holiday season. So I
think that part of any commitment of not raising taxes should
be a commitment to maintaining a permanent ban on Internet
taxing."
McCain downplayed any negative impact such a
ban would have on traditional "bricks-and-mortar"
companies that have no Web presence.
"Actually, I see small-town businesses
in New Hampshire and all over the country prospering," he
said. "And I also see many of these businesses going on
the Internet with their own Web sites getting significant
revenues out of it and reaching people they never have
before."
He added that "sales tax revenues,
since we put the moratorium on, in New Hampshire and all over
America, have gone up."
Rolling out the plan
Overall, the tax plan was well-received by
the McCain faithful who were present to rub elbows with, or at
least get a glimpse of, the current Republican front-runner in
New Hampshire polls.
As of Tuesday morning, McCain led Gov. George
W. Bush 41 percent to 34.
Mary Erickson, for one, liked what she
heard. The New Hampshire native drove the 25 miles from her
home in Hillsborough to be here for the tax-plan rollout -- a
plan that calls for a whopping $237 billion in tax cuts and
that raises the 15 percent income tax bracket up to $70,000
for married couples ($35,000 for single people).
The increased tax bracket would, in essence,
push the number of taxpayers paying that rate by over 25
million in five years.
Erickson -- who said the first primary
candidate speech she ever attended was Harry Truman's in
Massachusetts -- said she's tired of the current tax situation
and specifically of having to pay tax on her Social Security
income.
'It's not right'
"It's not right," she said.
She's also looking for someone who tells it
like it is -- a "straight-talking" person just like
Hillsborough native son Franklin Pierce, the 14th U.S.
president.
At the end of the speech, Erickson, with
McCain's autograph in hand, strolled toward the exit and said,
"I like what I heard."
