The Senate is set to vote on a bill Monday making it easier for states to collect sales taxes for online purchases, and it’s expected to pass with strong bipartisan support. That would be a victory for traditional stores, says Steve DeMaura, the president of Americans for Job Security.
"It definitely would be a victory for brick and mortar stores and for really any business that has a blended model," DeMaura told Newsmax TV, adding, "People that sell both on the internet and in local brick and mortar stores have become some of the strongest advocates" of the bill.
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DeMaura, the former executive director of the New Hampshire Republican State Committee, said he is not surprised there is support for the bill from within the GOP. "Some people like it because it returns power to the states. Some people like it because it gets rid of a subsidy in the tax code. And others like it just because of basic fairness and common sense," he explained.
As for concerns that the measure could trigger states to abuse buyers with unfair tariffs, DeMaura said "There is a lot of fear-mongering going on out there . . . but it’s really just not grounded in fact or truth."
He continued, "It’s very common that if you do business in a state, you have to comply with the rules and regulations that are in that state, and if you don’t like the regulatory structure that they have because it’s bad, then don’t do business in that state."
DeMaura said the bill could also pass in the House, noting "Congressman (Paul) Ryan issued some support for the concept in the last few days and a lot of other people have really started to mention how they think this is kind of a commonsense idea and they just want to tweak what the bill itself looks like."
DeMaura, who has headed the pro-business group for the past five years, also addressed the latest official figures which showed the unemployment rate was down to 7.5 percent.
"We’re seeing a lot of cheering from the Washington Wall Street crowd . . . but the truth of the matter is that these numbers are very weak," he said, pointing out that they do not include "the many people who have dropped out of the labor pool."
"Anybody who’s taken a class in basic economics knows that the smaller the labor pool, the worse our economy is," he continued. 'So these numbers do not represent the true state of our economy. And the real reason is because of the anti-job, anti-growth policies that this administration has put in place."
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