|
April 7, 2000
For
immediate release
Contact: Chad Cowan at (202)785-0266 or
ccowan@atr-dc.org
Sen. George Voinivich to Internet Users: Drop
Dead
WASHINGTON- Today Senator George Voinivich (R-OH) spoke at a
press conference to urge Congress to reject the taxpayer-friendly
report to be submitted by the federal Advisory Commission on
Electronic Commerce (ACEC).
The Internet, which the
Senator placed in his tax increase crosshairs following his failure
to implement a 20 percent increase in sales taxes while Governor of
Ohio, has been under attack from the pro-tax increase forces for
more than two years.
“Voinivich’s continued
assault on the Internet should be viewed as a direct threat to
taxpayers and to those who utilize the Internet in their daily
lives,” said Grover Norquist, president of Americans for Tax Reform
and a staunch defender of keeping the Internet free from government
intervention.
“Today, state and local
governments are running sizeable budget surpluses,” Norquist
added. “I don’t
understand how Voinivich can call for taxing the Internet to
increase state and local revenues at a time when state and local
governments have more money than they have ever had. Moreover, state and local
revenue has grown from 6.9 percent of GDP to 9 percent of GDP from
1968 to 1998.”
“Why do states need more
money if they are running surpluses and their revenue has increased
significantly as a percentage of GDP since the late 1960s,” Norquist
wondered.
“The final report of the ACEC
was a strong statement to pro-tax increase forces that their plans
to raise taxes will be opposed,” Norquist continued. “Sen. Voinivich and other
members of the pro-tax coalition are attempting to undermine the
hard work of the commission by lobbying Congress to reject the final
plan adopted by the ACEC.”
Americans for Tax Reform is a non-partisan coalition
of taxpayers and taxpayer groups who oppose all federal and state
tax increases. To
arrange an interview with Mr. Norquist or for more information
please contact Chad Cowan at (202)785-0266.
-30-
| 