Marketplace Fairness Act of 2013
I like that somebody wants to level the playing field between the local retailer down the street and Amazon or Ebay. You see Amazon, Ebay and the rest have an advantage at finding customers because the customer may not pay sales tax on the purchase. Oh, sales tax is required by law, it is just the very few if any report it and pay it on our own.
I’m not in favor of taxes, new or existing but if the retailer down the street must collect in and pay it, then the retailer in California, New York or New Delhi should pay the same so that capitalism competes on a level playing field.
The Marketplace Fairness Act looks like it will do this. However I am worried about data – tax rates – being distributed and updated and the general involvement of the Federal Government. When was the last time the Federal Government did something for us without taxing us for the privilege. My fear, and it may be unfounded, is that before too long, the Feds will want a cut of this billion dollar pie.
I’ve sent an email to Ann Wagner’s and Roy Blunt’s staff with my views. Please take a look and voice your concerns to your representative and senators too.
Right to Vote
All citizens should cherish and exercise their right to vote, but while it is our right, it does not mean this is effortless. Consider the men and women who have fought and died to obtain and protect our form of citizen-based government.
As Lincoln, our first Republican President reminded us, this is “government of the people, by the people, for the people.”
So in recent years, with the advent of the Internet, there have been rumors about polling places that are less than stellar in identifying voters and insuring not only a clean and fair election but the ‘perception’ of a clean and fair election.
The Missouri House and Senate have passed a bill to insure proper identification for every one that votes and our Governor has vetoed it. So I’m writing my state elected officials. Please feel free to copy, cut and paste.
Here’s what I said:
I agree with requiring an ID when voting. Voting is a right but it does not have to be effortless and it should be free of even a hint of fraud.
House Bills 48 and 216 provide for a process to obtain proper identification at no cost. It even provides for mobile access to those not able to travel to a fixed location to obtain such identification. It provides for provisional ballots in case identification in cases where the photo identification is not available on the election day and a path to follow up with proper identification to count these votes, as in the case of close elections.
This is well thought out bill and am in favor of is passage. Please find a way to gather support and wield the veto-proof majority we hear so much about to pass this bill.
Please write or email your Missouri Representative or Senator and let them know how you feel.
Even if you don’t agree with me….
http://www.house.mo.gov/member.aspx
http://www.senate.mo.gov
—-Update 02.20.2013—-
I wrote 4 Republican and 1 Democratic State Representatives last week. One Republican answered within 5 minutes. The rest of the Republicans within an hour.
Bill Otto is my State Representative and four days later I received this:
Mr. Klein,
Thanks for your thoughts on this matter. Although this bill might look good on the surface, I am concerned about the unintended consequences if this bill becomes law. I believe this has a potential of disqualifying folks who have had the privilege of voting for years without this additional requirement. There were virtually no examples of voter fraud in this state so it appears as if we are passing laws for the sake of passing laws. I believe we need less government not more and this does not meet that goal.
That being said, the Voter ID Bill did pass out of the House, so keep an eye on it in the Senate side to see if it will reach the Governor’s desk.
Thanks for the email & keep in touch.
One thing I liked was his statement that we need less government not more. Let’s see in the future how this holds up.
Keeping open those lines, I replied with this:
Thank you for your reply.
You are correct that there has been virtually no example of voter fraud such as district 40 in 2010, where a primary was determined by one vote. While this example bothers me, I am equally concerned about the perception of voter fraud. For whatever reason, good or bad, there is a lot of talk in the media and Internet about voter fraud and this gives a perception of a problem. Once our electorate starts to doubt the process, they will stop participating. You just ran a campaign and you are aware at the disparity between the numbers of registered voters vs. active voters.
Our goal here should be to add confidence to the process and integrity to the results.
Men and women have fought and died over the years to give us this right. This bill has nothing in the way of barriers to the process other than planning ahead on the part of the voter and yet it assures an honest election. The bill provides free access to an photo ID, delivery if you cannot travel to obtain one as well as a process to find it days later in case it is lost or stolen on the day of an election.
I truly agree with your comment that we need less government not more, however I believe in this information age we may need more evidence of honesty and integrity in the voting process.
Please consider lending your vote should this return to the house because of veto or other procedural process.
Remember, it is about the perception of honesty and accuracy we need to protect to keep voter involvement as high as possible.
School Board
The Francis Howell School Board and Missouri State Representative Bryan Spencer is at odds about the possibility that Mr. Spencer can take a leave of absence to serve the citizens of Missouri and return to the classroom after term limits force him out of office.
After speaking with several board members, I found out there is a Form 510 (Form 0510 for policy 4320) to submit suggestions for changes to school policy, I filled it out and gathered extra signatures. (See the comment in Why Write.)
This submission included the policy and regulation suggestions:
I have received an email from the FHSD Policy Committee Chairman, Ray Eernisse, that the recommendation will be reviewed at the March 4th policy committee meeting and then on April 4th presented to the Board of Education for a first reading. Then the policy will be part of the April 18th school board meeting for a second reading and vote for approval.
Will our suggestion pass? Who knows. Will it be considered and debated? The future looks bright.
Tom Klein
Update: 02/16/2013
One thing I didn’t mention is that the Form 510 was unknown to me when I started down this path. It was mentioned by the FHSD BOE President at a meeting at a meeting I attended. So I contacted the BOE Secretary, Patti Knight and she sent me a copy.
Since then I have been assured by Ray Eernisse, the Chief Information Officer that this form will be posted on the FHSD website so that people like you can get involved
Update: 02/28/2013
Get involved!
There is a Policy Board meeting on March 4th. Before that date, take a moment and write an email to the leadership of that committee. Please consider recommending the policy in general and not its application to any specific individual.
Mr. Hodits can be reached at marty.hodits@fhsdschools.org.
Mr. Eernisse can be reached at ray.eernisse@fhsdschools.org.
Mr. Supple can be reached at kevin.supple@fhsdschools.org.
All Members
Marty Hodits, Board Representative
Ray Eernisse, Chairperson
Lisa Blaha Sherri Brown Ray Eernisse Dr. Will Vanderpool Marty Hodits Dr. Ted Huff Kevin Supple Deborah Nichols Dr. Jennifer Patterson Anita Miller
Update: 04/05/2013
Ray Eernisse let me know that Mother Nature snowed out the last Policy Committee meeting. This policy will be on agenda of the next committee meeting on April 15th.
This means this is up for the first reading to the board on May 16th.
Hyde Amendment
Since 1977, for over 30 years, Congress has passed on a yearly basis a legislative provision barring the use of certain federal funds to pay for abortions. It has been known as the Hyde Amendment.
When President Obama pushed for Health Care Reform last year, he wanted this provision to be a permanent addition to the new law. Every president from Gerald Ford forward has let the language, the existence of this provision be based on the due process of our Congress.
Not our current President. When the health care reform was passed without such permanent language, President Obama took it upon himself to have his way. Sounds a little to much like ‘my way or the highway’ or perhaps more like ‘it is good to be king’.
So I wrote him a letter.
Please read: President Obama and Hyde Amendment
