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."