Free Market Focus: Internet Sales Tax Hurts Small Businesses

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July 10, 2013     |    Discover more at Heritage's Enterprise and Free Markets webpage

Former Virginia Governor Confirms: Internet Sales Tax Hurts Small Businesses The misnamed Marketplace Fairness Act (MFA), commonly called the Internet sales tax, recently passed the Senate and awaits action in the House. If it becomes law, it would force online retailers to collect sales taxes from residents in states in which the businesses have no attachment, overturning the physical presence standard that has long determined whether businesses need to collect sales taxes in certain states. In a recent article, former Governor of Virginia Jim Gilmore wrote about the MFA: "In the American marketplace, businesses large and small compete for customers and revenue based on the value proposition that they offer the consumer... The Marketplace Fairness Act distorts these principles at the expense of small businesses and for the benefit of large corporations." READ THE FULL STATEMENT  >>

Can You Opt Out of Your Union Dues? I joined the United Food and Commercial Workers Union Local 1245 as a high school student in New Jersey. Having to pay union dues in high school surprised me. But I was working to save money for college and did not investigate further. I did not know that I didn’t have to give the union that much money. Workers at unionized companies have the right to opt out of some or all union dues. The Supreme Court ruled in Communication Workers of America vs. Beck (1988) that unions cannot force workers to fund their political activities. I could have kept that portion of these dues. LEARN THE TRUTH ABOUT YOUR RIGHTS >>

Raising the Minimum Wage: Bad Ideas Have Consequences Liberals argue that raising the minimum wage boosts the economy without costing jobs. To which conservatives often respond: then why not really hike it and see what happens? Venture capitalist Nick Hanauer appears to have taken this rhetorical point literally. He recently proposed raising the minimum wage to $15 an hour. Hanauer predicts this would raise consumption by $450 billion, growing businesses and creating jobs. If only. America has already tried this — and the results were not pretty. . FIND OUT WHAT HAPPENED >>

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