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1. 

   cheep squirrel, 29 Jan 2005 @ 11:03am

   
   

   taxes

   and government. the only way to truely kill something is to starve it. so the natural thing that must be done to government it to starve it of one thing that makes it go, which is taxes. this has never worked, of course, but one has to try.
   
   I doubt that tax everything communications can work either though the number of users of the internet is a smaller number than the dumb masses that would cry out if you taxed them, so probably putting a tax on the internet connection and various other ways will work. there are sufficient technological ways to disguise most any specific part of what is on the interenet and get around taxation, so taxing at the lowest level is probably the only way to get it. It'll probably kill off the internet to do so, however, as the masses that see no problem paying the $20 / month that pump in millions will fade away if is suddenly costs $30 or $40, other than to feed some dips**t in DC. And though some core users will be stuck needing the internet, fact is that people ran on direct T1 lines privately for a hell of a long time before the internet grew to what is was, and it could just as easily be made to wither with idiots trying to tax it. as well as regulate it, but the posting didn't mention that.

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2. 

   lemon obrien, 29 Jan 2005 @ 3:43pm

   
   

   taxes suck the life out of the economy

   I think the whole american government is totally bloated...instead of taxing us, how about laying off all the lazy stupid government workers.
   
   I'm a total capitalist, but it seems to me its time to move to france.

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3. 

   Clouser, 30 Jan 2005 @ 6:53am

   
   

   Tax

   I'll pay the tax if the funds are appropriated towards bridging the digital divde. Such a program might entail very low cost -- or even free -- broadband for everyone, everwhere -- technology education, and the building out of fiber communities.

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4. 

   Ed, 31 Jan 2005 @ 2:15am

   
   

   Re: taxes suck the life out of the economy

   Umm, I'm living in France right now, and if you don't want big government this ain't the place for you. 40% income tax, plus VAT. Bureaucracy is a French word, but even if they didn't invent it they've pretty much perfected it here and have quite a large cadre of government workers and state mandated functions. It's a nice place, really, but not an example of lean government.
   
   Unfortunately I'm a US-based employee so I don't get the benefit of the state mandated 35 hour work week with additional paid time off to encourage employers to hire more people. But I'm not paying 40% of my salary to the government, either.

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5. 

   Steve Mueller, 31 Jan 2005 @ 11:04am

   
   

   Ridiculous

   It'll probably kill off the internet to do so, however, as the masses that see no problem paying the $20 / month that pump in millions will fade away if is suddenly costs $30 or $40, other than to feed some dips**t in DC.

   That's one of the most ridiculous comments I've read in long time. How many government utility taxes approach the 50-100% tax cited in your example? A more likely rate would be under 5%, which would be $1 more for a $20 Internet bill. Do you really think the Internet will die because people have to pay $21 instead of $20 (or $63 instead of $60 for high-speed broadband)? I don't.

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