By Paul Jacob
It seems like just a few days ago, but it was a few months. Long enough for Congress to forget a promise, no?
In mid-November, Congress extended its ban on multiple and discriminatory taxes on Internet access. And so I wrote, "There will be no taxes on Internet access, at least not until October 31, 2007."
Now I learn that Congress's Joint Committee on Taxation has been exploring another way to tax the Net. How? Why, simply widen the interpretation of an existing law.
The law, a luxury tax enacted back in 1898 - yes, you heard right, 1898 - to support the Spanish-American War. It was a tax on that rarest utility, phone lines. Repealed in 1902, the law was re-enacted in 1914 to help pay for World War I.
The committee's idea was to spiff up this still-existing law to cover "all data communications services to end users," including things that Congress had previously exempted, like broadband, dial-up, and cable modems.
Thankfully, 13 congressional Republicans and two Democrats sent a letter of protest to the committee almost as soon as the news broke.
Congress knows that to spend money, it has to take in money. Members know that taxes aren't popular, but they do get to spend them. And increasing them is inevitable as long as they continue to increase government spending.
And that's something Congress has every desire to do. So get ready to expect more new - and painfully old - tax ideas to crop up on a regular basis.
This is Common Sense. I'm Paul Jacob.
Common Sense is published by Americans for Limited Government. Their website can be visited at www.limitedgov.org.