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I do understand the reason for taxes on commodities. The Federal taxes on say gasoline go into the highway trust funds to pay for the (mostly) good roads we enjoy in the US. That said I remember when the tobacco companies were blamed for the tobacco debacle. I remember the states and Feds saying they were going to raise tobacco taxes to fund smoking cessation programs and if I remember right they were going to use the great amount of tax moneys to help pay for cancer research and medical costs for former tobacco users. What ever happened to those programs? Just a year or two ago they had a referendum in Park County here in Wy to raise sales taxes by 1% to fund(as they called it)infrastructure repairs in the county. Meaning as they stated roads bridges etc. That money is supposed to come from gasoline tax money. Says to me that the money for those items is being spent somewhere else or at the very least unwisely....and that the powers that be just want MORE money to spend unwisely. Seems to me that the push to collect taxes on internet sales is just a move to get even moe of our money into the government(local state and federal)coffers. I do however understand that internet sales have blown way up. Does it really affect local sales of items? Or is the push for taxes on internet sales just a way for companies to shut down sellers such as Amazon or Costco etc? As far as states that are in such financial trouble..No matter how much they collect...they will always continue to tax and spend more....such as California and others.