October 25, 2007: Internet Tax Moratorium Will Continue

[19:45]
The Senate has just adjourned. Hey, no votes tomorrow. None Monday, neither. So if votes are your thing see you Tuesday!

Seriously folks, the Senate picks up tomorrow at 9:30 with general speeches until 14:00 or so. Scheduled to speak are Dodd (on vacation from Iowa), Dorgan, and Inhofe (for up to 2 hours—lookout!)

[19:38]
Carper (DE) is back talking about Amtrak. He makes the point that a lot of the tracks that Amtrak cruises on are freight-owner, i.e. Burlington, Mo-Pac, etc. He says, hey, part of the reason Amtrak runs into problems is that the freights have priority on their own lines.

So maybe some of the $11b of this Amtrak authorization will help alleviate that problem. I don't know if that means building new lines (unlikely—where to build them) or buying some sort of "lease" on the freight rail lines. He says that there is increasing traffic on the freight rail lines because of the rising cost of gasoline and air travel.

[19:31]
John Sununu (NH) was a big proponent of extending the internet tax moratorium. For his part, he wanted to see it made permanent. Hey, he says, the moratorium would have expired Nov. 1. Yikes! He says, yeah, it took 32 seconds to pass in a unanimous consent request, but a lot of work went into it.

You know, with all the to-do surrounding a lot of legislation in Congress, it is amazing that something as real as the specter of internet taxes gets passed without so much as a "nay."

[19:23]
Carper (DE) is following up on the internet tax moratorium. He is talking about how it prevents states and localities from adding tax surcharges to people's internet bills.

The internet tax moratorium will be extended for several more years, depending on what agreement the Senate and House reach in reconciling their respective bills. The Senate just today passed by a unanimous vote an extension on the moratorium by seven years. The House passed a four-year extension.

It is impressive that this legislation could be passed without so much as a voice vote. This means, essentially, that not one senator had an objection to extending the moratorium on internet taxes.

Carper is talking about how a permanent moratorium is maybe not the best idea. He used to be governor of Delaware. He says that inevitable technology changes lend credence to piecemeal extensions of the moratorium rather than a permanent ban on state and local internet taxes.

[19:18]
Harry Reid (NV) interrupts to offer a unanimous consent request. Senate business. Introducing an act to extend the moratorium on taxing the Internet. This bill is being passed—

Oh, wait, here's Mitch McConnell (KY) the minority leader. No, he's not objecting. He most certainly wants to see this bill pass. This is a bill to continue the moratorium on internet taxes for another seven years, which is actually twice as long as the moratorium passed by the House. McConnell says that the moratorium should be permanent.

Calendar notes. No votes tomorrow, no votes Monday. Votes will pick up Tuesday with completion of Amtrak legislation.

[19:15]
Tom Carper (DE) is speaking in favor of the Amtrak Reauthorization bill. This bill authorizes the government to spend $11b on Amtrak safety, improvement, and expansion over a seven-year period through FY 2012—

[18:14]
There were a couple of votes earlier today on amendments to the Amtrak Reauthorization bill. Both were defeated.

Right now Sherrod Brown (OH) is talking about home foreclosures.

[17:30]
Right now Robert Byrd (WV) is speaking in tribute to the late Paul Wellstone. A senator representing Minnesota, Wellstone died five years ago today in an airplane crash. He was a vocal critic of the decision to launch a war in Iraq.

Byrd is closing his tribute with a poem, "a remarkable poem for a remarkable man." The poem is "God, give us men!" by Josiah Gilbert Holland.

Looking heavenward, Byrd says, "Thank you God for this man, this remarkable man, Paul Wellstone. Whence cometh another?"