Sunday, May 12, 2013
The Marketplace Fairness Act was approved in the U.S. Senate, and is headed for the Republican-controlled U.S. House of Representatives. The bill would require merchants to collect sales taxes on online purchases.
It's called the "Marketplace Fairness Act" and supporters say it levels the playing field between online retailers and brick-and-mortar stores by requiring online merchants to pay sales taxes to the states, counties and localities where they have done business. Opponents include anti-tax activists and retailers who say it will be overly burdensome—in fact, nearly impossible, they say, to keep track of the tax rates and tax requirements for the myriad of taxing agencies where they may be doing business. The Marketplace Fairness Act passed the U.S. Senate 69-27 on Monday. Next up, the legislation goes to the GOP-led House. President Barack Obama has previously said he supports the bill. Missouri Sen. Claire McCaskill, a Democrat, voted for …
Thursday, November 8, 2012
It's a bit early, but Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon's name is being bandied about as part of a Democratic ticket in 2016.
- ELECTIONS
- Joe Scott
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Thursday, November 8, 2012
As Gov. Jay Nixon and Sen. Claire McCaskill led a blue resurgence in a red state in 2012, some started mixing mentions of the Missouri governor with the year 2016. St. Louis Post Dispatch columnist Bill McClellan may have been among the first to suggest a Democratic Nixon taking run at White House. But national media have since picked up on the fact that Nixon, a Democrat, has turned up the ability to appeal to Republicans as part of this year's re-election effort, as chronicled by the Huffington Post. “I think if Gov. Nixon were to run for president in 2016, he would use the Bill Clinton model from 1992 and run as a centrist or moderate,” said David Kimball, professor of political science at the University of Missouri–St. Louis. Others …
Wednesday, September 26, 2012
Missouri's Republican U.S. Senate nominee picks up support from Rick Santorum and a Tea Party favorite in the Senate.
He says he's in it to win it. With an official deadline having passed Tuesday night for candidates on the November ballot to petition via a court order for removal, U.S. Rep. Todd Akin's U.S. Senate bid is moving forward. Akin, the Widwood Republican who had been cast out by party leaders at the national level as well as five current or former Missouri U.S. Senators who called for him to drop out of the race following his controversial remarks about rape and pregnancy last month, has recouped some of that support. Tuesday night, Politico reported the following statement from U.S. Senator Roy Blunt, one of the five who urged Akin to get out of the race: "Congressman Akin and I don’t agree on everything, but he and I agree the Senate …
Thursday, April 26, 2012
U.S. Senators Claire McCaskill and Roy Blunt each won passage of amendments to slow the down the process of closing post office branches.
Patch recently reported on efforts by Missouri's U.S. senators aimed at forestalling closures at rural post offices. This week, versions of both amendments made it onto a broader bill aimed at restructuring the United States Postal Service. That broader piece of legislation passed Wednesday by a 62-37 margin, and puts off the potential for ending Saturday delivery for another two years. The bill now goes back to the U.S. House. Sen. Claire McCaskill's (D-MO) amendment, modified from the original version, would essentially place a yearlong moratorium on closing rural post offices, unless there is not “significant opposition” from a particular community. Once that moratorium expires, the USPS will have to follow a specific criterion before …
Saturday, April 21, 2012
Congressional lawmakers hope to put up legislative barriers to postal closings while the agency seeks ways to compete in the digital age.
This week, lawmakers from across the country have introduced measures to prevent the shuttering of various United States Postal Service offices. Last summer, the agency announced it would evaluate the operations at more than 3,000 offices nationwide, including a handful in St. Louis County and the city of St. Louis. Click here for a list of all Missouri branches of the U.S. Postal Service under evaluation. Maplewood-Brentwood Patch recently reported that any decision on closures under the current round of "rightsizing" would not come until next month at the earliest. But both of Missouri's U.S. senators have introduced measures to prevent post office closings. Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-MO) introduced a plan that would place a moratorium on …
Friday, April 20, 2012
Also, find out why Newt Gingrich may not be a fan of the St. Louis Zoo, and we have links to this weekend's congressional district caucus events.
The tea party movement’s activism may have helped tip the 2010 election cycle to Republicans, especially since dedicated volunteers helped Republicans win the U.S. House and close the gap in the U.S. Senate. So it’s no surprise that candidates—including the three major Republicans running for the U.S. Senate in Missouri—are trying to gather support from tea party organizations and political figures. But one of the interesting aspects of the movement is its inherent decentralization—no one entity speaks for everybody. For instance, former state Treasurer Sarah Steelman announced a few weeks ago an endorsement from Tea Party Express, a California-based group that touts itself as the “nation’s largest tea party political action committee.” “…
Sunday, April 15, 2012
The National Rifle Association is hosting a convention in St. Louis this weekend with speakers like Presidential candidate Mitt Romney, U.S. Senator Roy Blunt and Glenn Beck.
There will be a wide array of guns and knives for people to "ooh" and "ahh" about as the National Rifle Association (NRA) brings its annual meeting and exhibits to town Friday and through the weekend at America's Center. St. Louis is hosting the NRA convention for the second time in five years. In 2007, the city was the beneficiary of an NRA decision to abandon its original host city of Columbus, OH, a retaliation that followed the Columbus City Council's passage of a law banning assault-type weapons. The NRA moved its big confab to St. Louis and liked it so much it came back this year. So, what restrictions on firearms are acceptable? By its actions, the NRA obviously doesn't like bans on assault weapons, but are there any restrictions …
Mike K
8:13 am on Saturday, May 18, 2013
Why should I have to pay some other state's sales tax as a consumer when I get no benefit from that state providing me with anything? It is a quid pro quo between the states that is being proposed here, basically. Every sale has two parties, seller and buyer. You can't have one without the other. The problem is and has been massive tax fraud on the part of collecting use taxes. There are fewer … more ›