LTE - Amazon Tax

Regarding "Trump rips a favorite target — Amazon — again" (Saturday Nation|World Pg A15), AP reporter Joseph Pisani states that President Trump "has accused (Amazon) of failing to pay 'internet taxes,' though it’s never been made clear by the White House what the president means by that."  

I'm not sure why Pisani is confused about Trump's meaning.  The President has been complaining for years about Amazon and other on line retailers failing to collect local and state sales taxes - as all other retailers are required to do - thus giving Amazon a huge competitive advantage.  Amazon claims they started to do so in 2012, and states that they now collect these taxes for all 45 states that have a sales tax, but this is simply not true.  I reviewed my 24 Amazon purchases in 2017 and found sales taxes on only four transactions, and only two of those were for the full Texas state sales tax of 8.25%.

Amazon doesn't collect sales taxes on behalf of 3rd party vendors, but they represent less than 20% of Amazon's sales, so that hardly explains the discrepancy.

Pisani could have relieved his own confusion and shed light on the subject with a cursory web search, but he didn't.  Was this due to laziness, a bias against Trump, or both?

Pete Smith 

Cypress, TX 

NFL Priorities

Regarding "Lynch fined $24K for shouting at official" (Saturday Pg C2), Raiders running back Marshawn Lynch was fined exactly $24,309 for yelling at a referee last Sunday.  The article also told of four other players - including the Texan's Johnathan Joseph - fined $18,231 for penalties like roughing the passer and horse collar tackles.  

So to all appearances, dirty hits that might cause injury are less offensive to the NFL than saying hurtful things to referees.  Don't get me wrong: Bullying in the workplace is a serious problem that must be addressed, but they need to penalize actual physical assault a little more vigorously than mere words.

Pete Smith

Cypress, TX

Trump simplifies taxes

Regarding "GOP tax adds pressure on IRS" (Wednesday Business Pg B3), NY Times columnist Patricia Cohen and former IRS commissioner John Koskinen fret that the new tax plan will overwhelm the IRS because the agency is being given so much more to do, and less resources with which to do it.  The problem with their analysis is that apparently, neither one bothered to account for the fact that with the reforms, up to 90% of all taxpayers can now avoid long form and file their claims on the proverbial post card.

Bottom line, the IRS is going to have a LOT less to do for tax year 2018, so instead of worrying about the impact of the reforms on 80,000 IRS employees, the New York Times should celebrate the liberation of more than 100 million taxpayers.

Pete Smith

Cypress, TX 

The usual rhetoric

Regarding "Tax bill cuts perks to owners of homes" (Saturday Front Page), it's no surprise that this article comes from a reporter of the New York Times.  Columnist Conor Dougherty flogs the classic liberal argument that deductions for mortgage interest and property taxes are blessings that the federal government bestow upon home owners, and implies that those benefits are not only undeserved, but represent unacceptable "social engineering."

He inevitably quotes a Harvard economist who declares that there should be a "limit in the federal government’s willingness to subsidize ownership".  Well, as a taxpayer, there is also a limit to my willingness to tolerate an overbearing federal government that thinks my money is theirs, and that they will decide how much of it I get to keep.  

Voters made that abundantly clear in 2016, giving Republicans both houses of congress and the presidency, which lead to the aforementioned tax reform.  Dougherty ought to ponder the import of the People's will, instead of recycling liberal think tank arguments that were claptrap fifty years ago, and are claptrap today.

Pete Smith

Cypress, TX

The Pope and the Lord's Prayer

Regarding "Catholics ponder Lord's Prayer tweak" (Monday City|State Pg A6), I must admit that I've never had much use for Francis. He's trendy, materialistic, and in his short tenure as Pope has spent a lot of time upsetting apple carts strictly for the sake of doing it.

That said, I was pleased to find that he has finally focused on a spiritual matter, and for once, his lack of reverence for tradition has finally served a purpose. The word change is long overdue.  Discriminating Catholics should be pleased.

Pete Smith 

Cypress, TX

LTE - Angry protestors

Regarding "Angry worshippers lash out against Trump" (Saturday Pg A15), "worshippers" is a curious word to use to describe the people protesting President Trump's decision to acknowledge Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. There's nothing inherently worshipful about throwing rocks, destroying property or setting flags on fire, unless the author's intent was to besmirch the faith of the protesters, who were overwhelmingly Muslim.

It's fair to debate whether their behavior was justified, but no devout Muslim would ever confuse those actions with worship.

Pete Smith 

Cypress, TX

Intent to injure

Regarding "Savage concussion getting closer look" (Tuesday Pg C2), lost in the current conversation about how badly Texan's quarterback Tom Savage was injured was how he was injured.  Savage had thrown the ball before 49ers defensive end Elvis Dumervil reached him, but instead of simply making the tackle, Dumervil used his body to piledrive Savage into the ground.

We see this type of tackle constantly in the NFL, and this type of player.  Vikings linebacker Anthony Barr used the same technique against Packer QB Aaron Rodgers in October, breaking Rodger's collarbone.  This happens all the time, but not everybody does this.  Jadeveon Clowney had at least two opportunities to piledrive 49ers QB Jimmy Garapalo, but instead simply took him cleanly to the ground.   

This type of tackle is designed to injure, pure and simple.  The NFL needs to outlaw it immediately.

Pete Smith 

Cypress, TX