"Did he really say that?"

You know that feeling when someone you usually have no chance of agreeing with takes the words out of your mouth?

In that same issue of the Seattle Slimes as the article about the Gurkhas, columnist Ron Judd, in his weekly feature The Warp said the following about the State of Washington's plans to impose sales taxes on Internet sales:

He Actually Said It With A Straight Face: State Department of Revenue spokesman Mike Gowrylow insisted the state's new scheme to charge state income tax for formerly tax-free online purchases from many out-of-state retailers amounts to striking a blow for the little guy. "Poor people pay sales tax," Gowrylow told the Seattle P-I. "Wealthier people surf the Net and avoid paying taxes."

We'd Have A Snarky Comment For That, But: We're too busy basking in the glow of our newly discovered status as elite rich folks with one of those fancy Internet connections. Dang! Just dropped more foie gras on the keyboard. Can someone get one of our undocumented domestic helpers over here stat?

Seriously, Though: "You've got to ask yourself what's fair," Gowrylow continued from his deepening logic hole. "What's fair is everybody should pay their fair share." Always happy to help, Mike. We feel better about it already, and will get back to you later, from the Gulfstream.

Even More Seriously: The Revenue Department is declining to list the more than 1,000 online sellers who, under threat of being sued by Washington and 17 other states for back taxes, have caved and agreed to tax Washingtonians. We'd be happy to list them here, under a "boycott" heading, when you come across them after the taxes go into effect July 1.

Maybe if I wasn't paying 10% sales tax in parts of King County--known to President Roosevelt #2 as "The Soviet of Seattle"--I wouldn't be so bitter. Far more than "my fair share."

Here's a more-or-less straight, snark-free article on the issue. What a mare's nest...