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The internet sales tax bill passed in the senate today. reaction to the vote tells you a lot about the reality of washington lobbying. brian bieron of ebay. ebay worked hard to defeat this legislation. they even sent out e-mails to customers trying to rally customer base. big question for you is, look, everybody has got to pay sales tax when buying in a physical location. the technology exists. when i order something, they know theyre shipping it to my address in new york, new york is a sales ta...

Rachelle, is there evidence, empirical evidence that in the states without the sale taxes, oregon for example, that people are more inclined to buy at brick and mortar stores? do we have any evidence suggesting thats the case? >> no, i dont have any evidence of that case. and as a matter of fact, i have to say when we survey consumers to determine whether they would spend less on the internet, if sales taxes are imposed, in fact, they say that they would probably maybe about 10% of them say that...

You. it is i think a little known fact to folks, i only only just found out, that youre supposed to pay these taxes. youre supposed to file in your tax return everything you bought over the internet, youre supposed to record what you bought over the internet, sales tax wasnt applied to, and literally -- not literally, thats not true, almost literally no one does this. the numbers are laughable. the point is, this tax, it already exists. what exactly is the policy rational for having a tax that e...

Patrick up because something very, very strange just happened. what happened is that we witnessed one of those rare moments, when you get to open up the body and see how washington actually works with none of the ideological or partisan covering that people are there fighting over ideas. this was not a fight over ideas this was one collision of interests fighting against another collision of interests. on the one side, you have republican senators mike ensy and john thune leading the fight along...

Tax wasnt applied to, and literally -- not literally, thats not true, almost literally no one does this. the numbers are laughable. the point is, this tax, it already exists. what exactly is the policy rational for having a tax that exists that is in the law that is in the letter of the law and it goes completely uncollected when there is $23 billion of revenue for states laying on the table? >> chris, there really isnt $23 billion as you saw from your statistic, there is about $225 billion of e...

Small is through simplifications so that it is not a difficult burden for them to collect the tax, but not to -- not to treat one group of businesses better than another. >> brian, ill get your response. michelle, is there evidence, empirical evidence that in the states without the sale taxes, oregon for example, that people are more inclined to buy at brick and mortar stores? do we have any evidence suggesting thats the case? >> no, i dont have any evidence of that case. and as a matter of fact...

About seven minutes to devote to a case. the results, as you can imagine, for the defendants involved, are pretty grim. less justice and more prison time. excellent reporting from mother jones. i urge you to check it out on the website. and the third awesomest thing on the internet, we turn to the amazing video of the raw sea shot by cassandra brooks. a marine scientist. shes on a research cruise. she has documented a two-month journey across the icebreaker navigating the waters. you dont to sit...

Collect sales tax on purchases made on the internet and puts a huge amount of money at play. in 2012, internet sales totaled almost $226 billion, up nearly 16% from just 2011. the bills proponents argue it will raise an additional $23 billion in tax revenues for states and end the unfair competitive advantage internet companies have by being able to sell the same products as brick and mortar stores, without the taxes. this bill passing the senate is important for a number of reasons, not just be...

As the only metal that is liquid at room temperature, mercury is freaky even under normal conditions. watch what happens when mercury reacts to different audio frequencies. the experiment is the handiwork of photographer nick moore. the noise is produced by a failing razor. an old signal generator. the frequency increases, the more mercury freaks out. the result is pretty fascinating. the second awesomest thing on the internet today, an eye opening examination from mother jones into the state ...

That people are there fighting over ideas. this was not a fight over ideas this was one collision of interests fighting against another coalition of interests. on the one side, you have republican senators mike enzi and john thune leading the fight alongside democrats and big box retailers like walmart and target. on the other side, senators from states without sales tax like democrats ron wyden and max baucus and kelly ayotte, fighting against the tax with the internet. with internet commerce g...