Here is a great way to remind the under 30 voters why they should vote Republican.  At about 18 mins and 38 seconds in to this podcast of the 3/26/08 Roger Hedgecock Show, Michelle Steel is on KOGO Radio talking about the dreaded i-Tax:  

3/26/08 Roger Hedgecock Show - (skip forward 18 mins 38 sec.)

How do you think struggling college students around the state feel about the Democrats taxing their music and movies.  If their are any doubters out there, check out the blow-back Metallica recieved.  Not to mention that when I was a staffer on Capitol Hill, no other issue caused more letters from the public than a RUMORED tax on e-mails.

The public doesn't want the government taxing anything on their computer.  Heck, a large portion of the under 30 crowd seems to be bothered by the artist even charging for their own product.

Here is an exerpt from a Michelle Steel e-mail message her office sent out last week and an article from the OCR:

...Lawmakers have proposed an illegal new tax on digital products as their solution to California's $8 billion budget deficit. This new iTax would charge sales and use taxes on all digital products, like music and movie downloads on iTunes.

But, the Democrats know that they can never pass a tax increase with 2/3 vote in the Legislature. That's why they have proposed a sneaky, convoluted bill that avoids the 2/3 vote.

AB 1956 would require California's tax board, my agency the Board of Equalization, to redefine California's tax code to include more products as taxable. I need your help in stopping this illegal tax.

Listen to me live on KOGO and KFI radio as I discuss this illegal iTax...

Warmest Wishes,

Michelle Steel
Member, Third District
California State Board of Equalization

     

State Lawmakers Want to Tax Downloads
Democrats would revise the definition of what's taxable instead of proposing a new tax that requires GOP support.
By Brian Joseph

Apple's iTunes has been nothing short of revolutionary.

For just 99 cents, you can download almost any song onto your computer or iPod. For a few more dollars, you can rent a movie or buy an episode of your favorite TV show.

The service has become so ubiquitous that last month iTunes was named the nation's second largest music retailer, behind only Wal-Mart.

It is a money machine - and our Legislature appears to have noticed.

You see, music and movies purchased on iTunes differs from those purchased in stores in one very significant way: it's not taxed. California law explicitly restricts sales tax to "tangible" goods - i.e. products that can be "seen, weighed, measured, felt or touched."

A digital file, obviously, isn't any of those things.

But the state faces an $8 billion deficit. The Legislature needs money. So it's looking to iTunes.

Last month, Assemblyman Charles Calderon, D-Whittier, introduced Assembly Bill 1956, which would apply sales taxes to media downloads. That would take a 99 cent song and bump it to $1.07 or more.

New taxes require a 2/3rd vote of the Legislature, meaning some anti-tax Republicans would have to sign onto the proposal, but Calderon got creative.

Instead of proposing a new tax, AB 1956 simply requires the Board of Equalization to amend the definition of "tangible personal property" to include "digital property." That needs only a majority vote, meaning no Republicans necessary.

Voila! A new tax - without a 2/3rds vote.

"This is crazy stuff," said Michelle Steel, Orange County's representative on the Board of Equalization, who has been the lead opponent of the "iTax" since before it was even in bill form.

"It's totally illegal," she said.

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