March 08, 2010

Bye Amazon!

Today I received this letter from Amazon. They've canceled my affiliate account, and all Colorado affiliate accounts. Lots of other states are considering similar laws. It'll be interesting to see how this shakes out in the long run.

Dear Colorado-based Amazon Associate:

We are writing from the Amazon Associates Program to inform you that the Colorado government recently enacted a law to impose sales tax regulations on online retailers. The regulations are burdensome and no other state has similar rules. The new regulations do not require online retailers to collect sales tax. Instead, they are clearly intended to increase the compliance burden to a point where online retailers will be induced to "voluntarily" collect Colorado sales tax -- a course we won't take.

We and many others strongly opposed this legislation, known as HB 10-1193, but it was enacted anyway. Regrettably, as a result of the new law, we have decided to stop advertising through Associates based in Colorado. We plan to continue to sell to Colorado residents, however, and will advertise through other channels, including through Associates based in other states.

There is a right way for Colorado to pursue its revenue goals, but this new law is a wrong way. As we repeatedly communicated to Colorado legislators, including those who sponsored and supported the new law, we are not opposed to collecting sales tax within a constitutionally-permissible system applied even-handedly. The US Supreme Court has defined what would be constitutional, and if Colorado would repeal the current law or follow the constitutional approach to collection, we would welcome the opportunity to reinstate Colorado-based Associates.

You may express your views of Colorado's new law to members of the General Assembly [ http://www.leg.state.co.us/Clics/CLICS2010A/csl.nsf/directory?openframeset= ] and to Governor Ritter [ http://www.colorado.gov/cs/Satellite/GovRitter/GOVR/1177024890452 ], who signed the bill.

Your Associates account has been closed as of March 8, 2010, and we will no longer pay advertising fees for customers you refer to Amazon.com after that date. Please be assured that all qualifying advertising fees earned prior to March 8, 2010, will be processed and paid in accordance with our regular payment schedule. Based on your account closure date of March 8, any final payments will be paid by May 31, 2010.

We have enjoyed working with you and other Colorado-based participants in the Amazon Associates Program, and wish you all the best in your future.

Best Regards,

The Amazon Associates Team


Posted by jnfr at 08:28 AM | Comments (0)

August 29, 2007

Catch 22 in the Mines

This is just stupid mean.

Families Of Trapped Miners Rebuffed By Mine Safety Agency

The federal agency tasked with investigating the Utah mine collapse denied a request by the families of six trapped miners that the United Mine Workers represent them in the probe of the matter, the union said Monday.

All six of the families had signed documents designating the union as their representative in the investigation, UMWA spokesman Phil Smith said. The Mine Safety and Health Administration told the union's attorneys on Monday that the agency would not heed the request.

"MSHA requires that miners sign these papers, but the miners in question were unable because the[y] are trapped inside the mine," Smith said....

Emphasis added

Posted by jnfr at 09:15 AM | Comments (0)

January 28, 2006

Filibuster Alito

Alito is a right-wing ideologue, and we all know it. No matter how much he tries to hide, his preferences are clear: an imperial presidency, no right to privacy, no rights for workers or the poor.

At least some Dems are trying to stop him. And the time to be counted is now.

See firedoglake and dailyKos for things you can do to help. This is a historic battle. Go do your part.

Posted by jnfr at 07:28 PM | Comments (0)

January 16, 2006

On Alito's confirmation

I sent this letter to Senator Salazar of Colorado. If the possible confirmation of Alito alarms you as it does me, please write your own Senator if you feel he or she is persuadable.

I know you are getting a lot of pressure to vote in favor of Alito's confirmation. I wanted to let you know that this constituent, at least, is deeply opposed to Alito's confirmation, and I urge you to vote against him.

As a woman, I fear the negative impact he will have on women's personal privacy and women's rights, not only in the areas of contraception and abortion, but in terms of redressing past inequities in jobs and pay. This concern applies to minorities as well. Both in his personal life and in his role as a judge, Alito has consistently sided with white men and other people of wealth and power, and I think white men and rich people already have enough advocates in our government and on the court.

I am deeply concerned as well that he supports this concept of an Imperial Presidency (called the unitary Presidency, as shown in Alito's advocacy for Presidential signing statements). Already the Bush administration is working hard to subvert the system of checks and balances that make our Constitution unique and which are so important to our liberty. Our government of laws, not men, will only be further undermined if Alito is confirmed. I am certain of it.

This man admires deeply such conservative types as Ronald Reagan and Robert Bork. On this holiday commemorating the life and death of Martin Luther King, Jr., let me remind you that Reagan kicked off his Presidential campaign by going to Philadelphia Mississippi, site of the murders of civil rights workers, and stating his support for "states' rights", Republican code for racial separation and white supremacy. It's no coincidence that Alito belonged to a college group that opposed allowing women and minorities into Princeton, and his protestations that he knew nothing of what that group was about ring hollow.

Please consider how far to the conservative right our government has already slid, and how much further still Alito will help move it if he spends 30 or 40 years as a Supreme Court judge. And then please vote to oppose his nomination.

Thanks for listening

Posted by jnfr at 12:58 PM | Comments (0)