The latest ploy by the Democrats in Olympia to grab more of our hard earned dollars to support their ever-expanding bureaucracy involves enacting a state sales tax on all Internet sales.

The state claims that they are missing out on $600 million in sales tax on "non taxed" Internet sales. This is assertion is about as false as I've ever heard for several reasons:

1. Most states, Washington included, are collecting the sales tax on Internet sales now under the reciprocal agreement between the states and sending that to Washington.

2. I think everyone would agree that these purchases on the Internet are discretionary in nature. Our state legislators would have you believe that our 6 million residents are spending almost $10 TRILLION (non taxed) on discretionary purchases and thus "shortchange the state" of $600 million in sales tax.

This means that every Washington citizen is buying discretionary items on the Internet of almost $1,700 per citizen. And these values are over and above those sales that are taxed already per reciprocal agreements.

They will argue that it's not fair to the merchants in Washington who have to collect these taxes on their sales. If that were true the merchants in Clark County (Vancouver) must be really hurting or really smart, as they have learned to compete with Oregon, which has no sales tax.

I believe the onerous B&O tax levied on our businesses is the main culprit in any non-competitive situation real or imagined by the state.

If you don't recognize this latest tax grab as phony, you deserve to be taxed and live in what will soon be the highest taxed state in the country. We already have a lock on the highest gasoline taxes. Why not go for the whole enchilada?

Gary L Kennedy

Des Moines