Amazon boycott

[Joseph Esposito <espositoj@gmail.com>]

Readers of this list may be interested that there is a consumer 
boycott of Amazon starting in California.  See this article:

http://www.baycitizen.org/budget-crisis/story/group-launch-boycott-amazon/

The issue here is the collection of sales or use tax.  Amazon 
won't collect it, claiming the tax is unconstitutional.  That tax 
money goes (or would go) to schools, libraries, and other aspects 
of civic infrastructure.

The argument against the tax (besides the constitutional one) is 
that the boycott is simply a stalking horse for Wal-Mart.  No 
doubt that the policy issues here are complex, as they always 
are, and that the media coverage greatly simplifies them.

I stopped purchasing from Amazon myself when I saw that my local 
public library had reduced its hours once again.  If I am a 
stalking horse for Wal-Mart, no one ever told me.

Joe Esposito