The Importance of Being Politically Active

After the election in November, I had a conversation with a close friend who is decidedly non-partisan--meaning, in her case, that she sees an equal amount of fault in both parties in power and voted for neither Clinton nor Trump--but also extremely politically active.

She does organizing in poor communities nationwide for a New York City-based organization called the Poverty Initiative and is currently working on a documentary, “America Will Be.”

In that conversation, my friend told me that she had considered posting a status update on Facebook reminding people that no matter who they voted for, they need to stay on the politicians in office to make sure they do what we elected them to do.

Though she ultimately decided against sharing this thought on Facebook, the conversation is one that has stayed with me and was brought to the fore again last week when I traveled to Washington, D.C. with Jewelers of America (which owns this fine publication) to attend a dinner with Maj. Gen. Tim Haake and Chris Fetzer. (Haake and Fetzer are D.C.-based attorneys who lobby in Washington on behalf of JA and its members.)

The dinner was part of a two-day fly-in in which JA gave retailers and suppliers the chance to learn about the issues affecting business and meet lawmakers.
At the dinner, Haake and Fetzer ran down the list of issues currently on the table that would impact independent jewelers, chief among them the ongoing battle to do something about internet sales tax collection, the seemingly now-dead Border Adjustment Tax and revisions to the FTC guides for jewelry.

For those who might have missed it, bills that would give states the power to force online retailers to collect sales tax are in play again in both the U.S. House and Senate. The bills were reintroduced by Rep. Kristi Noem (R-South Dakota) and Sen. Mike Enzi (R-Wyoming), respectively, and have a total of 20 sponsors, 10 in each house.

There’s also an opposing bill in the House.

Earlier this month, Rep. Jim Sensenbrenner (R-Wis.) introduced the “No Regulation Without Representation” Act, which would prohibit states from imposing sales tax requirements on businesses with no physical presence in the state. The bill has nine cosponsors so far: Reps. Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.), Scott DesJarlais (R-Tenn.), Tom McClintock (R-Calif.), Glenn Grothman (R-Wisc.), Mark Meadows (R-N.C.), K. Michael Conway (R-Texas), David A. Trott (R-Mich.), Dana Rohrabacher (R-Calif.) and Colin C. Peterson (D-Minn.).