On behalf of RetireSafe’s almost 400,000 senior citizen supporters across America, we urge you to support and pass a new Moratorium on Internet Access Taxes before the present Moratorium expires on November 1, 2007. The extension of the current ban on new Internet taxes is critical for everyone, and especially so for older Americans, the fastest growing segment of Internet users. We urge you to act today. Any votes on the issue will be weighted heavily in any RetireSafe ranking of Members of Congress.

Failing to act before the November 1 deadline would open the door to thousands of new Internet taxes, with every greedy state, city, town, county, township, or regional authority poised to hit Internet users with a blizzard of new taxes. One only has to review tax-laden phone and cable TV billing statements to preview the damage to come for Internet users. Every time we boot-up and log-on to send an e-mail to the kids or grandchildren we’ll be hit by multiple Internet taxes. These regressive taxes are sure to impact seniors living on fixed-incomes the hardest. The Internet Tax Moratorium must be extended.

RetireSafe strongly supports the permanent Internet Tax Moratorium championed by Senators Ron Wyden and John Sununu. Both Senators understand the danger of allowing unfettered taxation of Internet users. They know that “telecommunications taxes in the United States have traditionally been levied at a rate far higher than other types of sales and business taxes; in fact, telecommunications are taxed at a rate that rivals, and in some places exceeds, the taxes on tobacco and alcohol,” to quote Senator Wyden. If the November 1 deadline passes without another extension, he predicts “many consumers will soon be paying taxes of 30 percent or more on their Internet access, and millions of businesses will be hit with a barrage of discriminatory taxes.” The time for action is now!

While we strongly support a permanent Internet Tax Moratorium, it is absolutely critical that the present Moratorium be extended before the deadline. RetireSafe, and the millions of older Americans we represent, will be carefully watching every Senate action on this crucial issue. Again, we urge you to support and pass an Internet Tax Moratorium today!