These are my links for April 12th from 00:41 to 08:32:

• California courts: A judicial fight may be averted – William Vickery's announcement that he would retire as the chief administrator of the California judicial system may cool off a red-hot political fight that pits judges against judges.

  Officially, Vickery, the top executive at the Administrative Office of the Courts, or AOC, was merely fulfilling a previously made decision to step down. But it occurred as Vickery was receiving big-time heat from rebellious judges, the state auditor's office and legislators over management issues, especially a much-troubled, very costly computer system.

  To critics, the California Court Management System is symbolic of efforts by the recently retired Supreme Court chief justice, Ron George, to centralize judicial management, bypassing locally elected judges.

  Rebel judges created the Alliance of California Judges and are sponsoring legislation that would affirm the right of local courts to manage their affairs. The AOC, under Vickery, has been organizing opposition to Assembly Bill 1208 by Assemblyman Charles Calderon, D-Whittier.

  When State Auditor Elaine Howle issued a highly critical report on the computer system, it gave the rebels more ammunition.

  "AOC has consistently failed to develop accurate cost estimates," Howle said. "Projected in 2004, the AOC's earliest available cost estimate for the system was $260 million, an amount that grew substantially to $1.9 billion based on the AOC's January 2010 estimate. Over the same period, complete deployment to the superior courts has been postponed by seven years, from fiscal year 2008-09 to fiscal year 2015-16."

  After the report was issued, several legislators called for Vickery to resign.

  The computer system was to be George's crowning legacy, along with a $5 billion courthouse construction project. Both legacies, however, are tarnished by their implementation.

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  Former chief Justice Ronald George was an idiot and everyone is glad he is gone (retired.

  The California court system is a disgrace, costs too much money and needs to live within its means.

  I say cut their bloated budgets and pare back the judge's salaries.

• Amazon Tax: The Internet Tax Mirage – Governor Pat Quinn recently added to his reputation as America's most taxing politician by signing a law applying the state's 6.25% sales tax to Internet purchases made in Illinois. Within hours, Amazon, the online book and merchandise seller, announced it would discontinue using any of its 9,000 Illinois small business affiliates to avoid having to collect the tax. Congratulations, Governor.

  The issue of whether and how states should tax Internet sales is back as one of the hottest in state legislatures. Colorado, New York, North Carolina and Rhode Island already impose some version of what has become known as the "Amazon tax," and at least a dozen other deficit-plagued states are advancing similar bills. This political brawl unites liberals with brick-and-mortar retailers, such as Wal-Mart, Best Buy and Target, against taxpayers and such online retailers as Amazon and Overstock. Internet sales reached $165 billion last year and have been growing by nearly 15% annually.

  The first issue is whether the Amazon tax is constitutional. New York's law is now being challenged in court as a violation of the Supreme Court's landmark 1992 Quill decision. In that case the High Court ruled that a state cannot impose a tax on a company if it does not have a physical presence in that state.

  This decision originally applied to mail order sales, but the same principle applies to firms that sell over the Internet. If the company does not have an office, store or warehouse inside a state, the state cannot compel the firm to collect sales tax. Illinois and others are trying to broaden the concept of physical presence to include doing business with any affiliate inside the state's borders, such as online advertisers.

  The Quill standard may be the last line of defense against what would become a raid by governments at all levels on interstate online commerce. One virtue of the U.S. federal system is that it allows states to compete on tax policies. The courts should insure that a firm has a genuine physical presence in the state—not merely an online presence—to impose its taxing power. States retain the right to collect a "use tax" from their residents who make purchases from out-of-state companies or over the Internet.

  Even if the courts rule against online sellers, states are fantasizing if they believe this tax will raise as much money as they hope. As in Illinois, Amazon has announced that it will cease doing any business with affiliates in any state that imposes this tax, and the firm hasn't been bluffing. So far it has closed its affiliate program in every state with the tax, except New York (where the law is under challenge).

  Paul Dion, head of Rhode Island's revenue analysis office, says that "To date nobody has come forward to remit sales tax to us under that [online sales tax] statute." North Carolina's tax office reports that the state had raised all of $4.6 million as of January from the new tax, a small fraction of what legislators predicted. A study by the Tax Foundation has found that because of the retaliatory steps taken by Amazon, Rhode Island and North Carolina may have lost money because online marketing companies have closed down, or relocated outside the state.

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  The Amazon Tax will NOT solve the states budget problems and will lead to a loss of jobs.

  How stupid do these states have to be?

• @Flap Twitter Updates for 2011-04-12 | Flap’s Blog – FullosseousFlap’s Dental Blog – @Flap Twitter Updates for 2011-04-12 #tcot #catcot
• Flap’s Links and Comments for April 11th on 16:35 | Flap’s Blog – FullosseousFlap’s Dental Blog – Flap’s Links and Comments for April 11th on 16:35 #tcot #catcot
• Dilbert April 9, 2011 – The Parallel Universe | Flap’s Blog – FullosseousFlap’s Dental Blog – Dilbert April 9, 2011 – The Parallel Universe | Flap's Blog – FullosseousFlap's Dental Blog
• California Federation of Teachers Adopt Resolution of Support for Convicted Cop-Killer Mumia Abu-Jamal | Flap’s Blog – FullosseousFlap’s Dental Blog – California Federation of Teachers Adopt Resolution of Support for Convicted Cop-Killer Mumia Abu-Jamal | Flap's …
• Flap’s Dentistry Blog: The Daily Extraction: Three Upper Molars and Sinus Perforation – (500)