On April 18^th, Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) filed a motion for the U.S. Senate to take up the Internet sales tax bill on the Senate floor the week of April 22^nd.  eBay Inc.

On Thursday Utah Senator Orrin Hatch (R-UT), ranking member of the Senate Finance Committee, urged caution on a decision about the so-called “Marketplace Fairness Act” in the Senate.  Said the Senator:

This week, WWE Wrestler Glenn Jacobs, better known to his fans as “Kane”, joined the Jerry Doyle radio show to speak out against the Internet sales tax legislation that is currently moving through Congress.  Listen to Kane express his reasons for why he thinks the current legislation is an unprecedented expansion of government authority.

Today Tod Cohen, eBay Inc. Vice President of Global Government Relations and Deputy General Counsel, spoke at the Contested Spaces Conference in London, England.  Hosted by eBay and King’s College of London, the Contest Spaces Conference was designed to bring together key figures from the worlds of political campaigning, business, technology policymaking and academia to examine the Internet’s impact on electoral politics, society, commerce and government.  Explaining eBay’s role in sponsoring the event, Tod said:

Last week, the Wyoming Liberty Group, which is a nonprofit, nonpartisan research organization that prepares citizens for informed, active and confident involvement in local and state government, published an article that warns of the dangers of Senator Enzi’s (R-WY) Internet sales tax bill currently moving through the Senate.  The Wyoming Liberty Group calls the so-called Marketplace Fairness Act a “Trojan Horse&rdquo

Last week Carl Gish, Vice President of Global Shipping for eBay, submitted testimony to the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Oversight and Government Reform Subcommittee on Federal Workforce, U.S. Postal Services and the Census.  Carl’s testimony outlined how eBay is partnering with the U.S. Postal Service to empower Internet-enabled small business to serve their local and global customers.  Approximately 85% of eBay’s domestic shipping is handled by the USPS, which makes eBay Sellers collectively the USPS’ single largest package customer.

This week eBay was one of many Fortune 500 companies to endorse a Climate Declaration by BICEP, the Business for Innovative Climate & Energy Policy coalition.  BICEP is urging Federal legislators to take action on climate change, asserting that a bold response to the climate challenge is one of the greatest economic opportunities of the 21^st Century.  Along with companies like Starbucks, Intel and Levi Strauss, eBay is urging the U.S.