I’m not a big name blogger.

I mean, I joke around with my friends about being “famous on the internets”, but I’m well aware that I’m one of a very many small fish in a very very large pond.

I’m not making money hand-over-fist from my blog, but I am making some pennies here and there. Between my ads and affiliate links, I’ve been able to make the coffee money most months, and some months I earn enough to buy a kid (or two or three) a pair of shoes. As a stay-at-home homeschooling mom, this blog has not only been a fun outlet for me, but for the past few years it has been a way for me to contribute a little, some months very little, to the household budget.

That contribution is about to get smaller. (Cue sad violin music)

You see, I got an e-mail from Amazon, and, well, they’re breaking up with me.

We are writing from the Amazon Associates Program to notify you that your Associates account will be closed and your Amazon Services LLC Associates Program Operating Agreement will be terminated effective June 30, 2013. This is a direct result of the unconstitutional Minnesota state tax collection legislation passed by the state legislature and signed by Governor Dayton on May 23, 2013, with an effective date of July 1, 2013. As a result, we will no longer pay any advertising fees for customers referred to an Amazon Site after June 30 nor will we accept new applications for the Associates Program from Minnesota residents.

No cooling off period, no giving each other some space for a while, just a clean break. They’re walking away with a half-hearted “Who knows, maybe we can hook up again in the future?”

While we oppose this unconstitutional state legislation, we strongly support the federal Marketplace Fairness Act now pending before Congress. Congressional legislation is the only way to create a simplified, constitutional framework to resolve interstate sales tax issues and it would allow us to re-open our Associates program to Minnesota residents.

We thank you for being part of the Amazon Associates Program, and look forward to re-opening our program when Congress passes the Marketplace Fairness Act.

Sincerely,
The Amazon Associates Team

Well, phooey.

Let me see if I can explain how and why this happened. Even though Amazon is not based in Minnesota, and even though you, dear reader, are not in Minnesota (I know, except for those that are, but let’s not complicate this), if you happen to read here, click-through to Amazon, and buy a book or some BPA-free popsicle molds (you really should click, and buy, and pretty please do it before June 30th), the State Legislature of Minnesota has decided that because you clicked through a blog written by a resident of Minnesota, that you should pay a state sales tax, and that it’s up to Amazon to collect it.

Amazon doesn’t want to have to do that, so they’re breaking up with me, and somewhere around 5,200 other Minnesota-based affiliates, who did somewhere around $500 million in sales in 2012, generating somewhere around $35 million in income tax for our lovely state.

The StarTribune is reporting that the Minnesota Department of Revenue was actually expecting Amazon & other online retailers to bring and end to their affiliate programs in the state, and that they had “already priced the move into revenue projections”, according to state revenue commissioner, Myron Frans. “The change in law will still generate about $5 million in new sales taxes, he said.”

So, what I’m wondering is, what about the other $30 million?

Doesn’t seem like a good deal for Minnesota after all.

And it certainly isn’t a good deal for me.

So, exactly who does this help?

Let’s just say that I totally understand why people do things like incorporate in Nevada…

I find myself an accidental advocate for the Marketplace Fairness Act, as if I didn’t have enough on my plate. I mean, I already had strong feelings about parental rights, childhood cancer awareness, natural eating & living, GMO labeling, homeschooling, learning differences, and many political issues of the day.

I also have 9 children to love on and raise, by the grace of God, one day at a time.

Yes, I’m a busy mom. A very busy mom. But issues matter.

I want to teach my children that they have a voice, and that their voice matters, and the best way I can think of doing that is, like so many other things in parenting, through modeling.

And so I raise my voice to let the powers-that-be know that I’m not happy with this change. I’m a small fish, and somebody at Amazon is probably snickering right now (“Give me a break lady, your $27.53 isn’t going to make a difference to us”), but maybe another small voice shouting from her rooftop could actually raise the volume of the collective voice on this matter, and maybe, just maybe, something will change. Remember Horton Hears a Who?

If it doesn’t, could you all share a post (or two or three) with several hundred of your closest friends on Facebook? ‘Cause I’ll be down to only my itty-bitty ad income, dependant on page views. So, start clicking away, I’ve got years’ worth of archives.

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Grace Greater Than Our Sin
Words by Julia H. Johnston, 1849-1919
Music by Daniel B. Towner, 1850-1919

Marvelous grace of our loving Lord,
Grace that exceeds our sin and our guilt!
Yonder on Calvary’s mount outpoured,
There where the blood of the Lamb was spilled.

Grace, grace, God’s grace,
Grace that will pardon and cleanse within;
Grace, grace, God’s grace,
Grace that is greater than all our sin.

Sin and despair, like the sea waves cold,
Threaten the soul with infinite loss;
Grace that is greater, yes, grace untold,
Points to the refuge, the mighty cross.

Grace, grace, God’s grace,
Grace that will pardon and cleanse within;
Grace, grace, God’s grace,
Grace that is greater than all our sin.

Dark is the stain that we cannot hide.
What can avail to wash it away?
Look! There is flowing a crimson tide,
Brighter than snow you may be today.

Grace, grace, God’s grace,
Grace that will pardon and cleanse within;
Grace, grace, God’s grace,
Grace that is greater than all our sin.

Marvelous, infinite, matchless grace,
Freely bestowed on all who believe!
You that are longing to see His face,
Will you this moment His grace receive?

Grace, grace, God’s grace,
Grace that will pardon and cleanse within;
Grace, grace, God’s grace,
Grace that is greater than all our sin.

“Marvelous, infinite, matchless grace, FREELY bestowed on all who believe!” Amen, and amen!!

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