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berg said the current situation is unfair to South Dakotans who shop in their own communities and pay sales tax on their purchases. ".we think there's an inherent unfairness when people aren't paying what is legally owed to the state," Rampelberg said.
• We agree that it is especially unfair when Internet-based retailers essentially use state tax monies to compete with a business owner who must pay to keep the lights on in a store. On average, there is 6 or 7 percent difference in price built in to the profit margin when an Internet company doesn't collect sales tax. Competition for customers is healthy and good, but not when one business is using money that rightly belongs to the taxpayer to gain a pricing advantage.

• Collecting sales tax on Internet purchases is not a new tax. It is simply enforcing an across-the-board collection of a tax that already exists. Sales tax collection is part of the cost of doing business in this state. It should be the same cost for all retailers.
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• Watertown Public Opinion. July 26, 2012
• We all like bargains
• People like bargains. If we can save 5 or 10 percent by buying a particular item at Store A as opposed to Store B, more often than not we'll buy it at Store A.
• That idea is starting to catch on with higher education. University Center, an extended campus in Sioux Falls that offers classes from state universities, is kicking off a four-year pilot program this fall that offers the first 60 hours of degree work at a reduced cost. The cost of basic courses would be $189 per credit hour, instead of the normal state university rate of $289. That's welcome news for students facing rising costs every year as funding cuts by cash-strapped legislatures -- South Dakota included -- have prompted many state universities to raise tuition.
• The purpose of higher education has long been to not only provide students with a quality education that will benefit them for the rest of their lives but to do so in an affordable manner. As tuition and other associated costs have risen over the years as colleges and universities struggled to come up with ways to cover the funding gap caused by state budget reductions, many students were left with a tough choice: Either abandon their plans to continue their education or accumulate more debt to continue until they have earned their degree.
• South Dakota has long recognized not only the value of higher education but making it available and affordable to as many people as possible. That's why there's a number of state and private scholarship and grant programs to help many stu

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