Amazon should pay fair share of sales tax

[Commentary] Amazon.com's threat to drop its 10,000 California affiliates if the Legislature approves a tax on online sales seems like an exercise in futility. Think about it. If Amazon does have to start collecting sales tax - as its competitors with a brick-and-mortar presence in the state are required to do - would it really want to dump the thousands of Californians who are helping boost its profile and sales on their websites? Also, many of those affiliates have arrangements with other online sellers - and Barnes & Noble, which does collect the sales tax, has said it would welcome the Amazon affiliates to its network. Amazon could end up being the biggest loser if it followed through with its retaliation.