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Congress is considering a bill that would allow states to collect sales taxes from online retailers. Proponents say a law is necessary to level the playing field with brick-and-mortar stores and to raise revenue for states.

Simply put, the Marketplace Fairness Act would require any online retailer with more than $1 million in annual sales to collect and remit sales tax. But Joseph Henchman, a vice president at the nonpartisan Tax Foundation, says it's not that simple. He says the bill, at about five pages of text, is unusually brief. And, he says, it doesn't come close to matching how complex collecting sales tax can get.

"It also doesn't include a lot of detail about implementation," Henchman notes. For example, the bill says the states will have to provide automated tax software to businesses free of charge. But what if a business' existing systems don't work with available tax software? Who pays? What if a state doesn't provide adequate software? To whom should the business take its complaint?

Fearing A Logistical 'Nightmare'

These are the types of questions that dog Stacey Strawn, president of the gift shop Silver Gallery. The business has a small storefront in Waynesboro, Va., but the lion's share of its $3 million in annual sales are made online and over the phone. Strawn, like some other online retailers, is crying foul on the bill. Trying to comply with the law, she says, would "be a nightmare."

If the law passes, Strawn would have to collect taxes for every purchase, then remit them to every state and local government where her customers live. She says software that automates tax collection is not a plug-and-play solution that meets all needs.

"Something gets exchanged and it's sent to another state. Then we have to figure out how to refund the taxes from the first state, collect our refund from that state, then charge the customer the new tax," she explains.

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Senate Poised To Approve Online Sales Tax Bill

Drivers will find this summer's gas prices are lower than last year's, the result of a spike in crude oil production. Government forecasters say a gallon of regular gasoline will cost about $3.50 this summer — a slide of more than 10 cents from last year.

Energy Department analysts say "the regular gasoline price will average $3.53 per gallon over the summer," citing lower crude oil prices. "The annual average regular gasoline retail price is projected to decline from $3.63 per gallon in 2012 to $3.50 per gallon in 2013 and to $3.39 per gallon in 2014."

As Danielle Karson reports for NPR's Newscast Desk, increased U.S. petroleum exports could keep domestic prices from taking a sharp dive, despite a slight slump in demand.

"U.S. refineries are also exporting a record amount of diesel and gasoline to developing countries, including China, where demand for diesel is through the roof," Diane reports.

Oil industry analyst Patrick DeHaan tells Diane that if gas companies "build domestic inventories too much, it will hurt their bottom line. Maintaining exports while not allowing inventories to grow out of control, is what they're likely trying to accomplish."

Last Memorial Day, the U.S. average for a gallon of unleaded was $3.636 — "down about 15 cents" from 2011, CNN reported. But prices rose at the end of the summer, due in large part to Hurricane Isaac.

The International Monetary Fund recently urged governments to cut subsidies and allow higher gasoline prices, seeing it as a way to encompass the costs of increased traffic, pollution and global warming, in addition to exploration, production and transportation.

As David Wessel, economics editor of The Wall Street Journal, told NPR's Linda Wertheimer on Morning Edition, the IMF "says that subsidizing energy or mispricing it aggravates budget deficits, crowds out spending on health and education, discourages investment in energy, encourages excessive energy use, artificially promotes capital-intensive industries," and creates other problems.

"Some governments spend more on energy subsidies than they do on education and healthcare," David said. "And nobody really thinks that's a great idea."

But, he added, "David Lipton, the number two at the IMF .... says it's better to do this the right way than to do it right away, but it's important to do it."

A couple generations ago, when older Americans retired they could rely on pension plans to support them. Then, in the late 1970s and early 1980s, many companies switched their retirement plans over to 401(k) accounts. The security of workers' retirement savings suddenly became subject to the vagaries of the stock market.

Read Robert Hiltonsmith's Research

Underwriting Bad Jobs: How Our Tax Dollars Are Funding Low-Wage Work And Fueling Inequality

When 23-year-old Solomon "Sully" Omar felt the music scene in his native Denver wasn't giving him what he was looking for, he made a radical move. He headed for Kabul, capital of the war-torn country his parents had fled decades ago.

"I came here to continue my education and at the same time see what's in the music scene here and bring some of the skills and abilities that I have to the music scene," says Omar.

Omar is a member of District Unknown, a full-on metal band whose performance was one of the highlights of the recent Sound Central Festival of alternative music and arts in Kabul. More than 30 bands performed over four days during the third annual event.

And if you can imagine it, District Unknown's sweat-inducing set had the hundreds of Afghan spectators on their feet.

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