Online Sales Tax Loophole Closing

Wouldn't it be nice if, instead of trying to "close the loophole" in the name of gaining revenue and "protecting" brick-and-mortar businesses, we eliminated all sales tax instead, and looked for that revenue elsewhere?

Any sales tax is a disincentive to buy things, and in a recession, that kind of disincentive is the last thing we need. If you want people to spend money at local businesses, make it easier for them to do that -- not harder to patronize the alternatives.

I understand that states have to raise money somehow when the budget is tight. But it seems absolutely perverse to raise it by expanding the sales tax on consumer goods, particularly when that involves invasive policies like having retailers submit lists of customers and their purchases to the state. It seems like the only possible effect of such a policy will be to exacerbate the budget problem by further dampening demand.