This is not a good idea because tax on shipping will have no relation to the value of the goods sold. It will become impossible to sell cheap stuff online. Also, online stores will simply make all shipping free (like Amazon).

Cylinder deactivation to improve fuel efficiency is already a production technology. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Variable_displacement The report should have included more details on the engine.

Everybody pretends to, but the US doesn't even pretend.