24 February 2007

Some sad faces

I really haven't looked at both sides of the issue. But, whenever I see the phrase "fee hike" or "tax hike" I alert. Plus, with a header full of sad and concerned faces like that then there's something going on that we should worry about - I guess.

In 1998 (think Bill Clinton), the FCC implemented Universal Service contribution rules. Each telecommunications carrier contributes based on its interstate revenues - the more a carrier earns from providing interstate telecom service, the more it pays.

Naturally, like all good Democratic socialism Let's-Do-It-For-The
  • Children
  • Old Folks
  • Poor folks
  • Inner city folks
  • Illegal immigrant folks
  • All of the above folks

Programs the intent is to take it out of the hide of BIG BUSINESS. But the fools don't understand (or care) that BIG BUSINESS is just going to pass any sort of regulatory hike on to you and me.

Specifically, the long distance carriers began to impose Universal service recovery charges on their customers to recover the costs of their contributions to the fund. Many carriers "marked up" their pass-through charges well above the FCC-prescribed contribution factor.

As with all things I'm sure there are two sides to the story. But, my particular gut feeling is that it's just another way to get deeper into our pockets.

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