I live in the USA, remember, the nation that wanted independence so they could avoid "taxation without representation?"
What a CROCK now!
Eerie, who commented on my illegal alien stats post doesn't think I have a right to complain about taxes. He/she thinks I'm "whiny" about it in fact, and that I should be grateful that I'm not taxed as highly as those in the soon-to-be-Muslim countries in the EuroPEON Union. He thinks that I don't pay taxes that pay for other people to have utilities that they aren't paying for.
Oh reeeeeeeally?
Take a a gander at my most recent phone bill. The total SERVICE fee for local, long distance and all other services was $58.43 (includes voice mail, caller ID, call waiting, etc...). Now here's the list of TAXES put on top of that. Perhaps you can explain to me what they are paying for exactly???
Taxes & Fees
Federal subscriber line charge = $6.38
Federal Universal Service Fee = $.69 (Oh, and by the way, the charge for this mystery item increased to $.71 so next bill it will be mysteriously HIGHER)
Federal Universal Service Fee - Long Distance = $1.41 (this one's going up too)
911/Disability Access Fee = .85
MA and local tax = $1.68
Federal Excise Tax = $1.91
----------------------
TOTAL = $12.92!!!!
Now eerie, if it doesn't chap your hide to pay 12% (roughly) MORE on your phone bill because the government decided somewhere along the way that it needed the money, by all means, go ahead and pay MY bill too!
Just for clarification, here are the definitions of the various terms in the taxes section:
Subscriber Line Charge (SLC) - Instituted after the break-up of AT&T in 1984 to cover the costs of the local phone network. Although the FCC caps the price, it is not a tax, and it does not end up in government coffers. (Source: FCC)
Oh joy, it's not a tax, I feel SOOO much better now. But what exactly IS it and why do I have to pay for that which AT&T clearly used to cover? If the government insisted on breaking them up, why make us pay for the privilege of "choice"?
Universal Service Fund (USF) - Since telephone service provides a vital link to emergency services, to government services, and to surrounding communities, it has been national policy to promote telephone service to all households since the inception of telephone service in the 1930s. The USF pays for subsidies to make phone service affordable and available to all Americans, including:
consumers with low incomes; (emphasis mine)
consumers who live in areas where the costs of providing telephone service is high;
schools and libraries; and,
rural health care providers. (source FCC and CALLS)
Now if you think that there aren't a WHOLE BUNCH of illegal aliens receiving these services, you are smoking something, not sure what, but it's powerful, that's for sure.
Support a measure to demand proof of citizenship for more things--like getting a place to live, a phone, a car, etc... and I'll stop "whining," but until such time, I reserve the right to bitch and moan about paying for people who are breaking the law and trespassing just by being here. And we all know that "low income" has become just another way of referring to a group of people that includes illegals without having to directly refer to them as such.
Posted by insomnomaniac at May 1, 2005 9:46 PM | TrackBack