Kings of SpinVoIP taxes and landline fee hikes good for Hispanics, really.... ( old news - 12:12PM Monday Apr 25 2005) tags: competition · fcc A few weeks ago, a group dubbed the "Keep Universal Service Fund (USF) Fair" Coalition congratulated FCC Commissioner Martin on his new post, suggested the USF fees you pay be increased 40%, and that VoIP service should be taxed. The group insists such a move would be a boon to seniors, hispanics, families with disabilities, and consumers. Unfortunately, as Techdirt and the IP list note, the group is just another PR front outfit funded by the bell telephone companies, orchestrated by the controversial Bell PR agency Issue Dynamics. Bruce Kushnick consistently tracks such Bell efforts to convince consumers to support initiatives that often are against their best interests (higher fees, higher taxes, less competition). Usually by operating through groups with very pro-consumer sounding names. Take a peek at the website, which proclaims "more than 70,000 consumers have visited the coalition’s website and filed comments with the FCC."
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crosstheborder
@optonline.net | aribaaribaariba andele andele andele... another great reason why we have so many mexicans coming into the USA, cheap phone rates courtesy of your voip dollars, now..! | |
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en102
Canadian, eh?
join:2001-01-26
Valencia, CA
 ·RoadRunner Cable
 ·DSL EXTREME
2 edits | Re: aribaaribaariba said by The group insists such a move would a boon to seniors, hispanics, families with disabilities, and consumers. Unfortunately, as Techdirt and the IP list note, the group is just another PR front outfit funded by the bell telephone companies, orchestrated by the controversial Bell PR agency Issue Dynamics.
The ONLY good thing that could possibly come out of this would be the enforcement of ISP's to not block/throttle VoIP services. Currently its the 'wild west' as far as that goes. ISP A could throttle company B's VoIP connections (not legally though). | |
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ScottMo
Once in a Lifetime
Premium,MVM
join:2000-12-15
Stony Brook, NY
| said by crosstheborder:
andele andele andele... another great reason why we have so many mexicans coming into the USA, cheap phone rates courtesy of your voip dollars, now..!
So you're saying Hispanics are coming to the US for cheap phone service?
Ya might want to read the article before making comments. Sometimes knowing what you're talking about is helpful... | |
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iknowhatitalkabout
@optonline.net
| Re: aribaaribaariba Look refried beans, I know what I'm talking about.. you should watch Lou Dobbs's fleecing of america, and the outsourcing of jobs and importation of Mexicans by the texas borderload! These people come into the country and depress the american wages, and now are getting ENTITLED to MORE and MORE and MORE (it adds up quickly) BENEFITS that hard working people with 2-3-4 jobs can't get.. of the growing entitlements:
medical care
housing
daily living subidies courtesy of dept. of welfare, HHS
discouted services (IE TELECOMMUNICATIONS services) for LOW income ''pseudo citizens'' many of whom eventually get revised status as resident alien, and a few years later 'naturalized citizenship' from green card to social security number!!!!
YOU need to know what your talking about... these people make up over 50% of California already,
And... if I want to make the assumption that the USF of voip dollars goes to these people, well too bad for you.. | |
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garagerock
Premium
join:2002-06-14
Louisville, KY | Re: aribaaribaariba repeats mantra "don't feed the trolls" over and over again... | |
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en102
Canadian, eh?
join:2001-01-26
Valencia, CA | As someone that lives in southern California, and has family members that work for county hospitals - I know what you're talking about  | |
| | | | jgra
join:2005-04-23
Ridgewood, NY
| First tighty whitey (anyone can sink to your level, because it is so easy to) ofcourse I am assuming you are white. Anyways illegal immigrants pay taxes as well and actually take less advantage of benefits then the the legals who pay taxes and take advantage of many services provided by our government. If you are disappointed that people are using the services that are available for them then that is personal problem. If there is a hospital in a neighborhood that has a lot of illegal immigrants mainly hispanics are you saying close down the hospital and let them die what are you saying? On housing a lot of these illegal immigrants are living in accomadations that will use as a walk in closet. So please if you have to much space in your accomodation or not enough space please take personal responsibility and either find a smaller place for yourself or find a bigger place. Do not take out on others who are entitled yes I said it they are entitled to the services as any other tax payer are entitled to these services. They can not take advantage of social security and many other things. You are a person that either is easily influenced by a perpetual fear of immigrants trying to take over the world . I do agree that this USF voip tax will only benefit big phone companies to stifle competition but I do not agree that mexicans are causing problems because they are paying into the tax system and get little or nothing from it. Read, read, read | |
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rchandra
Stargate S G-1 And Atlantis Fan
Premium
join:2000-11-09
14225-2105
clubs: | Heck...I just thought that was good ole sarcasm...but that's just the way I took it. I could see how many people would think the original poster was just a plain idiot for writing that. | |
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eWWw
| ScottMo says...
So you're saying Hispanics are coming to the US for cheap phone service?
Answer:
No, they come to the U.S. so they can breed like cockeroaches, and have the American citizens pay for there wifes medical bills. Viva la cockeroacha!!
And dont say this is a racist post...cause we all know its true! Dont the truth hurt... Enjoy it. | |
| | xNexUnix
join:2005-04-25
Portland, OR | Cheap phone rates..lol mexicans pay the highest rate on phone and cell phone service than any other race, cheap rates my ass I have work for phone companies I no for a fact.:D | |
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12buckle
@verio.net
| Rhetoric versus reason. Check the FCC Docket 96-45 and look at who wants to change the how contributions are collected to pay for the Universal Service Fund. The Keep USF Fair Coalition wants to keep the current revenue methodology in place, but was told by the FCC that a change may be necessary to keep up with demand on the Fund. The FCC keeps raising the "tax" for USF, because it says the demand (support for high-cost, sparsely populated rural areas and wiring schools and libraries) for the Fund is increasing and the long distance revenue that is taxed for the fund is decreasing. More consumers are using other services.. wirelesss, IM, and yes, VOIP. Question, if all the folks that can afford to have broadband connection, switch to VOIP, who pays for 911 and USF?
The Coalition is NOT advocating to increase the tax, rather it is saying, FCC do everything possible to keep the tax low, including expanding the base and capping the TOTAL AMOUNT that the tax can increase. The Coalition agrees that the way the fund is administered can be improved and that would help reduce the amount that needs to be taxed. Fundamentally, the Coalition is for usage tax and opposes flat taxes. Think about it. If the tax is 10% and you are a large volume corporate user making $1,000 in long-distance calls, under the current plan you pay $100 in tax, while someone who is budgeting and on a fix income and makes $1 in long distance calls, pays 10 cents in taxes. Proposed flat fees of $1 or $2 sound great for high volume users, but for low-volume folks its a regressive hardship. If you have a philosophical disagreement that we shouldn't do all we can to help the least among us, that is fine, but it is misguided to rant that advocacy groups representing seniors, low-income, minorities, and rural interests are somehow co-opted by industry on this public policy matter. I invite commentators to contribute thoughtful solutions to ensuring that the USF is administered in a fair, equitable and non-discriminatory manner, rather than xenophobic tirades that inflame rhetoric over reason. | |
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usfphaseout
@verizon.n
| Re: aribaaribaariba The usf should be phased out, as with all the taxes and fees associated with POTS phone lines! The ability to rollout telecommunications services has been dropping significantly as with the cost of a phone call, with unlimited plans around $20 a month with broadband service.. if you let VOIP become a piggy bank the same way cell phones have, its a big mistake...
Now, about the HISPANICS: There were two trends in the 1990's that were in the USA's favor even with hispanics illegaly coming into the country, sub $1.00 gas and laws that were SOMEWHAT enforced about illegal immigration, now under the REPUBLICAN radical turnaround, we have: Terrorism hitting US soil, no reasonable right to privacy, laws that if the rebpublicans can't get rid of alltogether (environmental protection, immigration laws) they modify them to their political advantage (voting laws, degulation of oil prices, tax incentives for outsourcing jobs, etc, etc, etc, etc)
If we as a country are too dumb to see what will happen 20 years into the future if this keeps up, someone WILL get hurt, now that can either be the RICH, or the MIDDLE CLASS.. I know who's getting the short end of the stick right now... Bush wants to END some of the largest entitlement progrmas as we know it... ie social security! Its not just taking the program away, it means CUTTING benefits becuase all of the good paying jobs are in INDIA, CHINA, or elsewhere and not in the USA, with the exception of these illegal immigrant jobs which HUGE corporations like walmart are content to hire without background checks and plead ignorance... The concept of fairness has become an issue of race since the backlash against MEXICANS will include a broader demographic: HISPANICS the hispanic community needs to get on the right side of this issue before they (the LEGALS) have no jobs left too..
Now, lets bring this full circle back to USF:
The USF is a corrupt piggy bank. Money from this fund goes places you really wouldn't believe-- alot of it to fraudulant programs, and diverted monies to people who really aren't even hispanic, poor or otherwise needing of subsidized telecommunications servies. What I WILL say is that PART of this money DOES go to political subidies in communities (HISPANIC) that eventually pay for votes, and political loyalties that are exchanged throughout the country.. under today's leadership! Now that bashing republicans has been the brunt of the problem, DEMOCRATS are complacent in this fraud, and take part as well, only to a limited degree (hush money) because faud and corruption don't like to see the light of day... and the minority party is great at whining about things.. | |
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Dennis
Premium,Mod
join:2001-01-26
Algonquin, IL | Re: Now hiring drunk photoshop experts.... maybe the children of 1992....who has a phone like that even anymore?????
They have all this money to lobby politicians, but can't afford stock photos that were taken after y2k? wtf batman! | |
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Karl Bode
News Guy
join:2000-03-02 | Re: Now hiring drunk photoshop experts.... One must save pennies for lavish dinners and FCC trips to Vegas.... | |
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N3OGH
Das boot ist gut, nein?
Premium
join:2003-11-11
Philly burbs
 ·Verizon FIOS
·Verizon Online DSL
| said by Karl Bode  :Levy USF taxes on VoIP carriers and let us milk you more, it's the right thing to do.....for the children. "Won't SOMEONE please think about the children....?!?!?!?"
I love how they yank that one out their ass every time they want more cash. Last time the teachers went on strike around here, they were holding signs that read "Do it for the children."
It had nothing to do with the children, it had to do with their paychecks. If it was all about the children, they would be inside teaching...
How about the PARENTS worry about the children. I'll worry about my children.
Wait, I don't have any, I can't afford to, I'm paying for someone ELSE'S children.....
/rant off | |
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Karl Bode
News Guy
join:2000-03-02
Host:
Road Runner
PC gaming GAMES
PC gaming Tech
| Re: Now hiring drunk photoshop experts.... And really, look at the corruption in the E-rate system being exposed lately.
If they REALLY gave a shit about the children, wouldn't a clean-up of how that money is spent be prime fodder if that group REALLY gave a damn about the impoverished?
No, such a cleanup would probably notice much of the USF money isn't properly tracked from the moment it leaves your wallet.... | |
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Captain Obvious
| Actually, in this case, you SHOULD do it for the children. At the salaries that K12 teachers are offered, only a handful of takers will be qualified, the rest will be jokers who couldn't cut it elsewhere.
Teacher testing in a lot of states has cut down on the number of really bad teachers, but the days of being taught by someone who is familiar with the subject they are teaching, or in many cases, any subject at all, are gone. There is just no economic incentive for qualified students to go into teaching.
So, when you vote to give teachers a raise, you are slightly increasing the odds that someone who actually gives a damn, and knows what they are doing, will apply for the job. | |
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N3OGH
Das boot ist gut, nein?
Premium
join:2003-11-11
Philly burbs
·Verizon FIOS
·Verizon Online DSL
| Re: Now hiring drunk photoshop experts.... Whoa whoa, now. We're not talking about teachers at some inner city school who are barely getting by here. We're talking about a very affluent suburban area where the teachers are getting a very nice wage indeed.
There are plenty of educated and qualified people doing jobs that are just as important, who can't strike.
Given the grand scheme of things, and their contribution to society, should teachers make more than they do? Sure, so should cops, firefighters, social workers, and garbage men. But that wasn't the point.
The point was, it seems like EVERYONE is screaming "it's for the children" these days. | |
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FTCXtreme
join:2005-03-14
New Braintree, MA | I do! It my moms old cell phone | |
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rtcpenguin
Premium
join:2001-01-21
Fairfax, VA | Looks like my boy Shooter McGavin in that image on the left. | |
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Lunchtimer
@12.34.x.x
| Send a message to the FCC Use the "Keep Universal Service Fund (USF) Fair" website to send your own message to the FCC. After you click the "Take Action Now" button, the next screen allows you to edit the message being sent. It would be highly appropriate to use their website as a way for DSLR readers to send contrasting opinions about the USF to the FCC. | |
| | moonpuppy
join:2000-08-21
Glen Burnie, MD | Re: Send a message to the FCC How much you want to bet those negative comments don't even make past their server.  | |
| | | Damon85
Premium
join:2004-12-25
Louisville, KY | Re: Send a message to the FCC None, I don't have any of that Baby-Bell scratch they have...
It just makes me ever so happy to pay $50 $60 a month for phone service... | |
| | | | SulSeeker5
join:2003-03-20
Eugene, OR | Re: Send a message to the FCC Sent a message, doubt it'll get read to. | |
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rchandra
Stargate S G-1 And Atlantis Fan
Premium
join:2000-11-09
14225-2105
clubs:
| more money often != problem solved "more than 70,000 consumers have visited the coalition's website and filed comments with the FCC."
That's nice. It says nothing about the content of those filed comments. The majority of them could be along the lines of "keep the helsinki out of my darned wallet!"
I always say to people who want to raise my taxes and fees, if you think so much that taxes aren't high enough, lead the charge by sending in your own extra check. I say most times, there are a whole lot of ways the money they do get already can be spent better. Seek ways to eliminate waste first, then talk to me about increasing my share. I say do that, or prove to me conclusively you've already cut to the bone.
--
English is a difficult enough language to interpret correctly when its rules are followed, let alone when a writer chooses not to follow those rules. Blog is here
Jeopardy! replies REALLY suck! | |
| | jsnipp68
join:2001-09-27
Jamaica, NY | Re: more money often != problem solved WOW some people are freaking idoits... What makes you think they are talking about Mexicans? Just because they say Hispanic? Mexicans are not the only Hispanic out there you freaking jacka$$... | |
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12Buckle
@verio.net
| Fraud, waste and abuse are definitely ways to reduce cost for any worthy program. The Coalition is advocating capping the total amount of taxes that FCC can raise to meet the demands of the USF Fund. Since its initial filing FCC Docket CC 96-45, the Coalition advocated that there is no crisis necessitating changing anything, but the FCC was leaning towards industry argument that the way the USF is funded should be switched from the current revenue based (the more you use the more you pay) to a flat fee (whether you are a large volume corporate user or senior on a fixed income, pay the same). The Coalition proposed its alternative Fair Share Plan that says to the FCC do everything to keep taxes low including removing the safe harbor(limit that can be taxed) for wireless, including VOIP and certainly going after fraud, waste and abuse. If these are done AND demand still requires the tax to increase, then the Plan says it cannot go up beyond a certain percentage. (It should be noted that before Congress stopped companies from including non-USF related expenses as a USF charge on consumer phone bills, the "USF" tax was well above 12 %. It is currently a little over 11%.) If demand still rises above the proposed cap (the Coalition presented a range of what the cap could be, but the misinformed interpreted that as a request for the FCC to raise taxes), then ANY residual demand would be offset by a flat fee which by that point would be pennies or fractions thereof. Read the comments, not the rhetoric. | |
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