What Al Gore has to do with your rising cell phone bill.

Have you noticed your cell phone bill slowly but steadily increasing lately? I have, and not all that slowly. I just looked over my Verizon bills for the past 4 months to find out why. My "Monthly Access Charges" - are the same each month, but my taxes have gone up each of the past 4 months.

I got rid our our Land Line primarily over frustration that our monthly phone bill was more taxes than it was phone, and now our cell phones appear to be headed in the same direction.

There are two lines on the Verizon bill that have to do with taxes:

Taxes, Governmental Surcharges & Fees:
"Includes sales, excise and other taxes and governmental surcharges and fees that we are required by law to bill customers."
Verizon Wireless Surcharges and Other Charges & Credits
"Includes charges to recover or help defray costs of taxes and of governmental charges and fees imposed on us by the government. Other Charges and Credits - includes charges for products and services, and credits owing."

So there are the taxes the Government imposes, and the ones Verizon imposes because the government imposes taxes on them.

Here's the breakdown for the past 4 months:

	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct
Taxes, Governmental Surcharges	$7.98	$8.16	$8.87	$9.64
Verizon Wireless Surcharges	$8.46	$8.46	$8.46	$8.73
Total	$16.44	$16.62	$17.33	$18.37

That's an 11.7% increase in just the past 4 months. If the increases stopped this month I would be paying $220.44/yr just for taxes on our cell phones. But they won't stop increasing. They never stop increasing.

What is particularly annoying is that these are hidden taxes that people rarely think about. They're hidden because there is nowhere on the bill where you can get an itemized list of what these taxes are for, or where these taxes go. In fact phone companies are forbidden by law to reveal any such information. They are also taxes mainly imposed by the FCC which under the constitution should have no authority to impose taxes. If you want to know more here are two short and very informative articles about how these taxes originated:

Al Gore’s Hidden Phone Tax
Gore telephone tax unconstitutional

Yes, Al Gore invented the Internet AND a way to tax our phone bills.

Of course these types of hidden taxes are everywhere now; when you rent a car, buy a car, register a car, gas up your car, check into a hotel, buy a fishing/hunting/marriage license, book a flight, take a cruise, rent an apartment, buy a home, send your kids to school, etc, etc, etc.

I would go to war for Herman Cain's 9-9-9 plan if I thought for one second that it would replace ALL other local, state, and federal taxes including all these ubiquitous "hidden" taxes we just take for granted as part of our everyday life.

I do love the idea that EVERYONE participate in funding our government equally. I believe that if EVERYONE had skin in the game that we would be much more vigilant about seeing that our hard earned money was spent responsibly.

Ya No Hablo

I spoke Spanish fluently... 30 years ago. Today I remember so little of my Spanish that I no longer list it as a skill on resumes or surveys.

I attended a mission reunion the year after I got back from Guatemala. I think they may have had one or two more after that which I didn't attend. Then for some reason there were no more reunions, until last year. I went to that one. Our mission President and his wife spoke. They are both native Guatemalans. President Amado gave most of his talk in English for the benefit of the spouses in the audience, and those like me who have pretty much forgotten the language.

Today a notice was posted on Facebook of another reunion planned for this year. I guess they are going to try and have them yearly again until we're all dead. The problem is that the notice was in Spanish and I was having a hard time trying to understand what it said so I clicked on the "Translate This Page" link. I think Facebook is forgetting its Spanish too because it's translation was about as good as mine. At least it gave me a good laugh:

Begin to prepare for our big second meeting of slippers in Utah.

The party last year was a fabulous night renew friendship .... buried under lots of years, by time and dusty occupations. In a few hours pass everything, leap from one emotion to another ... both killed me with laughter:
A woman who was there told me when I go with a pot of food is ..... Gaze into each other I was my boyfriend and now not talk to me ...... jajajajaja plane that memory fails us a bit .... another friend told me ... do not you remember me ...? were together in the prison of San Antonio ..... jajajajaja the group that wheel there will be the mouth ... and I more .... I just said I was never in jail even if some see if it deserved .... but suddenly I remembered my friend Elder xxxx ... choco a vehicle being in the mission and was not licensed and was to jail for a week and this friend that he was 17 entonses hiso company ... I actually had to go to lawyer advocates trying to out do .. obiamente time data is lost or distorted images and words .... but definitely old memories come back for more and better jets.
Friends, wherever you are it's time to make plans, to find ourselves in a trip back THROUGH the eyes of our good friends ....

White Women Need Not Apply.

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People would be outraged, including myself- and rightly so - if a similar program were set up that specifically excluded black and Hispanic women. Can you imagine?... "Sorry honey, your skin is just too dark to be learning about computers". So can someone explain to me why this is not only acceptable but praiseworthy?

BTW it contained some false reporting:

The line

"her goal, to increase the number of women in science, technology and math"

should have said

"her goal, to increase the number of black and Hispanic women in science, technology and math".

The line

"A program just for girls that is creating a new generation of tech savy women"

should have said

"A program just for black and Hispanic girls that is creating a new generation of tech savy women of color"

What would you do with 1.6 Million Dollars?

Well, the federal government printed up a couple trillion dollars it didn't have and dolled it out at will; and this school district in Alaska ended up with 1.6 million dollars of it. They chose to buy iPads for themselves and their students.

This is quite a national party we're having isn't it? It's so much fun! Free iPads for EVERYONE!! I can't imagine the national hangover we're going to have in the morning but for now it's a blast. If your kids didn't come home with free iPads I would talk to your school administrators about it. They probably spent it on something so not fun... like plumbing repairs, new classrooms, textbooks, and the like. Or maybe they just gave themselves a bonus or pay raise. Or perhaps the sloppy joes are tasting just a little better this year.

If the government came to you and said, hey... here's 1.6 million dollars of FREE MONEY to do with what you will, what would YOU spend it on?

Why We Shouldn't Raise Taxes on the Rich (Political Post)

This clip from the Today show explains why we should not raise taxes on the rich.

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Viera asks a good question - with such an enormous national debt can we afford to give a 60 billion dollar tax cut to those making over $250,000 a year?
I might have agreed with Burnett's answer that no, we can't afford it; given this:


But then sweet little Erin Burnett spoke some absolute truth that rang in my ears like a Christmas Bell. Said Erin, "If we didn't give people over $250,000 the tax break here, we'd save 60 billion a year. And for that, we could have universal preschool for free and provide free college tuition for half the college students in this country".

You see liberals would have no interest in using that money to reduce our national debt, balance our budget, and become more independent. They are only interested in ever growing the size of government and making their citizens more and more dependent on them for all their needs.

When did the Federal Government ever get the idea that it was their roll to provide free retirement, free health care, free preschool, free college education, free broadband internet, a grocery store and fitness center on every corner (see my Food Desert Posts for more info) and two cars in every garage? And whoever in the world ever bought into the idea that any of it would ever really be "free"?

Here is a short, by no means inclusive, list of taxes that didn't exist 100 years ago when our nation was still the most prosperous in the world, and we had absolutely no national debt, the largest middle class in the world, and mom stayed home to raise the kids.

Building Permit Tax, CDL License Tax, Cigarette Tax, Corporate Income Tax, Dog License Tax, Federal Income Tax (Fed), Federal Unemployment Tax (FU TA), Fishing License Tax, Food License Tax, Fuel Permit Tax, Gasoline Tax, Hunting License Tax, Inheritance Tax, Inventory Tax, IRS Interest Charges (tax on top of tax), IRS Penalties(tax on top of tax), Liquor Tax, Luxury Tax, Marriage License Tax, Medicare Tax, Property Tax, Real Estate Tax, Service charge taxes, Social Security Tax, Road Usage Tax (Truckers), Sales Taxes
Recreational Vehicle Tax, School Tax, State Income Tax, State Unemployment Tax (SUTA), Telephone Federal Excise Tax, Telephone Federal Universal Service Fee Tax, Telephone Federal, State and Local Surcharge Tax, Telephone Minimum Usage Surcharge Tax, Telephone Recurring and Non-recurring Charges Tax, Telephone State and Local Tax, Telephone Usage Charge Tax, Utility Tax, Vehicle License Registration Tax, Vehicle Sales Tax, Watercraft Registration Tax, Well Permit Tax, Workers Compensation Tax

I recently noticed this "Explanation of Charges" on my Verizon Bill:

Verizon Wireless' Surcharges include charges to recover or help defray costs of taxes and of governmental charges and fees imposed on us, including a Regulatory Charge (which helps defray costs of various regulatory mandates, including government number administration and license fees) and a Federal Universal Service Charge (and, if applicable, a State Universal Service Charge) to recover costs imposed on us by the government to support universal service, and may include other charges also related to our governmental costs.

In other words - We are a corporation and therefore do not pay taxes. Instead we pass those taxes directly on to you.

I copied the following from a web site for a local candidate who was running for Congress for the Constitution party. I LOVE IT. And yes, I voted for him over our Republican candidate. He lost the election, but gained a devoted fan.

I understand that I don’t represent you. I represent your God-given rights under our Constitution. What does that mean? It means I understand the proper role of government. As stated in the Declaration of Independence: “That to secure these rights (unalienable rights endowed by our Creator), governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed.” This means the only reason our government exists is to secure our God-given rights. Anything the government tries to do beyond securing our God-given rights is beyond its proper scope and unconstitutional.
Another way to think of this: because the government is “by the people” it should not have any powers beyond those powers that individuals themselves hold. If it does, then the created is more powerful than the creator. The individual only has power to protect their God-given rights, “among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.” (note the word “pursuit” – we are not guaranteed happiness, only the right to seek it out)
No matter how noble it may seem to take from those that “have” to support those that “have not,” that action is clearly outside the scope of the rights of the individual. For example, if I forced you to give me your money in order to help a needy neighbor, I would be prosecuted for breaking the law. When our government forces us to pay money to redistribute to those groups they deem worthy of such funds, it is somehow seen as legal and even compassionate. When understood this way it is overwhelming to think of how many laws and programs that our government has created that are outside of the scope of its constitutional power.
If everyone in Congress and the Senate understood this philosophy, our country would be very different than it is now. The difference between Republicans and Democrats is only the different ways they present and pass these unconstitutional laws. The problem is that our current representatives believe their duty as your “representative” is to represent the will and wishes of their constituency. The will and wishes of the people is their own business and possibly the business of local and state governments. The federal government should only be concerned with, and represent, the God-given rights of the individual.

"Government is not reason, it is not eloquence -- it is force! Like fire it is a dangerous servant and a fearful master!" - George Washington

We R The Heart

I Am Not The Biggest Loser.

I'm a big winner! My sweepstakes obsession has paid off again.

First last month when out of the blue I got a $250 check from Kellogs, and then yesterday...

I won this:

A 4 day three night vacation at this resort in Hollywood! No, the other Hollywood.... the one in Florida. I didn't even know Florida had a Hollywood, but they do. It's between Ft. Lauderdale and Miami.

BTW, I Know that the prize package above says this resort is in Ft. Lauderdale, but I looked it up. Trust me, it's in Hollywood. Here are some pic's

I got a package with all the release and tax forms - cause the IRS wants a piece of my vacation too you know.

So this will make a nice 10 year Wedding Anniversary getaway next March dontcha think? Can't wait!!