GOP jobs agenda

[Flopper]

So what you've done is take 2 billion dollars out of the pockets of American consumers in the form of a "surcharge" that is paid to service providers which is then paid as a tax to the Federal Government which then spends it to give people free phones.

For you to sit here and claim that isn't a tax is about as duplicitous as it gets. If you're going to steal money from Americans to pay for your entitlements, Faun...at least have the political courage to admit what it is you're doing instead of hiding behind schemes like this one.

Look at the pretzel you're twisting yourself into to maintain your idiocy that your taxes pay for ObamaPhones. A charge is not a tax. There are all sorts of charges for all sorts of reasons so companies can turn a profit, that doesn't make them taxes.

And as stated on the FCC website, the 'universal service' fee is optional. Not every company applies it. I'm sure some don't, but collect that fee in other ways.

Sure, you're still paying ... but it's not coming out of your taxes.

A charge is not a tax? Is a fee a tax? When Massachusetts taxpayers revolted and passed legislation that prohibited their State politicians from raising taxes more than a certain percentage the government responded by raising "fees" on virtually everything the public needed to do through their government. The cost of getting a drivers license doubled...every single video game in night club that used to have a $15 year license fee suddenly cost $50.

What is being done with the "Universal Service Fund" is especially sleazy. The government wants to give free phones away but they KNOW that if they pay for that out of taxpayer monies that it will create an uproar from taxpayers who are already struggling to pay their bills. So what they DO is tax the companies who provide all of us with phone service and tell them that if they want to they can recoup that cost by charging us.

Now you've just stated that some companies don't apply the Universal Service Fund Surcharge to their customers. Would you like to tell us the name of that telephone service provider? The truth is they ALL pass that charge along! They also get paid a fee for each new ObamaPhone customer that they sign up for the program...a fee that IS paid by the Federal Government! I suppose you're now going to tell me THAT isn't coming out of my taxes either?

The LifeLine program is not, nor has ever been, funded by tax dollars.

Your inability to understand that, or accept it, really makes no difference.

The LifeLine program is funded by fees tacked on to each and everyone of our phone bills! Now you can call them anything you want to, Faun but that's simply semantics. In reality it's a tax on our phones that we pay to the phone service providers and then they pay to the Federal Government. It's a sleazy way for the government to hit us up with yet another tax without having to admit that THEY are doing so! Instead they declare that it's totally up to the phone service providers whether or not to pass that cost along (wink...wink) and they have nothing to do with it!

The Lifeline program is part of the Universal Service Charge which provides a number of telecommunication services to rural healthcare organizations, tribal reservations, schools, libraries, and those with low income. . Lifeline is 48 cents of the average USC charge. I don't think the government or the phone companies are try to hide anything. The charges are fully explained on the bill or the FCC website.
Home FCC.gov

 

[Flopper]

If there was a box on my phone bill that I had the "option" of checking if I wanted to support a Universal Service Fund then it wouldn't be a tax disguised to look like something else. But I don't have that option because the phone provider doesn't have that option. If I don't pay that "surcharge" they will turn off my phone and I'll hear from a collection agency. If the phone company doesn't pay that tax to the Feds then they will end up in tax court. As I said before...you can call this whatever you like...it doesn't change the fact that all of us who pay for phone service also pay for ObamaPhones.

Where did this Obamaphone come from? Lifeline was part of the 1986 Telecommunications Act.

The USC is not a tax and can't be listed as such because it is does go to the government. The USC is a competitive pricing issue Some companies do not charge this fee at all, some charge a carrier specific flat fee, others charge a percentage of your interstate and international usage, while others charge a percentage of your entire bill. We offer full details of the amazing differences in this rate on the Fees Comparison page. Although the charge the companies pay is in essence a tax, the fee on your bill is carrier specific, and is NOT a set tax. The telephone company keeps any difference between the USF fees they collect and the charge they pay to the Universal Service Fund.

Telephone Bills - What are all those charges on my telephone bill Provided by ABTolls.com

 

[RKMBrown]

Tips are always optional.
Having a phone is a modern necessity.
A fee for services rendered for your bill for your food that you willfully purchased and willfully payed, is worlds apart from a fee for which you have no god damn choice for paying for SOMEONELSES BILL for services that you did not enjoy and for which you had no choice.

Your comparison is like saying rape is the same thing as a hand shake.

Tips are not always optional...

Couple arrested over 'theft' for refusing to tip in restaurant

And again, it can be any fee for any reason. It could be the delivery fee when you have an appliance delivered. Call that a tax because the person or company collecting it pays taxes.

Buying food at a restaurant is always optional to eating at a different place. Thus for at least that reason tips are always optional. Additionally, tips are almost always optional and when they are not you can go somewhere else.

Using that same logic, again, phone service is also optional.

A delivery fee for delivery of an appliance that you pay for to get your item delivered is not the same as paying for delivery of an appliance that you did not buy to be delivered to someone else's home.

Now you're trying to switch the argument how tax revenues are applied. Sticking on topic, it doesn't matter. Either way, you're paying someone a fee which they in turn use to pay their taxes.

I'll say it again. Your comparison is like saying is like saying a vicious violent rape of a child is the same thing as a hand shake with your best friend.

Cries the idiot claiming fees are taxes.

No, DUMB ASS.

We are claiming FEDERAL FEES ARE FEDERAL TAXES.

Really, how stupid are you?

FEDERAL TAXES ARE NOT THE SAME AS PRIVATE SERVICE FEES.

THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT IS NOT A PRIVATE ENTITY

REDISTRIBUTION OF WEALTH BY OUR GOVERNMENT IS NOT THE SAME AS FREE ENTERPRISE.

Imbecile.... caps only make you appear more unhinged than you already are. And those "federal fees" are to phone companies ... not you. And while they may increase your service charges to cover those costs, it's no different than any other service fees they pass on to you to cover their federal obligations.

That's right I'm unhinged wrt. people like you who think it's funny to take food off my children's table to line your pocket. As for your imbecile comment. ROFL you're level of intelligence is lower than the intelligence of my toe cheese.

Yes, those federal fees are to phone companies, not me.

Incorrect, federal fees for infrastructure support are different than federal fees for redistribution of income. I'm not sure why you think giving you a free cell phone is the same thing as building a telecommunications network that the cell phone companies lease.

Maybe you can explain to the class why paying for lease of equipment is the same as a giving someone a free cell phone.