Another fine move by the Texas Government (Phone Service Fee jumps 700%)

[brycejones]

I just get a kick out of such obvious socialism propping up infrastructure for rurals. Where’s that poster who though rural areas fund city areas? Lol

Awaiting his Jan 6th trial?

 

[Moonbeam]

I have no doubt many people in Texas are immune to understanding how shitty their state government is.

Yup. it's a real pity they hate themselves so much they will gladly fuck up their lives. Too bad also that there isn't enough love in the world to have given them a sense of self worth as children and that they continue to be personally blamed for the self hate they were made through no fault of their own to feel. But, well, you know. We all need somebody to dump on. I mean it's not like I'm going to turn all that self contempt they evoke consciously against myself. I feel much better condemning them and letting them rot in their own hell so I won't notice I'm right there with them.

 

[soulcougher73]

Yeah. I just looked at the Texas Universal Service Fee on my last T-Mobile bill. I have 3 lines of service and the fee was 3 cents. I guess next month it should be 24 cents. I sure hope I can afford the change.

I’m assuming you’ve heard the phrase about a boiling pot of water and frogs? Enjoy the 700% malfunctioning TX gov ass raping.

 

[bba-tcg]

There is a difference between 'Why should people care' and 'Why people come to believe they shouldn't care.' Caring for others is a natural feature of social animals that depend on cooperation for survival, like humans have been evolving toward for millions of years, but it is fragile, requires modeling from infancy, and is easily destroyed by abuse and neglect. It's lack creates a sense of organic shame, the feeling in those who don't care of self loathing and worthlessness. All you need to do is hold up a mirror, make people experience that shame and they will redirect all the wrath that shame creates in them directly back at you. God's wrath, what else could it be than projected self hate. This is why people don't care. They are not capable of it. But to care is to be human and that is why you should. But we were trained to believe that to be human makes you worthless.

What we feel we make real.

One thing to remember. Nobody will ever again be able to bend you to their will and make you care. The damage is done. Only you can undo it. You won. Nobody can make you.

Thanks for whatever this is. I don't believe that I'm suffering from any of the afflictions you mention. I've faced enough adversity in my life to have become fairly sure of who I am, mentally and spiritually and although not perfect, not really in bad shape either. You are correct that nobody will ever be able to bend me to their will for any reason.

The question was purely rhetorical, without any deep underlying meaning, responding to a odd statement by captante.

 

[bba-tcg]

I’m assuming you’ve heard the phrase about a boiling pot of water and frogs? Enjoy the 700% malfunctioning TX gov ass raping.

And I'm assuming that your unaware that this myth has been debunked.

Okay, I concede the frog point. There's conflicting info so I can't ascertain for sure without boiling some frogs, which I won't do. But the whole "TX gov ass raping" is effing hilarious.

 

[Captante]

Hmmmm....

 

[Moonbeam]

Thanks for whatever this is. I don't believe that I'm suffering from any of the afflictions you mention. I've faced enough adversity in my life to have become fairly sure of who I am, mentally and spiritually and although not perfect, not really in bad shape either. You are correct that nobody will ever be able to bend me to their will for any reason.

The question was purely rhetorical, without any deep underlying meaning, responding to a odd statement by captante.

i guess two things. I have been exposed to the idea that we can carry away from something only what we are able to carry and that the capacity is motivationally related. That, in turn, has produced a more than average suspiciousness regarding the possible presence of unconscious motivation behind such things as supposedly rhetorical questions and even that slick indifference can be a form of posturing. But the confirmations of the existence of any validity to these kinds of suspicions come from an analysis of myself.

Hi. It isn’t everyday I run into a sig like “Everything I left behind was waiting up ahead.”

 

[Paratus]

And I'm assuming that your unaware that this myth has been debunked.

Okay, I concede the frog point. There's conflicting info so I can't ascertain for sure without boiling some frogs, which I won't do. But the whole "TX gov ass raping" is effing hilarious.

Due to TX’s inability to maintain its infrastructure I’ve bought a whole house generator so my family won’t freeze again next time it drops below 32F or cook because a hurricane knocks the power out for a week.

I keep multiple pallets of water and an expensive gravity fed water purifier on hand for loss of potable water due to hurricanes or freezing weather.

I pay thousands of dollars a year in real estate taxes and for windstorm insurance.

We are all paying extra to cover the cost of last years winter storm. Costs that would have been mostly mitigated or nonexistent if they had adequately winterized after the last time in 2011.

What do I get for all this?

A state government who treats the women in my family as second class citizens, had the worst maternal mortality in the country, makes it harder to vote, denies required special education services, and wants to control what goes on in our bedrooms.

There’s more to government costs than just income tax. And the very high costs I do pay seem to be going to a state government that at best is indifferent to its citizens or at worst out right hostile.

 

[bba-tcg]

My bad. I left off the "700% malfunctioning" from the "TX gov ass raping". I'm not making any attempt to defend the mistakes and/or mismanagement of the TX government. I disagree with many of the decisions being made in Austin. This thread is about the Texas USF and my entire point was that this had been overblown in the original article and repeated here. This is supposed to be a temporary change until the fund is replenished.

After attempting to make this point, the thread has gone sideways, mostly to point out what an ignorant, uncaring, ashamed fuk I must be. Very little has been on topic since then.

 

[bba-tcg]

Hi. It isn’t everyday I run into a sig like “Everything I left behind was waiting up ahead.”

Again. No deep meaning. It's from an Earl Thomas Conley song called "Fire and Smoke":

 

[Paratus]

My bad. I left off the "700% malfunctioning" from the "TX gov ass raping". I'm not making any attempt to defend the mistakes and/or mismanagement of the TX government. I disagree with many of the decisions being made in Austin. This thread is about the Texas USF and my entire point was that this had been overblown in the original article and repeated here. This is supposed to be a temporary change until the fund is replenished.

After attempting to make this point, the thread has gone sideways, mostly to point out what an ignorant, uncaring, ashamed fuk I must be. Very little has been on topic since then.

For most the increase will hopefully be in cents or at most a couple of dollars a month.

But it’s another indication of the lack of governance from Austin.

They kicked the can down the road just like they did with winterizing the grid and as a result the citizens will end up paying much more than they had to if Abbott and the legislature had been responsible.

 

[Amol S.]

Since Texas is such a large state there has been a Texas Universal Service Fee that all cell and land line users pay that provides coverage to rural areas. (A hand out to the Texas rural minority if you will). Apparently the state wasn't keeping up with payments and the fund fell into debt.

Back in 2020 the Public Utility Commission staff recommended raising the fee from 3.3% to 6% to make up the shortfall, but the commissioner blocked it saying due to COVID we shouldn't be raising costs.

Last year the Texas Legislature tried to fix the problem but Governor Abbott said it would have imposed a new fee on millions of Texans so he vetoed it.
Why PUC and the Governor thought that was the end of it I have no idea.

Not surprisingly the phone companies/associations sued PUC and won. PUC issued an order to increase the fee from 3.3 to 24% - a 700% increase starting in September. For the reporter below he'll go from paying around $2/month for the fee to $14 ($24/year to $168). Business will see much larger increases depending on how many lines they have.

So if you live in texas and wonder why you are paying more for your phone bill this is why. Might want to remember that In November.

Your telephone bill will increase in September, and nobody told you until now

Starting with your September phone bill, all Texas phone users will see a huge increase for one line item on their phone bill. Watchdog Dave Lieber tells you...

www.dallasnews.com

Hey let’s not for get the PUC allowing consumers to eat all the costs for the winter storm.

They blame Biden for inflation but Texas Republican policies huge impacts of pricing of natural gas, electricity, and now phones. Water is next.

If I were to become POTUS the first thing I would do is ask congress to pass ASPA (Affordable Service Provider Act) or Amolprovider. The important points would be:

* Service provider outreach programs in rural areas are to be funded by the state government, and the costs of such program can not be passed down to the consumer's bill.

* It is up to county level officials of rural counties to decide if they wish to be part of such service provider outreach programs.
- A rural county is to be considered any county with less than at least 100,000 individuals according to the last decennial census.

* State governments are prohibited from imposing service provider tax on consumer bills to pay for such programs. All forms of monetary collection for such program must come from annual state income tax. If a state does not have annual income tax, then the federal government will send grant money annually to the state to pay for it.

* In the event that such program defaults or goes under, the federal government will grant money to the program to get it back up and running.

* Home owner associations and landlords are prohibited from imposing rules on housings located in rural counties, that prohibit the use of satellite dish service providers.

* Home owner associations and landlords can not restrict individuals in housings located in suburban and rural counties, in choosing a service provider from a specific list, when other service providers are available and possible to connect to.
- A suburban county is to be considered any county with a population in the range of 100,000 - 499,999 individuals.

* Home owner associations and landlords are prohibited, regardless of location of the housing, from imposing fees to the house owner/renter for the installation of service from a service provider.

* Home owner associations and landlords are prohibited, regardless of location of the housing, from requesting the removal of a particular service provider from their area or area of property.

* Net Neutrality.

* In the time range of somewhere between 2075 to 2100 all households in the US should have at least by the minimum, the ability to request and receive service via a cable service provider, and that POTS and DSL shall be rendered obsolete. The federal government will give service providers grant money to complete this.

* All domestic flights in the US, that are carried out on Wi-Fi capable aircraft, are prohibited from asking a fee or specific cabin class, to access and utilize in-flight WiFi for social media or surfing the web. Airlines are prohibited from adding a surcharge at any point in purchase of airline ticket for the free Wi-Fi. The federal government will grant money annually to airlines to pay for any losses incurred from the effects of this rule.

* All hotels in the US that have free in room Wi-Fi are prohibited from providing differentiated internet speed or duration of connectivity during the stay, based on whether the indual is a member of the hotel's specific member club or member club level. Hotels are prohibited from requesting a surcharge or Wi-Fi fee for Wi-Fi service to indivduals that are staying in the hotel. The federal government will grant money annually to hotels to pay for any losses incurred from the effects of this rule.

* The Federal Government shall grant NASA, DHS, and US Space Force, a total combined $500 billion of grant money for project named DARPA 2.0 to create and test inter-planetary internet connectivity. This is to get us ready in the event the US starts space living.

* Subscribers to television provided by a service provider, are entitled to request access to at least 1 international channel that service providers air on their service of the subscribers choice, free of charge. The federal government will provide grant money annually to service providers to pay for any losses incurred from this rule.

* Service providers are prohibited from placing any surcharges on the subscribers bill, and any sales tax of the state, city, or municipality shall be labeled accordingly as sales tax.

* It is prohibited for service providers to intentionally throttle internet speeds to lower than what the subscriber is paying for. The federal government will give service providers grant money annually to pay for any losses incurred from this rule.

 

[MrSquished]

Fuck the rurals. Cut those fuckers off.

 

[Moonbeam]

Fuck the rurals. Cut those fuckers off.

They didn't get to be such imbeciles by being connected. They shouldn't be kept in the dark they grew up in. They should instead pay a weekly cost for their ignorance in the form of education. Every month they should get a bill in the mail explaining to them all the freebies they get from government socialism and have to sign their names they have read them and agree and they will get them next month also. All they have to do is sign and say thanks to those who pay more so they can afford to get at least basic service.

 

[Moonbeam]

Again. No deep meaning. It's from an Earl Thomas Conley song called "Fire and Smoke":

In and out of honkey tonks from one town to the next
But anything worth loving
Lord's, just too hard to forget
Everyday's another day of feeling more the same
Looks like I'll run out of highway before
I out run the rain

But if there's fire and smoke
Ooh what a rush I got when your love was hot
Oh but I couldn't see
That when the flame burned out you'd leave
A cold dark cloud a raining down on me

So I'm reaching out to someone wishing, she were you instead
Everything I left behind was waiting up ahead
Pulling on the bottom baby, looking back on you
Anyways the right way babe as long as I pull through

But if there's fire and smoke
Ooh what a rush I got when your love was hot
Oh but I couldn't see
That when the flame burned out you'd leave
A cold dark cloud a raining down on me

Yeah, and when the flame burned out you left a cold dark cloud a raining
Down, a raining down on me
-------------
Nice. Thank you. I hope by no deep meaning you personally never experienced such heartbreak. There is some pretty deep meaning in those lyrics for me, maybe because I see things that aren't there. Here is one I like:

 

[Sunburn74]

They didn't get to be such imbeciles by being connected. They shouldn't be kept in the dark they grew up in. They should instead pay a weekly cost for their ignorance in the form of education. Every month they should get a bill in the mail explaining to them all the freebies they get from government socialism and have to sign their names they have read them and agree and they will get them next month also. All they have to do is sign and say thanks to those who pay more so they can afford to get at least basic service.

The GOP preys on stupidity and miseducation.

 

[ch33zw1z]

They didn't get to be such imbeciles by being connected. They shouldn't be kept in the dark they grew up in. They should instead pay a weekly cost for their ignorance in the form of education. Every month they should get a bill in the mail explaining to them all the freebies they get from government socialism and have to sign their names they have read them and agree and they will get them next month also. All they have to do is sign and say thanks to those who pay more so they can afford to get at least basic service.

Someone doesn’t know what the internet has become 🤔

 

[ch33zw1z]

My bad. I left off the "700% malfunctioning" from the "TX gov ass raping". I'm not making any attempt to defend the mistakes and/or mismanagement of the TX government. I disagree with many of the decisions being made in Austin. This thread is about the Texas USF and my entire point was that this had been overblown in the original article and repeated here. This is supposed to be a temporary change until the fund is replenished.

After attempting to make this point, the thread has gone sideways, mostly to point out what an ignorant, uncaring, ashamed fuk I must be. Very little has been on topic since then.

I think it’s very much the point, because it echoes so much of the rhetoric from the GOP

 

[Captante]

the thread has gone sideways, mostly to point out what an ignorant, uncaring, ashamed fuk I must be

You've been a member since 2010.... you SHOULD be used to this by now! (if posting in P&N has ONE positive it's the thickening of ones skin!)

 

[bba-tcg]

You've been a member since 2010.... you SHOULD be used to this by now! (if posting in P&N has ONE positive it's the thickening of ones skin!)

My skin's pretty thick.

 

[bba-tcg]

In and out of honkey tonks from one town to the next
But anything worth loving
Lord's, just too hard to forget
Everyday's another day of feeling more the same
Looks like I'll run out of highway before
I out run the rain

But if there's fire and smoke
Ooh what a rush I got when your love was hot
Oh but I couldn't see
That when the flame burned out you'd leave
A cold dark cloud a raining down on me

So I'm reaching out to someone wishing, she were you instead
Everything I left behind was waiting up ahead
Pulling on the bottom baby, looking back on you
Anyways the right way babe as long as I pull through

But if there's fire and smoke
Ooh what a rush I got when your love was hot
Oh but I couldn't see
That when the flame burned out you'd leave
A cold dark cloud a raining down on me

Yeah, and when the flame burned out you left a cold dark cloud a raining
Down, a raining down on me
-------------
Nice. Thank you. I hope by no deep meaning you personally never experienced such heartbreak. There is some pretty deep meaning in those lyrics for me, maybe because I see things that aren't there. Here is one I like:

I was saying that the line itself didn't carry any deep meaning as my signature. I love the song. If any of ETC's music holds any deep, philosophical meaning for me, personally,it would be this one:

But, in general, I think he has a great voice. As a rule, I'm much more of a classic rock person.

 

[Fanatical Meat]

My skin's pretty thick.

Calm the fuck down

 

[Captante]

Calm the fuck down

I nominate this as the official "slogan" of the P&N forum!

 

[IronWing]

My skin's pretty thick.

Like your mamma's.

 

[bba-tcg]

Calm the fuck down