a telecommunications tax (all phone usage--cell, mobile, land). from what i understand, this would lower (or erase) a tax (franchise one i believe) on my bill, which would initially lower my phone bill. however, if i have voice mail, caller id, call waiting, etc., my bill would actually go up. i have voice mail so this tax would place its creepy little fingers into my pockets and want more of my income.
i thought about all of this earlier in the morning. i thought about the expenses in my life and my income. that ratio. here's what i put together. since 1999:
1) my housing costs (rental) have increased 20%
2) cable costs (if i were to sign up again) have increased 100%
3) electric costs have increased 30-35%
4) the cost of a basic plan for health insurance has tripled
and my income? drumroll, please...........
my income has decreased by approximately 18%. (i had steady employment until i was laid off.......replacement jobs have been extremely difficult to come by with the competition growing fiercely........i have had to settle for employment at a lower wage as a result.)
and now my city wants to impose yet another tax. and the well-to-do citizens of this city, the corporate supporters, are talking about how we're all in this together. how we must all pull our own weight. how this tax is needed to fund necessary city services. while i agree with them in theory, i would like to ask them what their income has done. has their income been able to keep up with the ever-increasing costs of basic expenses?
i have an idea. let us have this tax be an option. those who really support it can choose to toss in their change every month to ensure city services are adaquately funded. those of us who simply cannot financially withstand yet another hand-in-our-pockets-tax can opt out.
at this stage in the game folks, new taxes on those of us currently in the lower income brackets is unfair. we need to have a choice. the choice to opt out. those dollars and cents are better spent trying to get ahead.
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