My Contribution to the National Debt

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Yesterday I attended another one of those amazing classes through the Lifelong Learning Institute at University of Wisconsin - Green Bay. This class was about our national debt, taught by a very smart gentleman named Bob, someone I’ve come to know through various classes. He has a master’s degree in economics and a background in corporate leadership. 

Bob showed us hard data that clearly demonstrates that we have an ever-growing national debt because wealthy corporations don’t pay their fair share of taxes. Well, in fact, here is one of the charts he showed us. Scroll down and take a look at what Charter Communications’ effective tax rate was: 0.2%. Made me mad! One of the most profitable corporations in the country, and the owner of Spectrum, a company that bills me monthly

Bob’s class was great. I learned a lot. I came away with a clear sense that we have two major problems that keep our national debt growing:

·      a privatized, for-profit healthcare system that makes money from sick people

·      a bunch of greedy corporations with billionaire stockholders and almost no taxes paid

I forgot about Charter Communications and Spectrum until I opened my email to find my monthly statement from Spectrum: fee raised to $175.24 for one month of internet and TV service for little old me! That’s pretty amazing, considering I became a Spectrum customer less than four years ago - to the tune of less than $100/month. And in three-and-a-half years, my rates have risen 77%. And how has Spectrum done? Oh, pretty well, thank you: profits up 12.36% over the past year - about $6 billion. Profit! And less than ½% paid in taxes.

Now, here’s what Spectrum has taken from me over the past few years:

So, they started me at an “introductory rate” of about $99, if memory serves - that was September 2018. Somehow that rate started rising one year later, all the way up to about $138/month before they suddenly told me my wonderful introductory rate had ended. I jumped immediately to $169/month. And one year after that, $175! And there’s how they’re making that $6 billion annual profit! I wonder if the rate hikes will ever end. When will they pay their fair share of taxes, as I pay mine?

What do you think? What can we do about this? Does it make you mad too?

OH, WAIT A MINUTE! After I posted this article, I decided to ask Spectrum why they felt the need to raise my monthly rate. I was invited to a “live chat,” so I typed my message: “You’ve raised my rated by 77% over 3 1/2 years. Is there a good explanation for that, or is it just corporate greed?” I got a quick response: “I’ll connect you with a computer expert” [which made no sense, but what do I know?]. She asked whether there was anything else I needed to tell her; I answered “nope.” And the next message was unbelievable: “I’m going to connect you to a computer expert now. You’ll be asked to pay $1, which is fully refundable. Click ‘continue’ to get help.” I clicked “continue” and they wanted my credit card information before connecting me to help!

So I called the customer service number and waited about 10 minutes. The woman who answered my call didn’t know anything about corporate profits or failure to pay income taxes. She assured me of a few things, though:

  • All these raises are caused by rate hikes from my LOCAL TV CHANNELS.

  • I cannot have TV service without including my local TV channels.

  • I WILL GET ANOTHER RATE HIKE - $40 - IN OCTOBER OF THIS YEAR!

Now, can YOU recommend a provider of cable TV and internet service that an ordinary person can afford??!