Thanks again Red States

Still trying to get my head around the factoid, cited in a recent Nation article by John Nichols and sort of discussed in this space previously, that in the last election, all cities larger than 500,000 voted for Kerry.

List of all cities over 500, 000 behind the jump, if you are curious. Quite a few are in states that voted for Bush (Houston, Miami, Nashville, etc.)

I was reminded of this oddity while reading an article in today's NYT about the phone companies penchant for sticking it to their customers via various line item billable items.

The phone companies say that the surcharges are legal and that they have the right to keep them out of the advertised price of calling plans as long as they are explained on Web sites and in service contracts.
All the while, the fees keep growing. Subscriber line charges - fees that local phone carriers charge users of their networks - on residential bills, for example, have grown by 64 percent in the last decade even though average monthly local phone bills have grown just 23 percent during the period.

In 2003 alone, companies collected more than $12 billion in subscriber line charges from their customers, according to the F.C.C.

Surcharges have proliferated, in part, because most consumers do not challenge as misleading or incorrectly calculated small amounts that look like taxes on a bill. And those who do generally find that they have little or no recourse
...The F.C.C. responded to the growing tide of customer protests by expanding its “truth in billing” rules in March to include wireless as well as landline carriers. The rules, first put in place in 1999, require that bills be “brief, clear, nonmisleading and in plain language;” that carriers not misrepresent optional fees as taxes; and that they properly recover government fees.
But there is very little enforcement; the F.C.C. has rarely penalized carriers for violating these rules.

Anyway, one of these fees is a direct subsidy of rural, Red Staters via residents of urban communities mostly, ie, Blue Staters:

Part of the problem is that the rules give phone companies ample leeway to determine what goes on a bill. Most phone companies, for example, are obligated as a cost of doing business to contribute to the Universal Service Fund, which provides services to rural communities, schools and libraries. Most companies pass along that contribution to their customers as a separate line item - even though they could add that cost to the advertised price of the calling plan, or simply absorb the cost.

Yeah, screw you too.

From Nielsen

New York 7,375,530
Los Angeles 5,536,430
Chicago 3,430,790
Philadelphia 2,925,560
Boston (Manchester) 2,375,310
San Francisco-Oak-San Jose 2,355,740
Dallas-Ft. Worth 2,336,140
Washington, DC (Hagrstwn) 2,252,550
Atlanta 2,097,220
Houston 1,938,670
Detroit 1,936,350
Tampa-St. Pete (Sarasota) 1,710,400
Seattle-Tacoma 1,701,950
Phoenix (Prescott) 1,660,430
Minneapolis-St. Paul 1,652,940
Cleveland-Akron (Canton) 1,541,780
Miami-Ft. Lauderdale 1,522,960
Denver 1,415,180
Sacramnto-Stkton-Modesto 1,345,820
Orlando-Daytona Bch-Melbrn 1,345,700
St. Louis 1,222,380
Pittsburgh 1,169,800
Portland, OR 1,099,890
Baltimore 1,089,220
Indianapolis 1,053,750
San Diego 1,026,160
Charlotte 1,020,130
Hartford & New Haven 1,013,350
Raleigh-Durham (Fayetvlle) 985,200
Nashville 927,500
Kansas City 903,540
Columbus, OH 890,770
Milwaukee 880,390
Cincinnati 880,190
Greenvll-Spart-Ashevll-And 815,460
Salt Lake City 810,830
San Antonio 760,410
West Palm Beach-Ft. Pierce 751,930
Grand Rapids-Kalmzoo-B.Crk 731,630
Birmingham (Ann, Tusc) 716,520
Harrisburg-Lncstr-Leb-York 707,010
Norfolk-Portsmth-Newpt Nws 704,810
New Orleans 672,150
Memphis 657,670
Oklahoma City 655,400
Albuquerque-Santa Fe 653,680
Greensboro-H.Point-W.Salem 652,020
Las Vegas 651,110
Buffalo 644,430
Louisville 643,290
Providence-New Bedford 639,590
Jacksonville 624,220
Austin 589,360
Wilkes Barre-Scranton 588,540
Albany-Schenectady-Troy 552,250
Fresno-Visalia 546,210
Little Rock-Pine Bluff 531,470
Knoxville 516,180
Dayton 513,610
Richmond-Petersburg 510,770
Tulsa 510,480
Mobile-Pensacola (Ft Walt) 501,130

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This page contains a single entry by Seth A. published on August 27, 2005 8:18 AM.

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