Thanks to Trudy for bringing up this rant (http://trudygolightly.joeuser.com/index.asp?aid=124114 )

Back in the early 90s, Congress Passed and Clinton signed a law that taxes telephones.  It was called the Universal Access Tax, and it was designed to fund education.  How?

It was designed to fund schools and libraries in getting connected to the Internet.  And to the tune of about $2.5+ billion a year, it started collecting the dough and pumping out money.  And 12 years later, what has happened?  Most Americans are still paying the tax........but what school or library is NOT connected to the Internet?

The rules of this scam were very loose.  A school division could hire a person to maintain their networks, but that would not be covered by this fund.  Supposedly it was for the T1s (Cable and DSL now), routers, servers and switches.  Ah!  But there was and is a rub.

School division A could hire me, but they would pay my salary.  But if they hired me as a contractor!  the Program (Called E-Rate) would pay!

And not just poor school divisions. Before this program started, the school division I was working for, one of the richest in the nation, had decided to put computers in every classroom and connect every school to the Internet (of course the schools were networked - do you think I am just a computer jock?)

They did all of this with their own funding.  Until E-Rate (the name of the outflow of the Universal Services Act) came about! Then the administrators gleefully rubbed their hands and dipped them into the $2.5 billion trough!

OK, you cant blame some one for taking advantages of the rules.

But $27 billion dollars later, can anyone name me a single public (it was only public - sorry Private schools) school system or Library that is not connected to the Internet?  Anyone?

That is because there are none.  Whether dial-up (very few and far between) or Cable/DSL/Satellite, all are.

Yet the tax remains.  And there is no push to repeal it.

So the next time some liberal (or conservative for that matter) comes crying to you about "we need to raise taxes to get over this hurdle.  Booooohoooohoooo", tell them to shove it in the stove pipe as until they decide to sunset old taxes, there is no point in creating new ones.  They never go away even when the need has long since passed.

And oh, BTW:  Check your phone bill next time you get it.  If you see that "Universal services" BS line?  Now you know what is for, and why you are getting stuck (shafted) with it.