Why is there still a phone surcharge tax of 3% to help pay for the Spanish-American war!
Why are we not upset about this?
huh? can you elaborate a little?
this can explain better that I: http://atr.org/pressreleases/Issues/i0049.htm
I think your thread title is misleading. We are paying a tax that was created during the Spanishg-Anmerican war, but that doesn’t mean that we are paying it to finance the war.
The article you cited said “The tax was actually phased out after the Spanish-American war, but was reimposed on long distance calls in 1914, and then fully reinstated to help finance World War I.”
I suppose you could instead ask “why do we keep having wars when they cost so damn much?”
Or “why are we still paying for World War I?”
Or “Where’s the WW3 we paid for?”
Sorry, sir, WW3 is out of stock and on back order right now, but we’ve got some lovely little regional conflicts if you’d care to take a look. They may not have the really big, cool flashes and noises, but rest assured they’ll give your country all that deficit spending your little heart has been dreaming of.
We’re very sorry but the sudden and unexpected closing of our main supplier, SovTech, has made it impossible for us to meet your WW3 needs at this time. We are attempting to reach an agreement with our former supplier but its ongoing reorganization as RussiCorp makes it difficult to predict when this will be possible. We are also exploring the options of dealing with a new supplier such as SinoCom, but are recent unfortunate experiences with IraqiWar or the Balkan Group has made us aware that these suppliers, while fully capable of handling regional conflict orders, may be unable to deliver full world war level needs. Perhaps when it is settled from its recent merger our previous supplier DeutschVolk will re-enter the war supply field as part of a real estate acquisition program.
Obviously, the above quote supports our view that traditional war suppliers are still bogged down by the industry’s consolidation, which in turn has distorted the sector’s traditional 20-year cyle. Some observers believe that, rather than being a mere aberration, this phenomenon actually indicates a paradigm shift–a “New War Economy”, if you will–that renders older conflict models obsolete. Our house view is that several belligerants still represent good buys as strictly regional plays, but the day of truly global-concept stories is past. Punters with a taste for risk should instead turn to small-scale civil conflicts, such as Karen over-the-counter plays and Basque penny stocks.
DHR
I figure I’ll just stick with a traditional Middle Eastern fund. You can always count on that region for a steady return.
But I’ll admit I’m putting a little something into a high-risk “Alien Invaders” investment. Sure, it’s almost certain not to pan out, but the potential rewards are so high how could I resist?
Well, YMMV. Sure, there are some reputable alien invasion funds out there–Roswell Vee-ger Capital comes to mind–but you can still get burned by the hucksters if you’re not careful. You’ll recall how almost all of the members of the Heaven’s Gate Investment Club got badly burned by dabbling in this Wild West segment of the market. I’d go for Extinction Event Comet Futures myself, if that sort of thing floats your boat.
DHR
Ay Carumba! I’ve created a monster!
I like it!
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All of this is backed up with the financial clout of the Transylvanian Blood Bank (V. Tepes, CEO).Call now, and our friendly operator, Igor, will be glad to answer all your questions.
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You should tell the truth, expose the lies and live in the moment."-Bill Hicks
“You should tell the lies, live the truth and expose yourself.” - Bill Clinton
What? No one is complaining about that one cent per month you pay to finance the Relay that the deaf use to call hearing people?