Congress Needs to End Bogus Telephone Charges If Congress Ever Does Anything Except De- Claim

THE OBERLIN HERALD — Opinion Page 133nd Year, Number 32 Wednesday, August 10, 2011 Congress needs to end bogus telephone charges If Congress ever does anything except de- claim. Services may be described as voice- bate the budget, it needs to change the federal mail, directory service or web hosting, among laws which allow unscrupulous scammers others. access to our phone bills. These firms usually will remove the charge, Unauthorized charges cost Americans about but it costs the consumer or business time and $2 billion a year, according to a study by the money to accomplish that. When the charge Senate Commerce, Science and Transporta- is small, some people just pay. One expert tion Committee. Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D- described spending 15 hours to straighten out West Virginia), who is leading an effort to bills for a group of restaurants. change the rules, says these “mystery fees” Whatever the case, when people pay, the show up on landline phone bills through a scammers smile all the way to the bank. process known as “cramming.” The solution, rather than try to make this Fair always comes too soon Cramming started after changes in the system work, would be to repeal the law which The county fair comes too early industry, and federal law, following the allows telecoms to piggyback their charges every year. I’m never ready. Each year, I think, ‘Why not enter breakup of the Bell System monopoly. Sen. on landline bills. That’d save the big telcos something in the open classes at Rockefeller blames major phone companies money and save consumers from having to the fair? Open Season like AT&T (the former Southwestern Bell, or pay for a cumbersome, unworkable system. “I’m a pretty good gardener, so SBC) for not cleaning up the problem. Small firms would have to bill people on why not show some of those toma- By Cynthia Haynes “It’s illegal, it’s wrong, it’s scamming,” he their own, but the legitimate need appears to toes, green beans, corn, green pep- [email protected] pers, cucumbers or cabbages that I asked at a recent hearing. “Why haven’t you be just the tail that wags this big, smelly ol’ grow every year?” cleaned up your act?” dog. Well, there’s one good reason. It’s But those darned grasshoppers of a pharmacy is no place for a spi- An industry spokesman claimed the com- Right now, the effort to reform the billing never ready. are treating my green beans like der of any kind, and their life span panies had made progress, but acknowledged system is bogged down in the general morass When fair time rolls around each dessert. They don’t ever eat a whole tends to be very short once the girls the problem continues. of delays in Congress, partisan infighting year, the peas, radishes, lettuce and bean. They just take a bite out of discover them. spinach are all gone. The corn, car- Scammers get access to the billing system and the overall budget battle. What’s needed, each pod. That’s sort of like the So, I got a plastic container and rots and cabbages are nowhere near couple who go to dinner. He orders shooed the spider into it. I then through small firms which supposedly offer though, is not a reform, but an end to third- ready to pick, and the squash, toma- dessert and she just takes a bite. coaxed a manager to let me out the some legitimate telecommunications service. party billing on phone statements. It seems toes, green peppers and cucumbers I’d prefer the grasshoppers eat back door. I crossed the parking lot They attach bogus bills to home and business that most are bogus, anyway, so “reform” will are just coming on. all of one bean instead of taking a and tenderly let the spider go in the accounts, and the phone companies claim they accomplish nothing. If an entry was one yellow squash bite out of every one in the patch, grass. The manager’s look told me or one cucumber, I’d have a chance. are obligated to include these in your monthly If you have received a bogus bill and think though. that she thought I had lost my mind. But no, they want a selection. That Right now, I’m fighting bugs with The tech was relieved and the spider bills. Apparently, they make no effort to scru- this system stinks, it’s time to write our sena- I don’t have. bugs. I’ve done everything I can to was just glad to be out of there. tinize these charges. tors, Jerry Moran and Pat Roberts, and Rep. I’d probably have enough toma- encourage the spiders to take over Steve did a little traffic control the When an odd charge appears on a phone Tim Huelskamp and ask them to join with toes, except Steve keeps eating my my garden. The webs over my cab- other night as well. As I was driv- bill, the companies routinely tell people that Democrats to end this travesty. entries. bage plants are incredibly beautiful. ing up to the garage, he noted that In another month, mind you, I’ll it’s their job to contact the firm making the – Steve Haynes I hope to have some really nice Toadally, our pet toad, was out in the be leaving vegetables on strangers’ cabbages this fall. Or I might have middle of the driveway. doorsteps. But not yet. Not now. Not some really pretty cabbages full of Steve got out of the car and herded this week. itsy bitsy spiders. the annoyed toad, who was finding Speaking of gardens, I’m wag- Oh well, we’ll see how this one great pickings out there under the Wedding by lake tops week ing war against the grasshoppers turns out. lights, back to his usual spot by the again. And, while on the subject of bushes. The main event of our weekend Now, mind you, I believe in spiders. I saved one’s life the other Come to think of it, Toadally is was the wedding of Jim’s great- organic gardening. I’m willing to day. beginning to remind me of Jabba nephew, Everett, and his beautiful share some produce with nature – I was on pharmacy duty in Norton the Hut. bride, Jordan. not tomato horn worms – but the when the tech let out a little yelp Ah, well. It’s summertime, and Jim performed the ceremony and, Out Back bugs can eat a few leaves and I won’t and pointed out an large wolf spider nature is taking over. Don’t ya as always, I cried when he got to complain too much. hiding under a counter. The inside love it? the part about God saying, “It’s not By Carolyn Sue Kelley-Plotts good for man to be alone. And, he [email protected] caused a deep sleep to come upon Adam. Then, God removed a rib from Adam and created Eve. Not Senator unhappy with plan to be. I call them happy accidents. trail cut through this area and whose from his head so as to lord it over How many failures did Thomas Edi- land that is now. Over the last few months, the her; and not from his feet so as to son have before he finally found the When I learned that the Decatur American people have endured the trample her; but, from close to his right way to make an incandescent County Museum is taking an excur- many ups and downs of an ever- heart so that he might protect her.” light bulb? Hundreds. But, he never sion bus to revisit the trail and unveil changing debate in Congress over I just love that part. gave up. Silly Putty was the result a trail marker, I immediately booked whether we should raise the debt On the Potomac It was a beautiful outdoor wed- of a mistake in the laboratory. So passage for two. The authors will ceiling for the 11th time in the last ding beside a lake. The stone steps were Post-it-Notes. Not sure what be there, along with the author of a decade. By Sen. Jerry Moran leading down to the water were the all that has to do with anything but, new book giving the Indian’s point I, along with many of my col- [email protected] altar and the whole outdoors their that’s where my thoughts took me: of view about the Last Indian Raid leagues, hoped we could use this cathedral. I was glad to see Jordan Wandering the little rabbit trails of in Kansas. moment in history to bring about remained true to her country roots. my mind. The tour is almost two months significant change to the way busi- warnings from credit rating agen- our debt will become more than Even though she was the picture -ob- from now, so it should be nice and ness is conducted in Washington. cies, which said a $4 trillion deficit three times the size of our entire of poise and beauty, if you looked One day when I was leaving the cool. I’m really looking forward to In fact, on March 22, I informed reduction plan would be necessary economy. real close, you could see her bare bank in our little town, a stranger it. If you’re a history nut like Jim, President Obama that I would not to prevent a downgrade in the U.S. This reality served as a wake-up feet peeking out from beneath her parked by the sidewalk asked if or just a curious gawker like me, vote to raise the debt ceiling in the credit rating.

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