Lack of perspective
May 6th, 2007 . by Mark Warden
In a recent Assembly hearing, according to the R-J, Speaker Buckley said, “that she wanted to protect her typical constituent — an elderly woman who is 70, living on fixed income, doesn’t want a government subsidy for phone service, doesn’t have a cell phone or doesn’t use the Internet,” referring to a proposal by regulators to cap phone bill rates.
Of course, the leftist legislator has no qualms about increasing property taxes. The basic phone bill from Embarq is about $15 per month, or $180 per year. An average property tax bill on a home valued at $200,000 is around $1,800 per year. Where’s the outpouring of concern for her typical constituent on that? An elderly woman may use the phone every day, but she may only drive the local roads a few days a week, and chances are very high that she doesn’t have children in government K-12 schools, which are funded in part through property taxes.
Another burst of disingenuousness came from our state’s “consumer advocate.” Keep in mind that doesn’t mean taxpayer advocate. “I think rate caps are a good idea,” Eric Witkoski, chief of the attorney general’s Bureau of Consumer Protection and state consumer advocate, said during the first hearing on a bill that would eliminate price regulation of basic residential phone service.
The article continued: “Witkoski also suggested that the Public Utilities Commission be directed to monitor the land-line telephone industry each year and determine that local telephone markets remain competitive.” It seems to us at BudgetWatchNevada that the simple economics of deregulation as seen in lower prices in long distance phone service, air travel, etc. are lost on this taxpayer-supported bureaucrat. I wonder if he supports price caps on government-imposed taxes and fees.
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2 Responses to “Lack of perspective”
[…] and observes in Lack of Perspective In a recent Assembly hearing, … Speaker Buckley said, “that she wanted to protect her typical constituent — an elderly woman who is 70, living on fixed income, doesn’t want a government subsidy for phone service, doesn’t have a cell phone or doesn’t use the Internet,” referring to a proposal by regulators to cap phone bill rates. […]
[…] and observes in Lack of Perspective In a recent Assembly hearing, … Speaker Buckley said, “that she wanted to protect her typical constituent — an elderly woman who is 70, living on fixed income, doesn’t want a government subsidy for phone service, doesn’t have a cell phone or doesn’t use the Internet,” referring to a proposal by regulators to cap phone bill rates. Of course, the leftist legislator has no qualms about increasing property taxes. The basic phone bill from Embarq is about $15 per month, or $180 per year. An average property tax bill on a home valued at $200,000 is around $1,800 per year. Where’s the outpouring of concern for her typical constituent on that? An elderly woman may use the phone every day, but she may only drive the local roads a few days a week, and chances are very high that she doesn’t have children in government K-12 schools, which are funded in part through property taxes. […]