[SOC] fee gouging in Frogland

[Bob Nielsen]

On Tue, Dec 17, 2002 at 05:58:56AM -0800, Lloyd Lachow wrote:
> wowie, Clawed! You know, here I paid $12 for 10
> years...although I think it just went up a
> little...but we have to make do with inferieur
> croissants, baguettes, fromage, and vin.

And that $12 is only because you have a "vanity" call (as do I). 
Around 20-30 years ago the US briefly charged everyone for licenses,
but dropped it (for hams) shortly thereafter.  Most countries do have a
charge (often hefty), however.

I remember in 1982 I took a trip to the UK and got a reciprocal call
(G5EPI).  I had to send in �10 (the equivalent of ~$14, I recall) for a
6 month license.  The bank charged me an additional $15 to issue the
check in British pounds.

At least with CEPT we do not have to pay extra to operate in many other
countries now.

Our overall tax situation is generally lower than most other nations,
although we do not have nationalized health care, which accounts for
much of the taxes elsewhere.  The newspaper today said the Bush
administration is studying to see if the "rich" are carrying too much
of the tax burden, so I expect taxes to increase for the rest of us. 
The Reagan so-called "tax cut" of the 1980s caused my taxes to increase
also.

73, Bob N7XY

-- 
Bob Nielsen, N7XY                          n7xy@n7xy.net
Bainbridge Island, WA  
IOTA NA-065, USI WA-028S