Bamboozled

Current Fleecing Scams

Reflections at Lassen Park

Today is yet another day that the Treehouse residents who were persuaded to give up their copper wire phones and internet, are without TV, internet and phone services. They were told that UVerse service was better than what they had and that their ‘old wires’ weren't any good. That was a lie. AT&T defrauded my neighbors with a huge corporate scam.

It really gets my goat, (if I had a goat - but I don’t think my lease would permit a hooved animal). They are being told they can’t get DSL service or Lifeline wire connected phones. That isn’t true. I have DSL and a Lifeline phone that are working fine and they use the copper wire that is in all Treehouse apartments.

Lassen Park View

Why are AT&T persons lying to their customers? I will try to explain:

AT&T gets more profit from UVerse connections than from existing copper wire. They have been using an ALEC written piece of legislation to get states to allow them to discontinue copper wire service. This affects all households who have Lifeline phones.

At Manzanita Lake

Copper phone lines get their own power from local phone company stations. In an emergency when the power grid goes out, copper wire phones still have power.

The phone company makes a tidy profit from copper wire connections and DSL. But, nowhere near as much as the genormous profits they make if they can get you to switch to fiber optic cable service for your phone, internet connection, and TV.

Jet over Lassen Park

UVerse Lifeline phones are worthless when the power goes out. The copper wire phones are more secure when you absolutely need them. So you would think that your friendly AT&T representative/service person would let you know that reliable, less expensive phone and internet services are available on the existing copper wire you already have. Ha ha ha!

Whaddayaknow, there’s a bit of snow

Fleecing the customer is what privatized businesses do. Private utility companies paid ALEC to prepare pieces of legislation to do away with public utilities like water, gas, electric, and phones. Private industry now operates our utilities primarily to make money. What they can’t get from customers, they get in government subsidies.

Without stringent regulations to stop them, these companies will increase prices while eliminating quality products and services so that the market report shows greater profits. The CEO’s and Presidents of corporations don’t know or care what the company products are, they are only focused on making shareholders happy while collecting obscene fees and outlandish retirement packages.

Reflections at Lassen Park

The job of a financially successful CEO is based on a simple formula;

Reduce payroll costs by laying off employees. Replace them with a few low wage forklift operators. They then load any valuable products or machines onto trucks that can haul everything away before the CEO closes the widget factory. The widget company shows great profits for the quarter because there are so few expenses. Shareholders get a dividend and the widget company is sold to the highest bidder.

The CEO collects millions of dollars and moves on to the next company.

It’s that time of year again

PG&E is going to raise rates again. They say it is to cover expenses for improvements. These improvements include things like smart meters that we are told make our service better. That is unadulterated baloney.

Smart meters reduce the number of employees, (meter readers), and the new meters give PG&E more accurate readings for their computerized billing program. Yet they want to raise rates to cover the cost of equipment that more accurately bills the customers without having to pay meter readers resulting in bigger profits for them.

Manzanita Lake

If oil, coal, gas and other utilities were nationalized we would have independent local gas station owners who, because the price of gas would be fixed, would compete for customers by providing services. Remember when they were called “Service Stations”. They could install solar panels and include battery charging for electric vehicles. America could be the land of opportunity for all of us citizens again.

Reflections on a Sunday afternoon

Corporate powers need to be reduced and industries regulated if we wish to have clean air, good schools and safe streets in America. The Republican Party is part of the industrial, military, corporate forces that threaten democracy and equality. Do not vote for them if you love freedom and justice for all.

Today’$ Video;

Treat Everyone Fairly