Community Chat

[Marp]

Good idea let's do it or a resounding no?

Americans are being bombarded with robocalls. It’s an epidemic, and it’s getting worse. By a recent estimate, 71 million of these scam calls are being placed per hour, often completely illegally. 

The problem is that it’s almost impossible to get rid of them. Scammers can easily set up software to robocall people, often with spoofed caller ID so that people mistake the malicious calls for a friend or neighbor. The companies behind these calls can change names, legal classifications, and set up shop wherever they can to confuse law enforcement.

But Roger Meiners, a professor of law and economics at the University of Texas at Arlington, has a brilliant proposal for how to defeat robocallers once and for all: just levy a 1-cent tax on every outgoing phone call.

In the Wall Street Journal on Wednesday, Meiners explained how it would work:

Most taxes aren’t popular, but this one will be. Call it the Penny for Sanity Tax: a 1-cent tax on every call made. Fifty billion robocalls would cost $500 million—a powerful incentive to stop.

Because the tax would apply to all calls, it would avoid litigation about what can be legally disfavored. It would be impossible to evade by sneaking around classifications of calls. And it would not necessitate hiring more bureaucrats to enforce a complicated rule.

You and I would pay the tax too, on our legitimate phone calls. But we don’t make many calls, so the tax would be a pittance, hardly noticed among the many charges that appear on our monthly bills. Even a chatterbox who makes 50 calls a day would pay a mere $15 a month. And if a penny a call isn’t enough to stop robocalls, make it a nickel.

[Carmie]

I wonder who would pay the bill if the robo caller hacked into someone else phone number. And, what about the calls that originate over seas?  How would anyone get them to pay?  I can't see how this would work.  Some of these callers are pretty good at hiding their locations.  You can't call them back, but they can call you.

For the past couple of months, I have been getting at least 10 calls a day from Affordable Healthcare.  They start every morning at 8:15 A.M. and some come after 9 pm.   have a call blocker on my phone, but it only blocks 250 numbers and it is full.

Last week my 14 year old granddaughter was interested in the call blocker.  She counted fifty different phone numbers all from Affordable Health Care since February.  She stopped counting after that, but there are more numbers blocked from previous months.

I have listened to their recording and pushed #7 to talk to a rep..

they hang up on me when I ask them to stop calling.  I have even used a whistle and blew it in their ears when they answer...yes, I am frustrated. I have also reported them to the Attorney General's office.

I would pay $$ to stop their calls.  

Here is a screenprint of calls from this company.  I have blocked hundreds on their numbers.  Everytime they call, they use a different one.  Every call on this short list is from a different phone number.

[Peaches McPhee]

First thought:  It would be a pittance for individuals, but quite a bit for legit organizations.  My little nonprofit, for example; it would cripple us. 

[IamMrsG]

I get quite a lot of calls identified as coming from myself.  In fact, an elderly lady called here the other night and left a message asking why I keep calling her.  

So, in addition to being hounded with unwanted robo calls, would I also have the indignity of being charged for the calls?

[Daysdee]

I have the call blocker and use it a lot.  Any caller that hangs up on my answering machine gets blocked.  I do notice that some just call back using another number.  It has cut way down on unwanted calls though.

[Cakers3]

We already pay tax for using our cell phones.  (No landline).

I vote "no".  There has to be a better way to control this without making people pay.

A penny is a penny and then you have to track all calls and make sure there is no error on the bill??   Too much.

[Puppy Lips]

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@Cakers3 wrote:

We already pay tax for using our cell phones.  (No landline).

I vote "no".  There has to be a better way to control this without making people pay.

A penny is a penny and then you have to track all calls and make sure there is no error on the bill??   Too much.

Agreed.  I am against adding any new taxes.  Once they are added, you can't get rid of them, and they only go up and up.

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[Marp]

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@Peaches McPhee wrote:

First thought:  It would be a pittance for individuals, but quite a bit for legit organizations.  My little nonprofit, for example; it would cripple us. 

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@Peaches McPhee,  I have to ask how many calls a day does your "little nonprofit" make a day?  Using the example pf 50 calls a day times an average of 20 working days a month would be 1,000 calls a month for about $10.

[Still Raining]

Nope, not at all in favor a fee/tax.

I solved this by filling all the numbers I know or need in the phone’s address book and then setting Do Not Disturb to only those numbers.  If someone else cares enough they will leave a voice message.  I already blocked one call this morning and I was not disturbed.  

[Peaches McPhee]

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@Marp wrote:

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@Peaches McPhee wrote:

First thought:  It would be a pittance for individuals, but quite a bit for legit organizations.  My little nonprofit, for example; it would cripple us. 

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@Peaches McPhee,  I have to ask how many calls a day does your "little nonprofit" make a day?  Using the example pf 50 calls a day times an average of 20 working days a month would be 1,000 calls a month for about $10.

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Interesting question, @Marp.  I'm gonna say alot more than 50 (maybe we aren't so little after all). We have 450 employees, say each make 10 a day.  That's $900 a month, $19,800 a year. 

I guess you are right.  It would not cripple us at all, really.