Monday - January 31, 2005

The Most Expensive War In History

Did you know that you, the American Taxpayer, are still paying for the Spanish American War? For those who are historically challenged, let me refresh your historical memory ....

15 February 1898
U.S.S. Maine explodes in Havana Harbor.

19 April 1898
The U.S. Congress by vote of 311 to 6 in the House and 42 to 35 in the Senate adopted the Joint Resolution for war with Spain.

20 April 1898
U.S. President William McKinley signed the Joint Resolution for war with Spain and the ultimatum was forwarded to Spain.

25 April 1898
War was formally declared between Spain and the United States.

April - December 1898
US kicks Spanish butt in Cuba, Guam, Puerto Rico, Phillipines ....

10 December 1898
Representatitves of Spain and the United States signed the Treaty of Peace in Paris. Spain renounced all rights to Cuba and allowed an independent Cuba, ceded Puerto Rico and the island of Guam to the United States, gave up its possessions in the West Indies, and sold the Philippine Islands, receiving in exchange $20,000,000.

6 February 1899
U.S. Senate ratified the Treaty of Paris by a vote of 52 to 27.

So there you have it. A minor little war that the Spanish never really wanted a part of and probably should never have gotten involved in. The whole thing, from start to finish, was over in less than a year and the US came away with lots of new territory.

So, what’s the point? Well, let me tell you about it ....

An influential congressional committee has dropped a political bombshell by suggesting that a tax originally created to pay for the Spanish American War could be extended to all Internet and data connections this year.

The committee, deeply involved in writing U.S. tax laws, unexpectedly said in a report Thursday that the 3 percent telecommunications tax could be revised to cover “all data communications services to end users,” including broadband; dial-up; fiber; cable modems; cellular; and DSL, or digital subscriber line, links.

Congress enacted the so-called “luxury” excise tax at 1 cent a phone call to pay for the Spanish American War back in 1898, when only a few thousand phone lines existed in the country. It was repealed in 1902, but was reimposed at 1 cent a call in 1914 to pay for World War I and eventually became permanent at a rate of 3 percent in 1990.

That 3% telecomm tax you pay each month is what this is all about and now Congress wants to expand the tax to internet access. Go read the article and write your CongressCrook today. Tell him or her how you feel about this blatant bullshit! Do it now!

Posted by The Skipper     on 01/31/2005 at 12:50 PM   
Filed Under: • History • Outrageous • Politics •  
• Comments (2) • Trackbacks(0)  Permalink •  

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Not that very many people ever read this far down, but this blog was the creation of Allan Kelly and his friend Vilmar. Vilmar moved on to his own blog some time ago, and Allan ran this place alone until his sudden and unexpected death partway through 2006. We all miss him. A lot. Even though he is gone this site will always still be more than a little bit his. We who are left to carry on the BMEWS tradition owe him a great debt of gratitude, and we hope to be able to pay that back by following his last advice to us all:

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It's been a long strange trip without you Skipper, but thanks for pointing us in the right direction and giving us a swift kick in the behind to get us going. Keep lookin' down on us, will ya? Thanks.

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