Homework help - Is there or is there not a proposed bill for a

[woodsprite]

"text communications tax"? My daughter is supposed to write a letter to one of our Senators/Reps (Biden, Carper or Castle) regarding whether she is for or against a "text communications tax". I'm putting it in quotes because I haven't heard of anything called that. I searched DU and came up with diddly-squat. Supposedly it is a proposal for a 1 cent tax on each email/text message/IM that you send and the funds would go toward the war debt. Her Social Studies teacher said he heard it on his way to school.

I hadn't heard anything. I have been pretty much "refreshing" DU when I get a chance over the course of the day and hadn't seen anything. Maybe I just missed it or maybe her teacher was daydreaming. ;)

Thanks for any help you can give. Her Soc. Studies class looks REALLY interesting this year (8th grade, but it's a charter school). The syllabus says they're covering:

- Civics (Principal structures of American Democracy, The Constitution, Bill of Rights, Declaration of Independence, Branches of Government)
- The origins of the Cold War (early days, Korean war, Eisenhower and Kennedy years)
- The Civil Rights Movement (Segregation, steps toward deseg, 1960s civil rights, Militance, Pres. Johnson and the Civil Rights movement)
- The Vietnam War and the Rise of Social Activism (with a research paper)
- The Middle East and Oil Politics
- Court Cases (required persuasive writing piece)

[Monkeyman]

1. Bill is there but its still in Committee

[woodsprite]

2. Do you know what the Bill is called, or the number?

I did a search on THOMAS for "text communications tax" and am pouring thru the results, but so far have turned up empty handed. Or maybe if it's in committee, it didn't hit THOMAS yet.

[Robbien]

3. It is part of the TeleCom Bill. Most of the DU discussion has been

on the Net Neutrality section of the bill.

It is a large bill full of giveaways to the big TeleCos.

Edit:
This is a good article on the current status of the bill
http://www.law.com/jsp/article.jsp?id=1157462045308

[woodsprite]

4. Thanks for your help. Daughter wrote a letter (and so did I)

since Carper is listed as "undecided" on the SaveTheInternet site.

[Robbien]

5. Thanks for the support

The bill actually gives the big TeleCos the rights over the internet, free of charge to them and then we will have to pay through the nose to get access.

Thanks to both you and your daughter (and your daughter's teacher).