peter@taronga.hackercorp.com (Peter da Silva) (02/04/91)
Higdon, et al, keep pointing out how the PUC screwed up by allowing rate increases for dropping touch-tone charges, when they already did them a bunch of other favors in exchange for dropping this charge. Have any of you guys told the PUC about this? (peter@taronga.uucp.ferranti.com)
john@zygot.ati.com (John Higdon) (02/05/91)
Peter da Silva <peter@taronga.hackercorp.com> writes: > Higdon, et al, keep pointing out how the PUC screwed up by allowing > rate increases for dropping touch-tone charges, when they already did > them a bunch of other favors in exchange for dropping this charge. > Have any of you guys told the PUC about this? Many of those on the board at the time this abortion was approved are no longer there. However, they were well aware of what a bad deal this was. There is an active member of this forum, a legislative analyst who made it quite clear to all and sundry that this was not a good thing for the public. But, of course, Pac*Bell being the behemoth that it is, pulled the necessary strings and sufficient pressure was exerted from on high (legislators who oversee the PUC) to expeditiously pass all of this stuff. At the time, our wonderful watchdog media printed every piece of fluff the Pac*Bell PR people spewed forth. I wrote letters to the editor, letters to state assemblymen, and even posted heavily in this forum against the matter. But it was all swept in on a wave of euphoric bliss. This is one of the major events that have caused my distrust of our news services. Anyone who has studied this package walks away with mouth hanging open in disbelief. If the media had actually reported reality instead of public relations propaganda, the "people" would have risen up. To answer your direct question with a direct answer: the PUC was the co conspirator in the piece. The PUC and a half dozen other state officials know very well what I think about all of this, for all the good it does. John Higdon | P. O. Box 7648 | +1 408 723 1395 john@zygot.ati.com | San Jose, CA 95150 | M o o !
cyberoid@milton.u.washington.edu (Robert Jacobson) (02/15/91)
No legislators put pressure on the PUC to approve GTE's rate increases. If anything, the Legislature collectively tried to modify the PUC's regulatory intentions, but was rebuffed by Governor Deukmejian who vetoed one bill after another in order to give the PUC smooth sailing. The PUC acted on its own, with the Governor's blessing, and what you see is what you get. Bob Jacobson