“Gotcha Capitalism” is the title of a new book. It means that while there’s lots of talk about change these days, when big corporations say “change” they mean the kind they can pick out of your pocket with hidden charges and fees. See for example, the recent example in the Oregonian article “Comcast to charge for bill payments with live phone operator.” Comcast will now charge $3.99 for talking to an operator . Estimates are that consumers are charged at least $1000.00 a year by the hidden bank charges, ATM fees, and all those unexplained charges on your cable or wireless bill.

Wireless companies are big offenders. A friend signed up with a new plan and on her first bill $800 in bogus charges for text messaging showed up. She went through the dispute process, which dragged on for weeks. Fed up, she canceled and then get hit with the huge early termination fee! Wireless contracts are not regulated in Oregon, so forget about any help from the state.

Here’s a scam you can see on your own phone bill. Take a look at any phone bill. You’ll see a 75 cent per month charge for “911 Tax” (funds emergency services). There’s another 5 cents line item that goes to what’s called the Residential Service Protection Fund (provides devices to assist the hearing impaired.) A recent audit in Oregon showed that hundreds of thousands of $$$ are collected and kept by the telecoms--not paid to the State. After a Public Recorda Act request, both the Oregon Department of Revenue and the Public Utility Commission are refusing to disclose who the telecom tax cheats are. Who are they protecting?