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What the Government Pays To Snoop On You

Posted by samzenpus on from the spying-for-simoleons dept.

transporter_ii writes "So what does it cost the government to snoop on us? Paid for by U.S. tax dollars, and with little scrutiny, surveillance fees charged by phone companies can vary wildly. For example, AT&T, imposes a $325 'activation fee' for each wiretap and $10 a day to maintain it. Smaller carriers Cricket and U.S. Cellular charge only about $250 per wiretap. But snoop on a Verizon customer? That costs the government $775 for the first month and $500 each month after that, according to industry disclosures made last year to Congressman Edward Markey."

9 of 174 comments (clear)

  1. certainly restoring the fourth amendment by Presto+Vivace · · Score: 5, Insightful

    could save us a lot of money, in addition to saving our constitution.

  2. It costs the government NOTHING. by jcr · · Score: 5, Insightful

    The government isn't a producer of wealth. Every penny it spends is taken from us.

    -jcr

    --
    The only title of honor that a tyrant can grant is "Enemy of the State."
    1. Re:It costs the government NOTHING. by Jason+Levine · · Score: 4, Insightful

      In other words, it costs us twice. First, to get cell phone service (acceptable though whether the amount is fair is arguable) and second to send our data to the NSA without our approval (definitely NOT acceptable). And the phone companies get paid twice by us (well, once by the government using our tax money). So they aren't likely to argue too strenuously against this unless the potential for bad PR is too high. (In other words, they'll work doubly hard to keep the whole thing secret.)

      --
      My sci-fi novel, Ghost Thief, is now available from Amazon.com.
    2. Re:It costs the government NOTHING. by Lendrick · · Score: 3, Insightful

      You might want to get a new introductory economics book. Yours sounds like it was written to promote a political view rather than actually, ya know, teach economics.

      The government is just as capable of producing wealth as any other entity. If the government spends money on a program that adds more value to the economy than the cost of the program (such as food assistance, which has close to a 2:1 return), then the government has produced wealth. Whether the entity is public or private doesn't figure into it at all.

    3. Re:It costs the government NOTHING. by Livius · · Score: 1, Insightful

      There's a difference between ignorance and a self-evident truth that you happen not to like.

    4. Re:It costs the government NOTHING. by norpy · · Score: 2, Insightful

      You happen to be wrong because you are forgetting the multiplier effect. Every dollar the government spends is spent repeatedly before it ends up stopped in a savings account or cash horde somewhere. This is why income/wealth is taxed in the first place, to force it back into circulation.
      Taking money and then just spending it immediately IS wealth generating, it is the driver of inflation and all that stuff.

      Savings and interest payments have the opposite effect, money that is hoarded is a drag on the economy and does not create wealth.

    5. Re:It costs the government NOTHING. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Bzzt! You lose. For your "theory", lets say the government buys a $1000 widget. It didn't produce that widget, it spent the money to buy that widget. It didn't spend $1000 for that widget, it spent $1200 because the government has its overhead. The best part is it took that $1200 from wealth producers and it cost the government an additional $100 to run the IRS for that. On top of that it will probably spend $400 in interest on loans for that original amount.

      So, by your example, being generous the government created $1000 in wealth at a cost to the economy of $1700. So for every widget the government "produces" the economy loses $700. Its great if you are the one selling the widget, but the economy overall is a loser.

      Thats how it works. No amount of spin or web of lies changes it.

    6. Re:It costs the government NOTHING. by Alomex · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Actually many of the activities of the government are wealth producing, including science, education and infrastructure.

      The funny thing is that obviously false FoxNews talking point gets modded +5 Insightful because it appeals to people to be told that money was unjustly taken from them.

      p.s. By the way people out there reading this with mod points, you are all extremely handsome and you pay too much taxes, and you deserve a raise.

  3. Actually by arcite · · Score: 4, Insightful

    It sounds like corporate welfare funded by government spending. ie. your tax dollars at work!