Free Republic

Call it "fee creep." We're paying fees for a lot of things that once were free. In the automotive, electronics, banking, telecommunications and other industries, services that once were provided as a courtesy are now raking in millions of dollars. For years, credit-card companies have been imposing an "over-limit fee" when customers exceed their credit lines. But other fees have the acrid tang of novelty. Some credit unions charge $15 for a copy of a disputed check. A few companies have actually penalized customers for paying bills early. Some banks these days charge customers who exchange rolled coins for paper...

On phone bills, a revolting charge By MORTON LURIE RALEIGH - Today marks the anniversary, more than 200 years past, of "The shot heard 'round the world" and the start of our revolt against England in 1775. A revolt set off by a tax, a minor tax. A tax that put little hardship on the colonists of what was then British America. It was even a tax levied for a good purpose (the common defense of the colonies). But it was laid on arbitrarily and without consultation by the remote British Parliament. It was an affront to the traditional and...