The new long distance telephone fee is a tax. Our ability to compete with the rest of the world requires us to reduce the cost of government. Since 1965 your dollar has lost 83 percent of its value. Only governments can create money. It is the monetization of the debt that creates more cash and inflation.
Prices only reflect inflation.
Inflation is a hidden tax, and it is the cruelest tax, for it eats up your savings. The dollar had been very stable for decades. Inflation has been used since the Romans as a hidden means of taxation. The Romans added copper to the gold. The printing press would not be invented for 500 years.