Interesting . . .

NEW YORK ? Some say it's absurd. According to seven federal courts, it's also illegal. But one thing is for sure: America's excise tax on phone service has soaked consumers for more than a century. Rep. Gary Miller, R-Calif., recently introduced legislation in the House ? supported by 98 co-sponsors ? aimed at repealing the tax, which was imposed in 1898 to help pay for the Spanish-American War. The war was over in six months, but the tax stayed. The general excise tax has so far cost consumers about $300 billion, says the Congressional Research Service. The entire Spanish-American War cost only about $6 billion, adjusted for inflation. AT&T says the tax is grossly unfair to consumers. "This is a 19th-century tax on a 21st-century technology," says Jim Cicconi, AT&T's general counsel. "It makes no sense, and it ought to be repealed."