Bottomless pit threatens phone industry
 
Well, Stanley, here's another fine mess you've gotten us into. I direct that to those brilliant people who decided that Ma Bell should be broken up and subject to the gentle suasions of a competitive market. What we are risking here is the destruction of what was (and still is, although just barely) the finest telephone system in the world.
 
They say that phone service has gotten cheaper and that innovation has increased. To which I reply that I'm not all that sure that those are good things in this instance. There was a lot to be said for telephone system that works as a regulated utility.
Aside: I might say that the same thing can be said for our airlines. Competition seems to be eliminating all the grace notes of air travel. In other words, it is no longer fun to take a trip (which is probably why all the major airlines are hurting these days. DOH!)
All I can say is that I'm not gonna be real happy when I wake up one day and find that all the pieces of Ma Bell have come back together, albeit in a slightly different configuration, and that this new entity will be basically operating in an unregulated environment. Then do prepare to be liberally and royally screwed while the politicians play catch-up.