Jim - Maybe you can help me out here. I'm an auditor. The reason that I think mark-to-market is important is that there needs to be some idea of what company's assets are really worth. Without mark-to-market, balance sheets are really fantasies. Also, regulatory failure to require off-book liabilities to be disclosed has caused a gigantic problem. So, without mark-to-market or some form of accountability, how does an investor know what lurks in the bowels of these companies? That's what really drove the bank failures of the 1930s, and it's causing significant reluctance to invest today.

Argh. I hate when people say "I'm going to give 110%." This is an impossibility. We go after my son for saying "actually" which is a clear indication you are going to contradict someone. I heard an interview and the person interviewed must have said "essentially" a dozen times in a three-minute interview. I wanted to scream. Oh, and one other: "is comprised of." For a long time, I never heard that. Now I hear it all the time. The correct phrase is "comprises" or "is composed of." Now, GOOD DAY, SIR.

Cliff - I think your point rests on a technicality. Personally, I would prefer to keep both inexpensive prepaid AND relatively inexpensive monthly service options. People who are reselling these are not using them for personal purposes AND are making it more expensive for the rest of us.