I think you're unfortunately missing the intent of these high speed hubs. A quick glance at any of them shows you that these are all covering intermediate distances. No (sane) person is going to take a train from NY to LA unless they really just want to say they did it. However, I agree we need to invest in our local rail systems. DC's metro, Philadelphia's SEPTA Regional Rail are both ok, but they both need work to existing infrastructure and additional lines to start taking people off the roads in a big way. In many cities there is no regional rail at all, even. But seriously, after coming back from Michigan as a Philadelphian and going between Detroit, Lansing, and Grand Rapids I would have killed some decent rail transit out there. Although building up more local public transit should trump it, high speed rail is definitely not unnecessary.

Its doubtful the peons at the store have access to any set of formulas or a calculator that will tell you the taxes etc. The reason is simple: AT&T isn't interested in being responsible if some regulation changes and suddenly your bill goes up. If they said anything, even with a giant disclaimer, most people would run back in to the store kicking and screaming about their .30 overcharge, even if it was correct and not under AT&T's control.