It's really hard to find the non-introductory rate for a cable company in the US (any I've seen, at least).
Certainly not great. But at least it's reasonably clear that the number they give you isn't the full story, even if finding the real one takes a bit of legwork. Not trying to defend them, but this helicopter thingy is a bit worse.
In my experience with these things (although I haven't tried with Cox), month 25 is usually when prices go back down, because that's when they might lose you to a competitor.