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United States Pilots Association |
This from the Associated Press and printed in the Odessa American on Sunday, February 12, 2006:
Headline: BUSH BACKS HIGHER FEES
Washington: President Bush hates new taxes, that’s for sure. But tell that to airline passengers, higher income veterans, and owners of freighters using the St. Lawrence Seaway. (Steve: I would add also tell it to general aviation pilots who fly for pleasure or their own business.) All are among those hit up for billions of dollars under his new budget plan.
The spending proposal for the budget year that begins October 1 contains $3.5 billion in new user fees. Typically branded as new taxes by those who have to pay them, these fees are intended to hold down the public’s cost for programs, such as airline screening, medical care for veterans and military retirees, food inspection, and oversight of commodities markets. The fees would swell to $47.2 billion over five years, dunning taxpayers and industry to help pay for government services.
Most, if not all of the proposed fees, however, arrived on Capitol Hill dead as a doornail.
The article goes on to talk about current rates and proposed rates.
A spokesman for the White House budget office said: “The idea behind user fees is that those who benefit from government services should pay for them rather than everyone.” Read that as we will be paying twice (to the aviation trust fund for fuel taxes, and now proposed user fees).
Call or write your Congress people or Senators or both.
Steve Uslan, President
United States Pilots Association