The Boston Herald has an article today about fliers’ reactions to the proposed new fee hikes for funding TSA security in Wile E. Obama’s budget:
No grope tax!
That’s the message from Bay State fliers, already saddled with sky-high ticket prices and now fuming over the president’s proposal to triple the cost of passenger security fees — which would force travelers to fork over almost eight bucks for getting groped or scanned at airports by the Transportation Security Administration.
“I don’t mind the groping, but I mind the fee,” said Phyllis Whitty, a retired teacher from Lancaster. “I realize increased security is very much needed, but I am opposed to Obama sneaking in any excess fees. I feel as though my bank accounts are being ruthlessly robbed by the Obama administration.”
“Get big government out of my pocketbook!” Whitty said.
Obama’s budget plan as reported yesterday calls for hiking the ticket fees for passenger and bag security from $2.50 to $5 next year, while cutting federal subsidies to airports. By 2018, the fee would jump to $7.50, raising billions of dollars for the government.
Glenn Reynolds, The Instapundit, says it best:
Glenn Reynolds, a University of Tennessee law professor and TSA critic who blogs at Instapundit.com, slammed the fee as good money after bad — the TSA has been widely criticized for incompetence and abusive searches.
“I’m not against user fees,” Reynolds said. “But this is not a user fee. This is a fee for being used. I don’t think the TSA does any good at all. Every dollar that goes to them is a waste. More dollars is more waste. I think the TSA should be abolished.”
Reynolds, a gun rights advocate, said that with a reported $32 billion total package of proposed airport fees and cuts, “for that kind of money, they could give every frequent flier a gun, which would do more to stop hijackings than the TSA clown show.”
Read the whole thing:
