This is the kind of stuff that makes so many people so cynical about how those with the gold make the rules. Somehow unless enough people pay enough attention to stop every single boondogel the politicians seem to keep throwing money at their rich friends. Then those rich friends give a reward the politician’s re-election campaigns for the taxpayer money they received. Traveler taxes awarded to small airports:
The federal government has taken billions of dollars from the taxes and fees paid by airline passengers every time they fly and awarded it to small airports used mainly by private pilots and globe-trotting corporate executives.
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Passengers pay as many as six separate taxes and fees on a single airline ticket, adding up to more than $104 billion since 1997, the AP found. Yet these assessments often are overlooked by the millions who click the “buy” button to purchase tickets online, even though they can exceed 25 percent of the total airfare.
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Congress will decide later this year whether to curtail the huge public subsidy for small airports, while pilots’ associations, airport managers and other interested groups are fighting to keep it.
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Passengers pay as many as six separate taxes and fees on a single airline ticket, adding up to more than $104 billion since 1997, the AP found. Yet these assessments often are overlooked by the millions who click the “buy” button to purchase tickets online, even though they can exceed 25 percent of the total airfare.
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Congress will decide later this year whether to curtail the huge public subsidy for small airports, while pilots’ associations, airport managers and other interested groups are fighting to keep it.
Any guess on what they will do? I would guess fund their friends and themselves. It is true if the public actually pays attention then I believe they would stop until they think the public won’t notice and then slip the millionaire subsidies back in.
J.T. Wilson Field in Somerset, Ky. got more than $12 million since 2001, much of it through the influence of local Rep. Hal Rogers, a longtime Republican member of the House Appropriations Committee who uses the airfield for trips home. Wilson Field is home base to 26 small planes and one jet. Despite millions in improvements, including a passenger terminal, the airport has yet to see scheduled commercial service.
The article includes many more examples.
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