Welcome to D.C., Where Fees Mean Taxes
President Obama says raising taxes on millionaires and billionaires is not class warfare - it's just math. And, the public seems to be in agreement with him. According to a new CBS poll, more than half of Americans support raising taxes on the wealthy. But here's the real deal: it's not just millionaires that will be paying more under this "new" plan from Obama$130 billion dollars will be raised through creating new fees or increasing existing fees. Fees all of us pay, not just the super-rich. For example, anyone who ever flies will be paying more. Federal security fees for airline passengers will double from $5 to $10 per flight, and would triple to $15 by 2017. That would raise $25 billion by 2021. Veterans also getting squeezed. Military retirees would pay a $200 when they turn 65 and would have to pay more for non-generic drugs. This is to cover the government's Medicare tab. The unions can't be happy about this one - but all federal workers will see an additional 1.2 percentage point deduction from their paychecks. That will raise $21 billion to cover some of those under-funded pensions. In the market for a new home? This plan impacts you as well. The fee Fannie and Freddie charge lenders to guarantee repayment of new mortgage loans will increase by one-tenth of a percentage point. That sounds like inside baseball - but what it means is if you're new to the housing market, you will have to pay $15 more a month. That would raise $28 billion over the next decade. These are the most sweeping fees - but they're not the only ones by any means. There's a $4-an-acre charge for federal lands that don't produce oil. And the federal government will get a 50% share of receipts from geo-thermal leases on federal land - instead of the current 25 %. And the list goes on and on. I don't know about you, but these "fees" sound an awful lot like taxes - and as I said - not just on millionaires. But since the Republicans have vowed not to approve any tax increases we should breathe a sigh of relief right? Well it turns out during the debt debate - before things got really out of hand - a group led by Vice President Joe Biden had already tentatively agreed to some of these fees. So bottom line: no one is safe!
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