Who Else Pays for the President's $3.6 Trillion Deficit Cutting Plan?
Who else has to pay in President Barack Obama's "shared sacrifice" plan to cut the deficit by $3.6 trillion over ten years? FOX News analyst Jim Farrell found the following:
* Increase the "pat down fee": The government currently charges a pat-down fee of $2.50 per enplanement ($5.00 max on a one-way trip). You read that right--you get charged a fee for someone to pat you down. The President proposes to change it to a flat $5.00 for a one-way trip and raise that fee to $7.50 over the next 4 years. It is expected to raise an additional $25 billion in pat-down fees over the next 10 years.
* Charge military retirees for a "Medigap" plan: The plan proposes an annual fee of $200 per year to enroll in TRICARE for Life essentially the military's "Medigap" plan ($6.7 billion over 10 years).
* Increase prescription drug co-pays for military: Increase military co-pays for prescription drugs by $20.6 billion over 10 years.
* Increase federal employee contributions for retirement: Increase federal employee contributions to retirement by 1.2% ($21 billion over 10 years).
* Increase Fannie Mae / Freddie Mac mortgage fees: Increase mortgage fees by Fannie and Freddie by $15 per month on a new $220,000 mortgage raising fees by $28 billion over 10 years.
* $30 billion fee on financial institutions: $30 billion fee over the next 10 years on all financial institutions with assets over $50 billion.
* Federal flood insurance: Increase federal flood insurance premiums by $4.2 billion over 10 years.
* Increase unemployment insurance premiums: Raise the wage base for unemployment insurance premiums from the first $7,500 to the first $15,000 of wages (starting in 2014).
[source: White House, "Living Within Our Means and Investing in the Future: The Presidents Plan for Economic Growth and Deficit Reduction," September 19, 2011]