Today I want to talk about fees and taxes. Normally I would think of them as my financial contribution to supporting our American lifestyle. However, a vlog I saw this week got me thinking.
The video I watched is from the Great Smoky Mountain National Park. Apparently, the park is not allowed by law to charge admission.
“Federal law (1994 {1964} US Code Title 16) prohibited the NPS from charging entrance fees when tolls were prohibited on the park’s main roads. Because Newfound Gap Road and Little River Road are the main roads in GSMNP, we cannot charge entrance fees to this day.”
But what is a national park without national interference? No parking fees allowed? No problem! And how about a parking fee? Yes, you read that right. No problem. It seems that the only time the government can agree on something is when it involves putting an additional trust burden on the population. Just add a parking fee! A visitor must buy a parking pass to park anywhere on the mountain road for more than 15 minutes.
Well. We pay taxes to maintain national parks and entrance fees to visit them. My paternal grandmother was like that. Her living room was covered in plastic, a room we toddlers were not allowed to enter lest we soil the pristine adornment of a room originally intended for family gatherings.
Honestly, I stopped in the middle of the road to see an animal in the Smokies. In fact, I didn’t even put my car in park before opening the door to take a photo.
Unfortunately, what I thought was a bear cub was actually a brown garbage can. A oops for me. Stupid, yes. Dangerous, of course. But I really wanted to see a piece of nature that I had never seen before.
I’ve complained about the fees, now it’s time to talk about taxes. More specifically, inheritance tax. If I’m not mistaken, it works like this: you pay taxes on income, earnings and success every day you live and accomplish something. Then you buy Harp Farm.
Without a pity card or anything similar, the state will pounce on you like a vulture and steal an additional 55 percent of your assets – from the money you have already paid taxes on. In an effort to give your loved ones a good financial life. A true nanny state.
To say it again: I am happy and proud to do my part to keep this wonderful country afloat. For the same reason, I would appreciate a little something in return from the people we voted into office. So that they work for us. For us.
I would like to modify this old truism to say that the only certainties in life are death, taxes and fees.
Speaking of fees, it seems like Disney is taking the “happiest” out of the “happiest place on earth.” After paying the equivalent of a small country’s gross national product just to get into their parks, they charge even more for FastPasses that let them skip the line at their rides.
In the past, my bride and I could go to the haunted house for free. Today, we would have to sell an organ or our first child for the same price.
Phew! That was a lot of whining. Now I’m going to paint my smile back on and pay the price I’m told. Because in a nation as great as ours, that’s just the price of admission.
