Kettle, you're black

First, a disclaimer. I hate fees. I hate the fees that airlines have started charging - for food, baggage, etc., etc.

That said, I find it a riot that our Transportation Secretary and members of Congress are so outraged that they want to take matters into their hands.

Um, is there an organization on God's green earth that finds more ways to nickel and dime me more, day in and day out? How many different ways are there to pay the government? How many "fees" do I pay - in my paycheck, at the grocery store, at the pump, if I smoke, to get my driver's or business license, etc.?

How politically palatable would it be if instead of being charged in so many ways, each of us just got one big tax bill each month and had to send in a check for it by the 15th? Even better, what if you had to stand by a machine and watch the tax bill mount, like standing at the pump watching your gas go into the car? No one, no one, no one is more adept at slipping fees into everything we do than the government is.

Sheesh.