Want to take your kids to our nation’s capital? That will be $200 per day, please

I can’t believe this. Can you? Is it true? Yes, according to On the Commons.org, in the midst of a justified rant about admission at Muir Woods going to $7 per person next year, and escalating charges for our public parks generally, at http://onthecommons.org/node/905

In Washington, the Park Service now is charging school groups, wedding parties and the like for using the steps of the U.S. Capitol Building for group photos. It’s not the Park Service’s fault. The agency is getting pressure from Congress and the Administration to bring in more revenue, so the stock speculators and trust fund babies can have their tax cuts.

What the writer notes is the acceptability creep in these actions, and his belief that, before long, the right-wing will with glee and salivation try to leverage this apathy into proposals to privatize the National Parks.