WITHOUT A TAX INCREASE

The GOP's favorite line does not contain the complete truth. Yes, there has been no tax increase. No, that doesn't mean you're not getting dimed to death elsewhere. The Associated Press reports on an especially odious practice:

Wedding parties and other groups hoping to commemorate their special event with a photograph at the Lincoln Memorial, Washington Monument or other popular landmarks on National Park Service land now have to pay for a permit.

Under a new policy that began May 15, the Park Service is requiring a payment of $50 to $250 from groups that hire commercial photographers to snap pictures at some of the 390 monuments, parks and historic sites it oversees. The cost depends on the size of the group.

The fees are being charged at some of the busiest Park Service sites in the Washington, D.C., area and at the Grand Canyon in Arizona. Other heavily used sites include the Statue of Liberty, Alaska's Denali National Park and Preserve, Big Bend National Park in Texas, and Yellowstone National Park.

The Washington Monument only looks like a phallus, but now you can really get screwed there.