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发帖数: 29846 | 1 Taxpayer Calculator: How much would funding the national parks cost you?
By Shannon Bream
Published October 03, 2013
As the budget stalemate drags on, the House is moving forward with
individual funding measures.
One bill -- H.J.Res. 70 -- provides for funding of the National Park Service
and Smithsonian Institution, at a cost of roughly $3.04 billion.
Twenty-three Democrats joined all but one Republican to vote in favor of the
measure Wednesday afternoon. The bill would provide funding for a number of
key attractions like the WWII Memorial and U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum
through Dec. 15.
So -- what's the cost to you, the taxpayer?
Here's a sampling. If you make less than $30,000, your portion of the tab
would come to $1.42 per year. For those making between $50,000 and $100,000,
the price tag runs to $13.34. If you're a taxpayer making $250,000 or more,
your yearly cost would run to $372.14.
Even if you approve of your tax dollars being spent in that way, the point
may be moot. A number of key Democrats, including House Minority Whip Steny
Hoyer, D-Md., are urging their Senate colleagues to refuse to take part in
the "gimmick."
Hoyer said "Republicans are ignoring critical agencies and functions across
our nation" in order to "fund only those pieces of government that the media
or their constituents notice immediately."
On Thursday morning, Senate Minority Whip John Cornyn, R-Texas, made a plea
for a vote on the House funding bill.
"I would note it got 252 votes in the House of Representatives yesterday,
including 23 Democrats, and I would hope it would enjoy the same sort of
bipartisan support here in the United States Senate," he said.
But that could be a heavy lift. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev.,
calls the House measure "just another wacky idea," and President Obama has
vowed to veto the measure if it arrives on his desk. |
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