To stay within the White House/Congressional net tax cut agreement, Congress is considering resurrecting an expired 10 percent tax on domestic air fares. According to budget analysts, proposed taxes on the airline industry under consideration would:

• Raise the tax on international flights from $6.00 to $31.00.

• Place a new 7.5 percent tax on frequent-flyer miles sold to credit card companies and other businesses.

• The frequent-flyer tax alone will cost the flying public $33 billion through 2002, says Gerald Greenwald, Chairman of United Airlines.

To accommodate the objections of President Clinton, the Republican Congress is not financing their tax cuts through downsizing government, but instead is increasing other taxes. The House measure would hike taxes in total by $50 billion and the Senate by $66 billion.

Deroy Murdock (Loud & Clear Communications), "The Turbulence of New Taxes," Washington Times, July 14, 1997.