Monday July 2, 2007 It's a shame

My retired sister and brother-in-law have a golden eagle pass which allows them to visit all national parks and national monuments without paying entrance fees. That is what has been the situation for years and years. Apparently things have changed under President Bush. In his efforts to privatize many public jobs (have private enterprise handle them instead of government employees, supposedly to save the government money), Mount Rushmore is now handled by a private company and the golden eagle pass doesn't allow them to visit free any more. Now they have to pay whatever the private company dictates just like everyone else. They were disappointed after driving clear across South Dakota to see the monument. I want to know where the savings from privatizing all these jobs is being placed. I have a hunch that if there is any savings from situations like this that it was passed along in the tax cuts that mainly benefitted the wealthy while the rest of us have to spend a bit more here and a bit more there or do without. It's nice to know that the wealthy will easily be able to afford to visit sites such as this. I know that the entrance fee isn't huge, but it's the principle of the thing that bothers me. The whole idea of golden eagle passes was to help retired people on fixed income just a bit and let them enjoy the public facilities that belong to all of us. Somewhere along the line, that idea got forgotten. It's a shame.