France's bleeding-heart airline ticket tax

The parliament of the People's Republique du Frogistan has passed a tax on airline tickets to help fund aid for third-world nations. Why should air travelers be singled out and forced to pay such a tax (which is being called a "solidarity contribution") to the tune of 200 million euros per year? The answer from a French official is classic "from each according to his ability" Marxism:

“In both developed and developing countries, airline passengers seldom belong to the poorest segments of the population. A contribution on plane tickets would therefore be progressive, a characteristic which could be reinforced if higher rates were to be set for business and first class passengers.”

So why should airline passengers be forced to throw their money down the rathole of third-world development projects and line the pockets of corrupt kleptocrats? Well, because, hell, they can afford to. Never mind that air travelers (and companies that pay for their employees' business travel) are already burdened with outrageous taxes and fees; as the International Air Transport Association says, "Governments tax air travel as if it was a luxury".

The new tax, which can range up to $47 per ticket, will be imposed on flight departures from French airports starting in July. Actually that's probably a small price to pay for the privilege of getting the heck out of France, which is itself beginning to resemble a third-world nation with its continued ethnic "unrest".