As if the time consuming and annoying visa documents weren't enough, now the US wants to punish foreign visitors even more. Whatever idiot thought this was a good idea needs to travel a bit. Start the clock on how soon other countries start punishing American travelers. Goodness knows it's important to curtail international travel and remain as insulated as possible.
The European Union is strongly criticizing a congressional proposal to charge a $10 fee to some visitors to the United States and suggesting it may carry a price for U.S. travelers.
If it passes, the EU says, some U.S. travelers to Europe could face retaliation.
The fee now under consideration in Congress would finance a new U.S. program to promote travel, a burden that the EU believes Americans should bear.
"Only in `Alice in Wonderland' could a penalty be seen as promoting the activity on which it is imposed," the European Commission's Ambassador to Washington, John Bruton, said in a statement Friday.
