The infrastructure is paid for by taxes. The fees are a fee for service, which is supposed to just cover the costs associated with the processing. In the case of a ham radio license, I have a hard time believing the costs are going up that much.My problem is even more fundamental than that: We're already paying for the FCC in the form of taxes, so why do we have to pay extra for them to do their JOB? (And yes, before anyone asks, I DO have the same problem with passports, drivers licenses, building permits, and what have you.)