More Government Idiots

From the LVRJ: When the O’Callaghan-Tillman Memorial Bridge carried its first car across Black Canyon in October 2010, officials wondered and worried about what might happen to a Hoover Dam suddenly transformed from major interstate highway to mere roadside attraction.
It appears they have their answer.
Although visitation ticked up in 2011, when the dam saw about 823,000 paying customers, it fell in 2012 to 755,000, continuing a slide that actually began a decade ago.
And the downward trend shows no signs of stopping. With less than two months left in 2013, visitation at Hoover still hasn’t broken the 700,000 mark....
Visitor volume has yet to recover. This week’s price hike isn’t likely to help.
Skordas said there “wasn’t a direct connection” between the drop in visitation and the recent decision to increase admission prices.
As of Friday, admission to the visitor center went from $8 to $10, while parking in the garage and Arizona spillway lot went from $7 to $10. The price for the 30-minute tour went from $11 to $15 but stayed at $30 for the hourlong tour. Tour tickets include admission to the visitor center, and discounts are available for seniors, military personnel with ID and children 16 and younger....
“We were trying to compare apples to apples, which was hard,” he said.
It turned out Hoover Dam was charging significantly less than places such as the Stratosphere tower in Las Vegas and Hearst Castle in California.  http://www.reviewjournal.com/news/bridge-cited-visitor-volume-drop-hoover-dam
So, there is a decrease in visitors and the solution is to raise prices?  Seriously?
A family of 4, it will cost you $40 just to get into the Visitor Center or $60 for a 30 minute tour.  Add the cost of parking and that's $70. 
For a 30 minute tour.
And you don't even get to see some of the more exciting parts of the dam because of security reasons.
Typical government reasoning.
They ought to let people in for free to the visitor center and then charge for the tours.
But for $2, I can go to the Clark County Museum to learn  more about the building the dam and the people who built it and then travel 20 minutes and see the outside of the dam for free.
Or maybe they are trying to keep people like this out of the tours: