I love the airlines. In the same way that I love Mafia dons. And Medicare-abusing doctors. And thuggish professional athletes. Yes, I love the airlines partly because they’re so up-front about the things they like to hide.

This week brings us another round of government-proposed measures to require the nation’s airlines to disclose the exorbitant fees they charge above and beyond the fares they advertise. Would you be astonished to know the airlines aren’t eager to do this? The proposal “overreaches” and would have “serious negative consequences,” according to a trade group representing the airlines. In other words, it would mean the airlines would like to raise their fares to offset any newly incurred costs should this proposal become law. They might also raise their extra fees because, well … because they can.

If you are the airlines, however, you do have an ally in Congress: the Republican party. A House committee recently approved a bill which would nullify any requirement that the airlines reveal their fees and allow them to display only the lowest base fare and nothing else in their advertisements. It’s nice to have friends in Congress, isn’t it? Why don;t we check back in a little while and see which of the congressmen who voted that bill out of committee receive sizable donations from he airlines for their re-election campaigns?

The fees can be very nasty surprises. And while most consumers now are aware they will pay extra for checked bags, they may not know that the fees can run into the hundreds of dollars (currently not disclosed up front). If you want to claim a seat with your advance booking, you may not know that additional fees can be required. (If you purchase an advance fare these days and go to claim a seat, you’ll likely see only a couple of seats in the back and some middle seats listed as available. Pay a fee and suddenly a bunch of more desirable seats become open for you.)

The biggest airline scam, of course, remains the ridiculously high fees charged for changing a flight after you book your no-change reservation. You will now pay $200 and up for whatever reason you want to change your flight. Want to get to a dead family member’s funeral? Tough. Caught a cold and can’t fly? Too bad. You’ll pay for changing your slight. Or, you’ll have one year to use your ticket before it expires (and why should it expire? You’ve already paid for it??).

Although this notion of accountability doesn’t include this information, but the Wall Street Journal has a story about the most expensive airports to fly into and out of. Guess what? In the airports where one airline is dominant, the so-called hubs, fares are up. The airlines don’t really deny this; they say that the extra amenities they offer on board help offset the increased fares. Tell that to someone (me) sitting in a crowded coach section with seats deliberately shrunk by the airlines to jam more passengers in, and also getting less service from harried flight attendants.

And — you should love this unintended hilariously befuddled statement from United Airlines explaining high fares out of Washington — a spokesman says, and I quote from the WSJ, “It’s not that fares are higher but the mix of people buying them is different.” Feel free to translate that any way you wish.

This new proposal seem common sense, although I don’t think it goes far enough. Given the Draconian measures airlines impose on their passengers these days — everything from smaller seats to fewer seats and higher fares — it is easy to argue that far tougher measures are needed before sanity is restored to this consumer-unfriendly industry. And maybe help someone at United write intelligible sentences.