Obama Couldn’t Wait: His New Christmas Tree Tax

[Coach Hank Crisp]

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President Obama’s Agriculture Department today announced that it will impose a new 15-cent charge on all fresh Christmas trees—the Christmas Tree Tax—to support a new Federal program to improve the image and marketing of Christmas trees.

In the Federal Register of November 8, 2011, Acting Administrator of Agricultural Marketing David R. Shipman announced that the Secretary of Agriculture will appoint a Christmas Tree Promotion Board.  The purpose of the Board is to run a “program of promotion, research, evaluation, and information designed to strengthen the Christmas tree industry’s position in the marketplace; maintain and expend existing markets for Christmas trees; and to carry out programs, plans, and projects designed to provide maximum benefits to the Christmas tree industry” (7 CFR 1214.46(n)).  And the program of “information” is to include efforts to “enhance the image of Christmas trees and the Christmas tree industry in the United States” (7 CFR 1214.10).

To pay for the new Federal Christmas tree image improvement and marketing program, the Department of Agriculture imposed a 15-cent fee on all sales of fresh Christmas trees by sellers of more than 500 trees per year (7 CFR 1214.52).  And, of course, the Christmas tree sellers are free to pass along the 15-cent Federal fee to consumers who buy their Christmas trees.

The economy is barely growing and nine percent of the American people have no jobs.  Is a new tax on Christmas trees the best President Obama can do?

[BAMAWV]

Muslims don't buy Christmas trees. Hope this helps.

[SUPERCOACH]

[ricky023]

Lord forgive this man and do as you see fit to bring him under your control. This is pure wrong. RTR!

[SeniorTSM]

Why would anyone in Alabama be upset about this? don't yall just go to the woods like i do and cut a tree down? for free.

 

[SUPERCOACH]

I'm back to expound.  The federal government has absolutely no business getting involved in the Christmas tree market, or any other market for that matter.  I am sick and tired of every industry ad infinitum having their own kickbacks from the federal government.  SECURE THE BOARDER, PROTECT THE CITIZENS, BUILD SOME INTERSTATE HIGHWAYS.  That is what those idiots should be doing.  If Christmas trees need to be promoted, then the people who sell Christmas trees should form a non-profit organization to do the promoting.  If they want, they can decide to raise their prices by 15 cents per tree and pay it into the non-profit as a membership due.  The government does NOT need to be involved with this.

[SUPERCOACH]

FIRE THEM ALL, LET THE PRIVATE SECTOR SORT THEM OUT!!!

[pmull]

to support a new Federal program to improve the image and marketing of Christmas trees.

WTH. Is this what Obama is doing to stimulate the economy? 

[cbbama99]

I wasn't aware Christmas trees had an image problem. Do they look in the mirror and think "Boy, I need to go easy on that groundwater during the holidays!"

Image problem? Everybody I know likes Christmas trees. How do they have an image problem?

[BAMAWV]

I wasn't aware Christmas trees had an image problem. Do they look in the mirror and think "Boy, I need to go easy on that groundwater during the holidays!"

Image problem? Everybody I know likes Christmas trees. How do they have an image problem?

They need to keep that "fire hazard" thing on the down low. JMHO.

[pmull]

The sad part is next year there will be a tax "To save the trees".

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