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Merry Christmas? Agriculture Department Imposes Christmas Tree Tax

MaggieD

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Sometimes I think I'm dreaming. They've got to be kidding.

One of Christmas' most recognizable symbols apparently needs a PR campaign -- and a new tax to pay for it.
The Obama administration has imposed a 15-cent tax on Christmas trees in order to pay for a new board tasked with promoting the Christmas tree industry.
The new fee and board were announced in the Federal Register on Tuesday, to be effective Wednesday. According to the Agriculture Department announcement, the government will impose a 15-cent-per-tree charge on "producers and importers" of fresh Christmas trees, provided they sell or import more than 500 trees a year. The money is not meant to pay down the debt or fund any other program. The Agriculture Department-imposed tax is designed to go back into the new Christmas Tree Promotion Board.

Read more: Merry Christmas? Agriculture Department Imposes Christmas Tree Tax | Fox News

A Christmas Tree Promotion Board? Now our government is an advertising agency? How many people get hired into this program. Unfreakin'believable.
 
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Re: Merry Christmas? Agriculture Department Imposes

Whe do these morons get the authority to make up new taxes? Seriously, since when can the executive branch create new taxes? Hell, congress should go home if BO doesn't need them anymore.
 
"I can tell you unequivocally that the Obama administration is not taxing Christmas trees. What's being talked about here is an industry group deciding to impose fees on itself to fund a promotional campaign, similar to how the dairy producers have created the 'Got Milk?' campaign," he said. "That said, USDA is going to delay implementation and revisit this action."

The new program was set to go into effect Wednesday. According to the Agriculture Department announcement, the government would have imposed a 15-cent-per-tree charge on "producers and importers" of fresh Christmas trees, provided they sell or import more than 500 trees a year.

The program and fee were supported by some in the Christmas tree industry. The money was not meant to pay down the debt or fund any other program, but designed to go back into the new Christmas Tree Promotion Board.

The board, proposed earlier this year, is the culmination of a years-long effort by the fresh Christmas tree industry to promote itself, according to background information provided in the Federal Register. The industry has faced increasing competition from producers of artificial trees, but efforts to collect voluntary contributions for a fresh-tree marketing campaign have repeatedly run out of funding. So the government stepped in to mandate a fee to support the promotion board.

Read more: White House Sidelines Christmas Tree 'Tax' | Fox News

If the people that grow Christmas trees are for it then I don't understand why anyone would give a crap. It's something they've been wanting to do for a while. If this were a tax on Christmas trees just to tax them to create revenue then I'd be wondering what the hell but if this is the same as dairy farmers wanting to be taxed in order to promote dairy products then I don't have a problem with it.
 
Re: Merry Christmas? Agriculture Department Imposes

Whe do these morons get the authority to make up new taxes? Seriously, since when can the executive branch create new taxes? Hell, congress should go home if BO doesn't need them anymore.

Actually, Obama did not create the tax. From the FOX News link:

The 15-cent tax on Christmas trees was announced Tuesday in the Federal Register and was meant to pay for a new board tasked with promoting the Christmas tree industry. It was supported by Christmas tree growers, who wanted a stable source of revenue to fund a new marketing campaign.

1) The tree producers themselves supported the tax.

2) The tax was only 15 cents per tree.

3) It was the tree producers themselves who wanted the fund, and asked the government to create it for them.

4) To Obama's credit, he put a stop to it, and got the USDA to at least temporarily pull the plug on it.

But, according to your post, you made the inference that the tax was Obama's idea. Sheesh. Again from the FOX News link:

"I can tell you unequivocally that the Obama administration is not taxing Christmas trees. What's being talked about here is an industry group deciding to impose fees on itself to fund a promotional campaign, similar to how the dairy producers have created the 'Got Milk?' campaign," he said. "That said, USDA is going to delay implementation and revisit this action."

Reading is fundamental. :mrgreen:
 
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If the people that grow Christmas trees are for it then I don't understand why anyone would give a crap. It's something they've been wanting to do for a while. If this were a tax on Christmas trees just to tax them to create revenue then I'd be wondering what the hell but if this is the same as dairy farmers wanting to be taxed in order to promote dairy products then I don't have a problem with it.

I'm sure you can find someone for any tax. If an industry needs to put a different face on their products they need to get together, create a board and collect funds from those who produce Christmas Tree's.

That how things are supposed to work. Why not an extra 5% sales tax to help Wall Mart and other retail stores with their advertising?
 
Sometimes I think I'm dreaming. They've got to be kidding.



A Christmas Tree Promotion Board? Now our government is an advertising agency? How many people get hired into this program. Unfreakin'believable.
Finally, an agency both sides can hate! Conservatives because they hate taxes and waste, and liberals because they hate Christmas!
 
i recall during the regan era that "user fees" was found very acceptable to the republican party
why not have the Christmas tree industry fund the cost of our government to promote USA Christmas trees on their behalf
 
Finally, an agency both sides can hate! Conservatives because they hate taxes and waste, and liberals because they hate Christmas!

Actually it is the religious right that should be hating Christmas, since people moved the actual date of the birth of Jesus to it's present date, combined it with celebrations of paganism, and commercialized it beyond all recognition of what the birth of Jesus should mean.

I am sure that Jesus is rolling over in his Paradise right now. :mrgreen:
 
Re: Merry Christmas? Agriculture Department Imposes

Whe do these morons get the authority to make up new taxes? Seriously, since when can the executive branch create new taxes? Hell, congress should go home if BO doesn't need them anymore.

That's what Barry is shooting for.
 
If the people that grow Christmas trees are for it then I don't understand why anyone would give a crap. It's something they've been wanting to do for a while. If this were a tax on Christmas trees just to tax them to create revenue then I'd be wondering what the hell but if this is the same as dairy farmers wanting to be taxed in order to promote dairy products then I don't have a problem with it.

The tree farmers aren't the ones paying the tax. :rofl
 
I'm sure you can find someone for any tax.
I'm not talking about just finding someone on the street. These are people that grow and sell christmas trees being in favor of taxing christmas trees. If they want the taxes then I'm not going to waste my time feigning outrage just based on politics simply to have something to blame on Obama.


If an industry needs to put a different face on their products they need to get together, create a board and collect funds from those who produce Christmas Tree's.
Yea, once again, the article explains why this didn't work for them and why they wanted to establish the tax in the first place.
That how things are supposed to work. Why not an extra 5% sales tax to help Wall Mart and other retail stores with their advertising?
First off, compare apples to apples. When I get my Christmas tree every year I spend at least 100 bucks for one the right height and type. A 15 cent tax on 100 dollars works out to be a .0015% tax. If all walmarts want to be taxed .0015% in order to advertise then why would I give a ****? What your not getting is that each and every christmas tree stand doesn't have the revenue to run an ad campaign the way a walmart or sears could. When they can pool together like this it helps them to get their message out. Maybe I'm just alittle bit more pro-small business then you are?
 
The tree farmers aren't the ones paying the tax. :rofl
If we follow that whole crazy concept of "supply and demand" and interpret that to mean that if they raise their prices that will incentivise people to seek alternatives such as not having a tree or buying a plastic tree then we arrive at the two possible scenarios of the them either passing along the tax and thus increasing the cost of the trees but supposedly selling less of them, or they will eat the tax. Either way they are either paying the tax themselves or are losing business over it. Regardless, it's a 15 cent tax and the revenue goes strictly towards promoting an American industry and American jobs. The only people that I could imagine really being outraged over this are the people that would be outraged at Obama for curing cancer because then drug companies would see decreased profits from cancer drugs. Anything related to Obama is guided by the question "how can we twist this to bash Obama?"
 
Re: Merry Christmas? Agriculture Department Imposes

That's what Barry is shooting for.
He is already there.

Listen to the lib's......."it isn't a tax, it's a fee"
 
The tree farmers aren't the ones paying the tax. :rofl

What? If they aren't paying the tax, who is? You aren't suggesting the fee will cause the consumer to pony up more dollars to buy a tree? Those greedy tree farmers need to have some Occupy My Tent cities located on their land.
 
Re: Merry Christmas? Agriculture Department Imposes

3) It was the tree producers themselves who wanted the fund, and asked the government to create it for them.

damn, must be nice. I need some money, maybe me and some of my pals can get together and ask congress to create a tax for us.
 
The tree farmers aren't the ones paying the tax. :rofl


when i see comments like that I always think of bill engvall "here's your sign"
 
Re: Merry Christmas? Agriculture Department Imposes

damn, must be nice. I need some money, maybe me and some of my pals can get together and ask congress to create a tax for us.

That's how fascism works....either get in the game or prepare to be screwed.
 
Actually it is the religious right that should be hating Christmas, since people moved the actual date of the birth of Jesus to it's present date, combined it with celebrations of paganism, and commercialized it beyond all recognition of what the birth of Jesus should mean.

I am sure that Jesus is rolling over in his Paradise right now. :mrgreen:

If only you knew WHY the December 25 date was selected!!!
 
If only you knew WHY the December 25 date was selected!!!

the same reason a lot of the dates of "religious" holidays were selected. to try to replace the "pagan" celebrations that were occuring on those days
 
I'm not talking about just finding someone on the street. These are people that grow and sell christmas trees being in favor of taxing christmas trees. If they want the taxes then I'm not going to waste my time feigning outrage just based on politics simply to have something to blame on Obama.

I'm not either. There are plenty for extending taxes on the internet that are involved in those transactions also. As I note, you can find anyone that will support any tax. That doesn't make the arguement valid just based upon that.

Yea, once again, the article explains why this didn't work for them and why they wanted to establish the tax in the first place.

Indeed, it seems that a small percentage wanted a tax where the overall didn't so they tried to get the government to force the majority accept the views of the minority with government involvement. Why is it that the government should get involved here?

First off, compare apples to apples. When I get my Christmas tree every year I spend at least 100 bucks for one the right height and type. A 15 cent tax on 100 dollars works out to be a .0015% tax. If all walmarts want to be taxed .0015% in order to advertise then why would I give a ****? What your not getting is that each and every christmas tree stand doesn't have the revenue to run an ad campaign the way a walmart or sears could. When they can pool together like this it helps them to get their message out. Maybe I'm just alittle bit more pro-small business then you are?

What you don't seem to get even though you note it, tree growers are not interested in this program overall. If it was something the industry truely found worthwhile they could have got it off the ground on their own.
 
I'm not talking about just finding someone on the street. These are people that grow and sell christmas trees being in favor of taxing christmas trees. If they want the taxes then I'm not going to waste my time feigning outrage just based on politics simply to have something to blame on Obama. What your not getting is that each and every christmas tree stand doesn't have the revenue to run an ad campaign the way a walmart or sears could. When they can pool together like this it helps them to get their message out. Maybe I'm just alittle bit more pro-small business then you are?

This promotion should not be handled by the government taxing anybody. That's what trade associations are for. Where does the government get off being involved in laundering money for an entire industry? Trade associations promote their own by virtue of voluntary membership. This program is absolutely absurd.
 
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2) The tax was only 15 cents per tree.

Only for now. I know it sounds silly, but once you create a tax, it easier to raise it than get rid of it. If the tree farmers want an organization to do advertising for them, time to pony up their own money and make a group. If you don't support that, then you can go to your "local" non-organized tree farmer and get a reduced price tree. I don't like it. This is not something the government needs to be involved in.
 
Re: Merry Christmas? Agriculture Department Imposes

While I think programs like this would be better implemented within the selected industries without the government assistance, this fee is no different than what is already in place for pork (The other white meat), dairy (got milk?), beef (It's what for dinner) and others.

The bitching about this is a bit late and a bit limited in focus, if you are upset over this you need to expand your outrage.
 
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While I think programs like this would be better implemented within the selected industries without the government assistance, this fee is no different than what is already in place for pork (The other white meat), dairy (got milk?), beef (It's what for dinner) and others.

The bitching about this is a bit late and a bit limited in focus, if you are upset over this you need to expand your outrage.

Just because we did something wrong before, doesn't mean we need to repeat our mistakes.
 
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