[Sixstrings]

Obama Administration to Delay New 15-Cent Christmas Tree Tax

The U.S. Department of Agriculture is going to delay implementation and revisit a proposed new 15 cent fee on fresh-cut Christmas trees, sources tell ABC News. The fee, requested by the National Christmas Tree Association in 2009, was first announced in the Federal Registry yesterday and has generated criticism of President Obama from conservative media outlets.

...

The National Christmas Tree Association says the fee would fund a program “designed to benefit the industry and will be funded by the growers” and is “not expected to have any impact on the final price consumers pay for their Christmas tree.” According to the Federal Registry, the proposed Christmas Tree Promotion Board, which would be funded by the new fee, would launch 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” and to “enhance the image of Christmas trees and the Christmas tree industry in the United States.”
http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/2011/11/obama-administration-to-delay-new-15-cent-christmas-tree-fee/

Ok here's a good example of where Republicans are right about something but for all the wrong reasons. It's only 15 cents per tree, and it's paid on the growers' end. It's just fifteen cents.

But..

What's ridiculous is that here's a case where an industry has been granted their own little special tax, to fund a brand new "Christmas Tree Promotion Board." To promote Christmas trees. And "expand markets for Christmas trees."

You've go to be kidding me, this is idiotic.

If they want a Christmas Tree Promotion Board LET THEM ORGANIZE IT THEMSELVES and not by government fiat, with a tax levied and then handed over to this special interest industry group.

Anyway, the central problem here is crony capitalism -- something Republicans should know all about.

[Keith_McClary]

What's ridiculous is that here's a case where an industry has been granted their own little special tax, to fund a brand new "Christmas Tree Promotion Board." To promote Christmas trees. And "expand markets for Christmas trees."

That doesn't sound politically correct. Shouldn't it be "Holiday Season Tree"?

[Oakley]

And you guys thought you lived in a free country.

Beef producers are hit with an involuntary fee of $1 per head when they sell their cattle, or in other words so some guy can sit in an office and collect a big salary for "helping us make money".

Compliance With The National Beef Promotion Act and Order - - By law, all producers selling cattle or calves, for any reason and regardless of age or sex, must pay $1-per-head to support beef/veal promotion, research and information through the Beef Promotion and Research Act.

I never was quite sure if the "regardless of age or sex" referred to the cattle or the seller. I tried arguing that I was too old for much sex, but they collected the fee anyway.

Scams abound.

[Fiddlerdave]

And you guys thought you lived in a free country.

Beef producers are hit with an involuntary fee of $1 per head when they sell their cattle, or in other words so some guy can sit in an office and collect a big salary for "helping us make money".

Compliance With The National Beef Promotion Act and Order - - By law, all producers selling cattle or calves, for any reason and regardless of age or sex, must pay $1-per-head to support beef/veal promotion, research and information through the Beef Promotion and Research Act.

I never was quite sure if the "regardless of age or sex" referred to the cattle or the seller. I tried arguing that I was too old for much sex, but they collected the fee anyway.

Scams abound.

Oh, indeed.

But it is not government seeking those fees.

It is the largest of the industry growers and ranchers who lobbied the fees into the agricultural laws, and set "standards" and controls to favor the big companies.

Note that it is against US law for a beef producer to test EVERY head of cattle for Mad Cow disease, even if customers are willing to pay more! This protexts the beef industry and the big growers from no one ever really knowing how much Mad Cow there is, and from extra costs.