Obama: X-mas Tree Tax

[Jerome]

Obama: X-mas Tree Tax

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).

[Jerome]

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)).

[chunksmediocrites]

OUTRAGE
This is it! This is unacceptable! I was all on the fence before, like hey, is Obama a secret Muslim, Manchurian Candidate, commu-socialhitler witch-doctor? And that picture of him looking like he was like 19 years old and in the third grade of Muslim Infiltrator Foreign Devil School appeared highly suspicious. And when I heard he was going to take all the ammo AND start Obama Youth Indoctrination, and then the White House was asking Americans to let them know if their neighbors were exhibiting any disloyalty to Obama,I was all like.... this bears SERIOUS SCRUTINY. And then when I found out his transcripts from Occidental College weren't available for my perusal, and his Social Security Number was actually that of Jack the Ripper, and that he is a Black Panther, Weathermen, Black Liberation Theology-brainwashed guy who likes nothing better than to vote for murdering babies who survived abortive procedures, AND he was the father of at least two black children, I was all like, "There may in fact be something to this." THEN I found out he had spent like a bajillion dollars and had the entire Fifth Fleet chauffeur him and a vast retinue to India, right after he had gone to Japan to kow-tow to the Emperor, my suspicions deepened. Then I found out he was planning on a one-world currency, that his mom was a bad mother, that he supported family members and dictators in Africa, that he was soliciting more spying on one's neighbors, that he is racist, that he is elitist, that he is a secret homosexual drug addict, I was all like "Whoa." At the same time, every time he showed more information verifying his birthplace in Hawaii, I became more and more convinced that obviously all this could only mean he was not qualified to be President. Plus he is inexperienced. And I found out his real name is Barry Soetoro, that he's a Brit, that he shooped that photo of him sitting with his grandparents, his family are communists, his mentor was Stalin...

So what I am saying is that now I am pretty sure there is something not quite right about that Obama. But I may need more convincing.

Please, don't try to derail me with policy decisions or things Obama has done that the "news" "reports" on. I need to know as soon as possible if there are any developments on this Christmas Tree Tax thing. Fucking tax-and-spend-Liberals, amirite?

[Qingdai]

I see we've lost another warrior to the War on Christmas™

[Jerome]

Originally Posted by chunksmediocrites

Please, don't try to derail me with policy decisions or things Obama has done that the "news" "reports" on.

Economic stimulus program

You support taxing the worker to give money to bankers, you know, the 1%.

[Qingdai]

No U!

[Angakuk]

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Agricultural Marketing Service
7 CFR Part 1214
[Doc. No. AMS–FV–10–0008–FR–1A]
RIN 0581–AD00
Christmas Tree Promotion, Research,
and Information Order

Summary
This rule establishes an industryfunded
promotion, research, and
information program for fresh cut
Christmas trees. The Christmas Tree
Promotion, Research, and Information
Order (Order), was submitted to the
Department of Agriculture (Department)
by the Christmas Tree Checkoff Task
Force (Task Force), an industry wide
group of producers and importers that
support this program. Under the Order,
producers and importers of fresh cut
Christmas trees will pay an initial
assessment of $0.15 cents per tree,
which would be paid to the Christmas
Tree Promotion Board (Board). This
Board will be responsible for
administration and operation of the
Order. Producers and importers that
produce or import less than 500
Christmas trees annually will be exempt
from the assessment. The program is
authorized under the Commodity
Promotion, Research, and Information
Act of 1996 (1996 Act).
A referendum will be conducted,
among producers and importers, three
years after the collection of assessments
begin to determine if Christmas tree
producers and importers favor the
continuation of this program. A final
rule on the referendum procedures will
be published in the Federal Register at
a later time. The rule also announces the
Agricultural Marketing Service’s (AMS)
approval of new Christmas tree
information collection requirements by
the OMB for the operation of the Order.
Authority in 1996 Act
The Order is authorized under the
1996 Act which authorizes USDA to
establish agricultural commodity
research and promotion orders which
may include a combination of
promotion, research, industry
information, and consumer information
activities funded by mandatory
assessments. These programs are
designed to maintain and expand
markets and uses for agricultural
commodities. As defined under section
513(1)(D) of the 1996 Act, agricultural
commodities include fresh cut
Christmas trees. The Order will provide
for the development and financing of a
coordinated program of research,
promotion, and information for
Christmas trees.

If this is a tax, then so are the beef and pork checkoff programs. Note that this 15¢ checkoff program has the support of the Christmas tree producers and that, after a three year trial period, a referendum will be conducted within the affected industry to determine whether or not to continue the program.

Commodity checkoff programs represent a practice of fairly long standing (i.e. this is not some new swindle that has just been conjured up by the Obama administration). However, the constitutionality of such checkoff progams has been challenged in the courts, with mixed results.

[Stormlight]

Idiot.

[Jerome]

Wait, so it is better for government to run advertizing programs for private commercial profit making industries?

[Watser?]

[Stormlight]

[Kael]

I was hoping we could kick off the 2011 War On Christmas season with something truly, derpifyingly stupid... And I got my wish! War-On-Christmas Santa is real!

[Clutch Munny]

I've really been digging on the reduced Jerome shitprint on the forum over the past couple of weeks, since people kinda stopped feeding him.

[ChuckF]

Oh, this happens all the time. In my state, there are similar assessments on things like animal feed, and the proceeds go to a state-sanctioned board to promote a certain industry. See, e.g. Horse Industry Promotion Act, N.C. Gen. Stat. 106-820 et seq. (2011). These things usually come about when a politically powerful industry wants to use the state's taxation power to promote itself. It sells it to legislators and policymakers in terms of pro-business economic growth and campaign contributions.

Fortunately, corporations are people and money is speech, so this is all perfectly OK.

ETA: I don't mean to imply that this is bad in itself. For example, there is a really great program called Nickels for Know How, where basically farmers agree to a small voluntary assessment on feed, fertiziler, and some other products, to support agriculture research and education. N.C. Gen. Stat 106-568.1 et seq. It's been going strong for 60 years now, and pretty much everyone involved agrees that it is a great investment.

[LadyShea]

Originally Posted by JEROME DA GNOME

Wait, so it is better for government to run advertizing programs for private commercial profit making industries?

Under the Order, producers and importers of fresh cut Christmas trees will pay an initial assessment of $0.15 cents per tree, which would be paid to the Christmas Tree Promotion Board (Board). This Board will be responsible for administration and operation of the Order. Producers and importers that produce or import less than 500 Christmas trees annually will be exempt from the assessment. Source = Angakuk's post

What's your boggle here Jerome. The industry itself is paying for this, all the government is doing is appointing the board, as part of the Department of Agriculture, which you know, is involved in agricultural stuff.

[Iacchus]

Yeah, I think the commercial aspect of Christmas really sucks! So, why not tax it all ... or, even call it something else?

[ChuckF]

The Christmas Tree Promotion, Research, and Information Order (Order), was submitted . . . by the Christmas Tree Checkoff Task Force (Task Force), an industry wide group of producers and importers that support this program.

Non-Christian, Christmas tree-taxing bastards, who also produce and import Christmas trees!

[Jerome]

Originally Posted by LadyShea

What's your boggle here Jerome. The industry itself is paying for this, all the government is doing is appointing the board, as part of the Department of Agriculture, which you know, is involved in agricultural stuff.

You know as well as I do that much more than this particular tax will be spent, thus government is using tax dollars collected from any number of places, like from Jews and Muslims, to promote a religious holiday.

[LadyShea]

You know as well as I do that much more than this particular tax will be spent

No, I don't know that.

[ChuckF]

Originally Posted by JEROME DA GNOME

You know as well as I do that much more than this particular tax will be spent,

What the shit are you talking about.

thus government is using tax dollars collected from any number of places, like from Jews and Muslims, to promote a religious holiday.

This looks like a legal conclusion! Remember the list!

[Iacchus]

This is not one of those separation of Church and State deals is it? If Christmas trees were considered a religious relic which, technically it is, if held in the observance of Christmas, then I guess it would be.

[LadyShea]

No, this is a straight agricultural industry deal, CSS is not a factor. These types of promotions and assessments are very commonplace.

[Iacchus]

Sure. And who would they sell the trees to if nobody bought them at Christmas?

[LadyShea]

Sure. And who would they sell the trees to if nobody bought them a Christmas?

Um, right, hence the Christmas Tree industry

[LadyShea]

From a business standpoint, the industry has been losing market-share to cheaply mass produced artificial trees for a long time (though there are occasional resurgences). So just like any agricultural industry, want to research to see if advertising campaigns might help out (Got Milk? Body by Milk. Beef, it's what's for dinner!), and these types of industry activities are regulated.