Now that the elections are (mostly) behind us, the time has come to consider the news in the rest of the world, and there we find that the federal government is going to be slapping a tax on Christmas Trees.
That’s the short hand version. The longer explanation, from the Federal Register, goes like this:
This rule establishes an industry-funded promotion, research, and information program for fresh cut Christmas trees. The Christmas Tree Promotion, Research, and Information Order (Order) is authorized under the Commodity Promotion, Research, and Information Act of 1996 (1996 Act). The Order will establish a national Christmas Tree Promotion Board (Board) comprised of 11 producers and one importer. Under the Order, producers and importers of fresh cut Christmas trees will pay an initial assessment of fifteen cents per Christmas tree. Producers and importers that produce or import less than 500 Christmas trees annually will be exempt from the assessment. 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.
So it would apply to big dealers, not little ones, it’s temporary and authorized under an old piece of legislation, so everything is just fine.
Except, as Sen. Jim DeMint says, this is really just another example of crony capitalism at work:
So why should the government-funded Christmas Tree Promotion Board tax us to fund a marketing campaign? So the Christmas tree industry can pocket the $2 million they now won’t have to spend marketing their trees.
That’s it. That’s the whole purpose of the Obama Christmas Tree Tax: to take money from hard-working families celebrating Christmas and give it to clever lobbyists and businessmen running a crony-capitalist subsidy scam.
And while this policy will, by design, help one group of people, it will hurt others: businesses that sell artificial Christmas trees, people who work at your local stores that sell them, and, don’t forget, the consumers who are out 15 cents a tree.
I really doubt most families will miss those 15 cents. But the cost to principle is quite high. The federal government already helps many very large corporations with their marketing at home and overseas. It offers loans, loan guarantees and other sweeteners to help those same companies sell their goods and services.
That’s corporate welfare. It’s inexcusable, as is putting more companies on the dole.
