babble » blogs » Strollerderby
Strollerderby
Scrooge Alert! What’s the Deal This Christmas Tree Tax? Busy Parents Briefing
A Christmas Tree Tax? WHy?
Did you know that the fresh Christmas tree needed a PR boost? Yeah, neither did I. One person who did know that the fresh cut Christmas tree industry needed some help is President Barack Obama. And the situation is dire enough for a brand new 15-cent-per-tree tax being imposed for every tree sold. What will the fees be used for?
According to Fox News, the Agriculture Department-imposed tax will be used to support the new Christmas Tree Promotion Board, an organization that will work at trying to convince Americans to buy a real tree rather than a plastic one. They hope that they can do the same kind of thing that other promotional campaigns did like the successful “Got Milk” one. The Agriculture Department spokesman, Michael T. Jarvis, added that campaigns like that, “worked great for beef, pork, chicken, eggs.” Although most anticipate that the 15-cent-tax will be passed on directly to the consumer at the Christmas tree lot, the The National Christmas Tree Association said in a statement that, “is not expected to have any impact on the final price consumers pay for their Christmas tree.”
But if they want better PR for the Christmas tree, doesn’t a 15-cent Scrooge like tax do the opposite?
Image: Flickr
Go Back To Strollerderby
8 Comments
Steve Thompson commented on Nov 09 11 at 3:21 pmIn fiscal 2011, Washington noted a drop in corporate tax revenue to $180 billion, down from $372 billion in 2007 despite increasing corporate profitability. Here’s an article that shows how several of America’s largest corporations paid an effective tax rate of -1.5 percent on profits of $171 billion:
http://viableopposition.blogspot.com/2011/09/negative-federal-tax-rate-only-american.html
I wonder how many Christmas trees would have to be sold to make up the lost revenue?
anon commented on Nov 10 11 at 5:00 amSomeone is playing you like a violin, Sunny.
http://mediamatters.org/blog/201111090001
anon commented on Nov 10 11 at 5:26 am“Betty Malone, an Oregon tree farmer who heads up the Christmas Tree Promotion Now campaign, said she was stunned anyone would describe the tree fee as something dreamed up by the president.
“It’s absurd. We’ve been working on this for three-and-a-half years. The industry has talked about this for 20 years,” Malone said. “This started long before Obama” was in the White House.”
Meagan commented on Nov 10 11 at 5:54 amOh really Anon? Are you SURE about that? Are you REALLY SURE this isn’t all a part of the liberal Muslim socialist plot to destroy Christmas and America? Until I see a birth certificate, I remain unconvinced.
anon commented on Nov 10 11 at 12:43 pmHeehee!
http://ca.video.search.yahoo.com/search/video?p=obama+birth+certificate
TwinHappyJen commented on Nov 11 11 at 2:07 pmThat’s what happens when you get your information from a fake news organization :-p There’s more truth on “The Onion” than on Fox.
dcmama commented on Nov 15 11 at 11:09 amSheesh Babble, I count on you to do better. These types of marketing boards are standard procedure for agricultural products (i.e products that are sort of generic and don’t have giant brand names and corporate marketing campaigns behind them). Antitrust laws would prevent all the Xmas tree farmers (or milk producers or California Plum Growers) from getting together and marketing together, so they need to go through the government to get a marketing board approved. The fee is only imposed if the producers request it, it is not a tax imposed by Obama, it is a fee requested by the growers so they can engage in marketing jointly.
Get the facts. One good way to get the facts? Don’t believe most of what you hear on Fox.
Rick commented on Dec 08 11 at 10:44 pmI was led to this site by a friend, and I read several of your articles. I now doubt them all. Lame
Add your take:
Note: Babble is a supportive, diverse community. We encourage a range of opinions,
but any unduly hostile comments will be removed.
Comments are delayed up to 15 minutes
Lori Garcia 
Joslyn Gray 
Amber Doty 
Julianna Miner 
Monica Bielanko 
Sierra Black 
Meredith Carroll 
Carolyn Castiglia 
Sunny Chanel 
Madeline Holler 
Rebecca Odes 
Danielle Smith 
Danielle Sullivan 
Katherine Stone 
The Walt Disney Company supports Babble as a platform dedicated to honest, engaged, informed, intelligent and open conversation about parenting. However, the opinions expressed on this site are those of individual parents/writers and do not reflect the views of Disney. In addition, content provided on this site is for entertainment or informational purposes only and should not be construed as medical advice, diagnosis, treatment, or safety advice.
8