WhatFinger


Obama and his Christmas Tree Tax

The Messiah can’t walk on water but can improve the image of the Christmas Tree



imageIn daft President Barack Barry Soetoro Obama’s head, Election Year, or not, “It’s beginning to look a lot (NOT) like Christmas”. Faint strains of Bing Crosby’s catchy Christmas tune can almost, but not quite, be heard. “President Obama’s Agriculture Department today announced that it will impose a new 15-cent charge on all Christmas trees--the Christmas Tree Tax--to support a new Federal program to improve the image and marketing of Christmas trees. (heritage.org Nov. 8, 2011).
Only a “we don’t give Christmas gifts to our children” Obama can jump to the rescue and improve the image of Christmas trees. “But don’t you cry, Jimmy, Mamma can still afford to buy a Christmas tree this year even though your Papa still hasn’t found another job.” -Mom. One for the books:
“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” (7CFR 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).

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Wow! Our very own Christmas Czar who’s a dead knockoff of the Grinch. Tuck in your cotton tail, Mr. Easter Bunny, ‘cause it’s all but guaranteed you’re next. Uncle Sugar isn’t forking over an extra 15 cents for this year’s fresh Christmas tree, the loathed by the government ‘consumer’ is: “To pay for the new Federal Christmas tree image improvement and marketing program, the Department of Agriculture imposed a 15-cent fee on all sales of fresh Christmas trees by sellers of more than 500 trees per year (7 CFR 1214.52). And, of course, the Christmas tree sellers are free to pass along the 15-cent Federal fee to consumers who buy their Christmas trees. “Acting Administrator Shipman had the temerity to say the 15-cent mandatory Christmas tree fee “is not a tax nor does it yield revenue for the Federal government” (76 CFR 69102). The Federal government directs that the revenue generated by the 15-cent fee goes to the Board appointed by the Secretary of Agriculture to carry out the Christmas tree program established by the Secretary of Agriculture, Mr. President, that’s a new 15-cent tax to pay for a Federal program to improve the image and marketing of Christmas trees.” Acting Administrator of Agriculture Marketing David R. Shipman? That’s quite an act! Big brave Obama. Bristly as they are, Christmas trees don’t fight back. Christmas tree sellers, who make extra money for their families in vacant parking lots, are now the administration’s latest ‘industry’. Christmas-loving Canada Free Press (CFP) has the temerity to tell Barry Soetoro who plays as el Presidente how to really improve the image of the Christmas tree. Start with the White House tree, which in 2009 was sporting an orb depicting the late Chinese dictator Mao Zedong, one showing drag queen Hedda Lettuce and other handpicked ornaments favoured by Barack and Michelle. Meanwhile, Obama is losing his Saul Alinsky style ‘shockability’. A new Christmas Tree Tax weeks before Christmas from a heady Obama, who delivered ObamaCare to the masses on Christmas Eve 2009, doesn’t shock anyone. Update:

Obama Administration to Delay New 15-Cent Christmas Tree ‘Fee’

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 well-trafficked Drudge Report is leading with the story, linking to a blog by David Addington, a former top aide to then-Vice President David Addington, at the conservative Heritage Foundation assailing the president thus: “The economy is barely growing and nine percent of the American people have no jobs. Is a new tax on Christmas trees the best President Obama can do? And, by the way, the American Christmas tree has a great image that doesn’t need any help from the government.” More...


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Judi McLeod -- Bio and Archives -- Judi McLeod, Founder, Owner and Editor of Canada Free Press, is an award-winning journalist with more than 30 years’ experience in the print and online media. A former Toronto Sun columnist, she also worked for the Kingston Whig Standard. Her work has appeared throughout the ‘Net, including on Rush Limbaugh and Fox News.

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