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.
Two questions: First, where in the Constitution does it instruct the Federal Government to be in the business of promoting Christmas tree sales in any way shape or form?
Second, do only people who make more than $250,000 a year buy Christmas trees? Or is this going to be a tax on those Obama swore not to tax?
H/T Memeorandum. More at Weasel Zippers.
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Let me get this straight, the people already buying Christmas Trees are going to pay to have them promoted? Can't the people growing and selling the trees pay for their own advertising without the government? Obama, get your F***ing fingers out of our F***ing economy!
ReplyDeleteI feel better now.
"the people already buying Christmas Trees are going to pay to have them promoted?"
ReplyDeleteWelcome to the wonderful world of liberal logic! It's just another way to "spread the wealth".
Or, since what you tax you get less of, maybe this is just part of the Obama war on Christmas?
Mao ornaments, anyone?
http://proof-proofpositive.blogspot.com/2009/12/nothing-says-christmas-at-white-house.html
Obama has a not-so-secret strategy here: take money from some people (15% from Christmas tree merchants and/or customers) and give it to other people (government bureaucrats). It's not really about Christmas trees, except for the fact that Christmas tree purchasers are not part of his main constituency, so he doesn't mind sticking his finger in their collective eye.
ReplyDeleteAside from the fallacy that Odie pointed out of taxing people who buy "X" to encourage other people to buy "X", which, according to the laws of supply and demand, should also increase the price of fresh trees as the demand increases, there is also the siphoning effect. Any time money comes into the government, for whatever stated purpose, a certain amount is siphoned off the top to meet the needs, wants and desires of government bureaucrats.
ReplyDelete