Official 2011 Christmas Season vs. Holiday Season

[guido911]

Found this over at Drudge. Christmas tree tax.

http://blog.heritage.org/2011/11/08/obama-couldnt-wait-his-new-christmas-tree-tax/

[Townsend]

Knew it.  He's taking our holidays away $.15 at a time.

Next it'll be taxes on our champagne...DANG IT, too late.

[guido911]

Knew it.  He's taking our holidays away $.15 at a time.

Next it'll be taxes on our champagne...DANG IT, too late.

Now you are getting it.

[Townsend]

Now you are getting it.

Maybe instead of all these silly tax codes maybe we should just have to pay $.05 every time we smile.

[guido911]

Maybe instead of all these silly tax codes maybe we should just have to pay $.05 every time we smile.

Bwahahaha... In other news, it looks like the tree tax is on hold.

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."

http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/2011/11/obama-administration-to-delay-new-15-cent-christmas-tree-fee/

[joiei]

Found this over at Drudge. Christmas tree tax.

http://blog.heritage.org/2011/11/08/obama-couldnt-wait-his-new-christmas-tree-tax/

And now for the other side of the story

http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/ct-biz-1109-christmas-tree-wars-20111109,0,2983619.story

Following an extended debate that pit one region against another, the Agriculture Department on Tuesday gave the green light to a new industry-funded Christmas tree promotion program.


By taxing themselves, growers will raise $2 million a year for ads promoting the merits of real, live trees. Or, at least, trees that once were living, as opposed to the artificial kind that have seized an increasing share of the holiday market.

"As demographics and buying habits have changed, we have watched the market for real trees shrink drastically, requiring us to spend much more time and money on promotion," said Don Cameron, past president of the California Christmas Tree Association.

Cameron and his wife, Carolyn, owners of a tree farm in Simi Valley, Calif., were among the 500-plus people to weigh in during the past year as the USDA considered the proposed Christmas Tree Promotion, Research and Information Order.

Akin to similar programs that promote milk, beef and cotton, the Christmas tree program will impose on U.S. domestic producers and importers an initial fee of 15 cents per tree.

Check the validity of the story when quoting Drudge. 

[guido911]

On a positive note, I always buy fresh cut Christmas trees. Something about shopping for them brings back childhood memories.

[Townsend]

On a positive note, I always buy fresh cut Christmas trees. Something about shopping for them brings back childhood memories.

Pre-lit LED fake one.  Can't overcome the ease of it.

[Red Arrow]

Pre-lit LED fake one.  Can't overcome the ease of it.

Pop it open like a umbrella or does it require full size storage space?

[Townsend]

Pop it open like a umbrella or does it require full size storage space?

Breaks down and slides into a small area in the attic.

[guido911]

Pre-lit LED fake one.  Can't overcome the ease of it.

I'm a sucker for tradition so the extra effort is worthwhile. Picking out the tree with my kids and decorating it is both bonding and passes along something for them to perhaps pass along.

[Red Arrow]

I'm a sucker for tradition so the extra effort is worthwhile. Picking out the tree with my kids and decorating it is both bonding and passes along something for them to perhaps pass along.

Dried pine needles?

[Townsend]

Dried pine needles?

Oy, that and my Lab loves trees.  If I bring one in she'd have it down and spread out in a very short time.

[Red Arrow]

Oy, that and my Lab loves trees.  If I bring one in she'd have it down and spread out in a very short time.

Probably better than the possibilities of he'd....

[Townsend]

Probably better than the possibilities of he'd....

I've seen the boxer (female also) lift a leg to pee on a tree.  I'm sticking with the plastic and metal.