A “Government Mandated Tax” IS a tax. And people don’t like taxes, as the thread reactions show. Personally I think it was a real stupid move. Why oh why use the government to force this on others. Why not just do it on your own. Unless of course some people disagreed and would not pony up the tax, er, contribution mandated by law.
Somebody tried to get cute with government power and it bit them. And my guess is that it is not done biting them. Wait and see. It costs government a buck to do a dimes work and 50 cents to document it.
Bad
Idea.
"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."
I highlighted the key phrases in the statement. Please keep in mind that this program was requested by members of the Christmas tree industry - they want it; they want to pay for it; they will oversee it; and if they don't like the results, they can end it after three years. These are the terms the industry requested, not that the government demanded.
In this particular case, Obama didn't just wake up and order the Ag Dept to rush out and slap arbitrary tax on Christmas. The Christmas tree industry spent over three years trying to get this program approved. Now whether we think it's a waste of money or not is beside the point. It's currently legal, the industry has every right to spend their money as they see fit, and they apparently see fit to spend it through this program.