As for forcing the little guys to chip in, they are exempt. Only the larger growers/importers pay and the larger they are, the more they pay.
Again, I'm not at all comfortable with the idea of the government helping one industry promote itself over another, but this program has been around for years. It isn't some new power grab by the government. The industry asked for this.
Want it eliminated? Fine, let's work on it. But let's not dress it up as something it isn't just to stir the pot. Call it what it is - a private industry paying for government muscle - and offer up sound, reasonable arguments as to why it's a problem. The "oooo, Obama's taxing Christians" line is just inflammatory rhetoric when we should be the voices of reason and logic.
i dont recall saying that, but your previous post did infer that you think its just peachy for a handful of people to use gubmint guns to subsidize their industry...
personally, if i were gonna piss away my profits ahead of sales, even at .15/tree, i think id invest in local ads, rather than 'persuade' others in my industry to market my product...and we all know that the small *fee* is much more in reality once all the crap gets rolled into it, and will only grow larger, like all cancer does...
Then let 'em do it voluntary, within their own group. If they can't play nicely amongst themselves, it's no business of the government to become involved whatsoever.
There was nothing in the government "decree" that said that the cost of the "fee" couldn't be passed along to the individual consumer. It's 15 cents now ... what's to keep it from becoming $20 later?