09 November, 2011

Intrigue

Tree Farmers Blast ‘Sinister’ ‘Smear’ Of ‘Obama’s Christmas Tree Tax’ | TPMMuckraker: No, America, President Obama didn’t impose a 15-cent tax on Christmas trees because he “Hates Christians,” or because he’s keen to launch another front in the War on Christmas. Christmas tree growers had the plan all along.

Remember those “Got Milk?” and “Beef, It’s What’s For Dinner” ads? Well, Christmas tree farmers and retailers thought those are pretty nifty. Plus, with more and more people buying artificial trees instead of the natural ones, they wanted to protect their brand. So three years ago — before Obama took office — a group of them started studying the pluses and minuses of starting a so-called “checkoff promotion and research program” of their very own.

“It has absolutely nothing to do with Obama, it’s not a tax,” National Christmas Tree Association spokesman Rick Dungey told TPM. “I’m slowly but surely narrowing down who the culprits are who put out that sinister little statement for whatever reasons there were.”