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Obama Administration to Reconsider Christmas Tree Tax

Posted By Brandon Stewart On November 9, 2011 @ 3:39 pm In Ongoing Priorities | 22 Comments

In the face of a national outcry, the Obama administration has decided to delay its Christmas Tree Tax—first reported here [1] on the Foundry—though they haven’t said till when (presumably until the criticism blows over). ABC’s Jake Tapper reports [2]:

The U.S. Department of Agriculture is going to delay implementation a revisit a proposed new 15 cent fee on fresh-cut Christmas trees [3], sources tell ABC News. The fee, requested by the National Christmas Tree Association in 2009 [4], was first announced in the Federal Registry yesterday, and has generated criticism of President Obama from conservative media outlets.

The program, which would have levied a 15-cent tax on “all sales of fresh Christmas trees by sellers of more than 500 trees per year” has been roundly criticized, including by several members of Congress [5]. In a statement, Senator DeMint promised [6] to push for a full repeal of “the single stupidest tax of all time”.

As Heritage’s David Addington noted last night [1]:

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?

Stay tuned to Foundry.org [7] further updates and consider signing up for Heritage’s Morning Bell newsletter [8].

Article printed from The Foundry: Conservative Policy News Blog from The Heritage Foundation: http://blog.heritage.org

URL to article: http://blog.heritage.org/2011/11/09/obama-administration-to-reconsider-christmas-tree-tax/

URLs in this post:

[1] first reported here: http://blog.heritage.org/2011/11/08/obama-couldnt-wait-his-new-christmas-tree-tax/

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

[3] 15 cent fee on fresh-cut Christmas trees: http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/2011/11/blowback-for-obama-on-christmas-tree-tax/

[4] National Christmas Tree Association in 2009: http://www.christmastree.org/11_PR7.pdf

[5] including by several members of Congress: http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/192659-demint-blasts-obama-administration-for-christmas-tree-tax

[6] Senator DeMint promised: http://demint.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?p=JimsBlog&ContentRecord_id=1b5c048c-3715-44a4-9267-1a547661b9a4

[7] Foundry.org: http://www.foundry.org

[8] Heritage’s Morning Bell newsletter: http://www.morningbell.org

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