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发帖数: 3365 | 1 http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/2011/11/blowback-for-obama
Starting today, the government is imposing a 15-cent fee on most fresh-cut
Christmas trees, but before critics compare President Obama to the Grinch,
officials want to explain this is a growers’ arrangement to boost tree
sales. And they insist it is not a “tax.”
As the holidays approach, imported fresh trees will be assessed as they
cross the border, and American growers will ante up in February for each
fresh-cut Christmas tree sold. Small growers and all-organic tree farms will
be exempt.
The money all goes to a marketing board being set up for the tree growers’
industry, just like the “Got Milk” dairy marketing campaign and the beef
industry’s “What’s for Dinner” commercials, both examples of what
officials call highly successful advertising efforts which boosted sales and
consumption.
Officials also know this is a ripe target for administration critics. The
conservative Heritage Foundation is racking up thousands of biting comments
on its website’s story “Obama Couldn’t Wait: His New Christmas Tree Tax.
” The article claims customers will take the hit: “And, of course, the
Christmas tree sellers are free to pass along the 15-cent Federal fee to
consumers who buy their Christmas trees.” It argues Christmas trees have a
great image, and don’t need any help from the government.
American producers market an estimated 17 million fresh cut Christmas trees
each season. But the real Grinch for them in the artificial holiday tree,
for which sales have topped 17.4 million. |
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