What will they tax next? Your Christmas tree. UPDATED

UPDATE: President Obama saves Christmas. Well, not exactly. In response to ridicule and criticism of the proposed "Christmas Tree Tax," the administration has decided not to go ahead with the 15-cent-per-tree tax. (See the rest of the original post below.) I think I can hear the Whos down in Whoville singing now.

By Mary DeTurris Poust

Maybe you weren't aware of this, but your Christmas tree has an image problem. Thank goodness the federal government is stepping in to fix that, but it's going to cost you. That's right. The U.S. Agriculture Department announced yesterday that it is imposing a "Christmas Tree Tax" -- 15 cents per live-cut tree -- to fund a federal program designed to improve the image and marketing of Christmas trees.

From Fox Nation:

In the Federal Register of November 8, 2011, Acting Administrator of Agricultural Marketing David R. Shipman announced that the Secretary of Agriculture will appoint a Christmas Tree Promotion Board. The purpose of the Board is to run a “program of promotion, research, evaluation, and information designed to strengthen the Christmas tree industry’s position in the marketplace; maintain and expend existing markets for Christmas trees; and to carry out programs, plans, and projects designed to provide maximum benefits to the Christmas tree industry” (7 CFR 1214.46(n)). And the program of “information” is to include efforts to “enhance the image of Christmas trees and the Christmas tree industry in the United States” (7 CFR 1214.10).

To pay for the new Federal Christmas tree image improvement and marketing program, the Department of Agriculture imposed a 15-cent fee on all sales of fresh Christmas trees by sellers of more than 500 trees per year (7 CFR 1214.52). And, of course, the Christmas tree sellers are free to pass along the 15-cent Federal fee to consumers who buy their Christmas trees.

But why? Why? Do Christmas trees really need a spin doctor? Apparently, yes. Sales of live trees are suffering, what with all those pre-lit, need-no-water, won't-lose-their-needles trees available in every big box store across the nation. This campaign promises to do for trees what similar marketing efforts have done for the dairy and beef industries:

Got Christmas trees?

Here's more from a Chicago Tribune story:

By taxing themselves, growers will raise $2 million a year for ads promoting the merits of real, live trees. Or, at least, trees that once were living, as opposed to the artificial kind that have seized an increasing share of the holiday market.

"As demographics and buying habits have changed, we have watched the market for real trees shrink drastically, requiring us to spend much more time and money on promotion," said Don Cameron, past president of the California Christmas Tree Association.

So today I pose two questions to you: Is your Christmas tree live or artificial? Do you think the tax will make a difference? I will admit that after years of swearing I would never, ever, ever have a fake tree in my house, we have opted for the pre-lit variety, mostly due to animals and children who had a penchant for knocking into the tree repeatedly until all the needles were on the ground. We may go back to the live version one day, but it won't be because of an ad campaign.