Government's Not-So-Jolly Intervention in Christmas Tree Industry

[Geee]

Townhall:

Right now, the back seat of my car is more than a little crowded. In addition to the usual litter that lingers in my cup holders and seatback pockets, a bright red box spans the width of the entire back seat. In it: My artificial Christmas tree. That’s OK with me -- I’ll find a place to store it eventually.

But, apparently, it’s not OK with the “Christmas Tree Checkoff Task Force,” a select group of natural Christmas tree producers and importers who are so troubled by “increased competition” and “changing consumer habits” in the Christmas tree market that they’ve asked the U.S. Department of Agriculture to create a “Christmas Tree Promotion, Research and Information Order.”

The order would create a “Christmas Tree Promotion Board” to promote the sales of natural Christmas trees. To do that, the board would impose a 15-cents-a-tree charge on businesses that sell 500 or more Christmas trees. Marketing efforts take money, after all.

Producers in favor of the program argue that without a federal board to systematically promote their product, they might never again be able to sell fresh trees as effectively as they have in the past.