We Wish You a Merry New Tax

So Scrooge President Obama apparently thinks that a) you have too much money, 2) if you buy a Christmas tree you make over $250,000 a year, c) what we really need around the holiday season is a new tax, and 4) anyone who celebrates a religious holiday is bitterly clinging to their religion and needs to pay some money for the privilege. (OK, I just threw that last one in since really Christmas trees have nothing to do with religion, but were an easy way to co-opt the celebration of the winter solstice).

Anyway, just in time for Christmas, a new tax of .15 per tree for, wait for it, a Federal program to improve the image and marketing of Christmas trees.  Really?  I don't know anyone who isn't Jewish who doesn't have a Christmas tree.  112 million households in the US, 2.2% of the population is Jewish so knock off a couple million households (remember this is a rough estimate) so 110 million people are going to buy a Christmas tree this and every year.  Do we really need a federal program (and a new tax) to promote this?  Unless, of course, their first act will be to create a brochure espousing the virtues of paying an extra .15 for that tree.