Oh, Christmas Tree

I'm not anti-government. In fact, I teach an entire course about how the careful application of government to certain problems can make the world a richer place. But I do believe that government needs to establish priorities, and needs to be thoughtful about what it chooses to dip its fingers into.

Case in point: the Christmas tree tax. This 15-cent per tree fee would be collected by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and would be used to fund a promotional campaign for Christmas trees along the lines of dairy's "Got Milk?" campaign.

Any economist worth his flocking can go on and on about the economic effects of the Christmas tree tax. So here, I offer only a few brief thoughts. The first: It seems ironic to believe that taxing Christmas trees will help sell more Christmas trees.

Second: Seriously? All the troubles we have in this country, and you're spending our hard-earned tax dollars to develop and implement a go-nowhere program like this? Where on Earth is your sense of priority?

Finally: A promotional campaign for Christmas trees? Do they really need help? After all, it's not broccoli we're talking about.