Society

Sign of the Times: Santa Fired Due To Budget Cuts While Administration Moves To Tax Christmas Trees

Suffolk County, New York has taken the budget cuts to a new low: firing Santa David McKell, 83, to save $660. Fortunately, the Obama Administration is continuing our spending billions in Iraq and Afghanistan so McKell could still look for a job from Halliburton, though Santa positions tend to be limited.


McKell is a World War II veteran and former homicide police detective who has been the local Santa on Long Island for more than nine years.

[Update: Steven Colbert appears to have stepped in to cover the costs. However, I would prefer freeing up those billions being sent in our continuing wars].

To complete the seasonal onslaught, President Barack Obama has announced a new Christmas tree tax. At first I thought that it was a tax designed to cover the environmental costs of such harvesting. I love fresh trees at Christmas but would be happy to pay extra to deal with the environmental costs. However, this new 15-cent charge on all fresh Christmas trees will go to improving the image and marketing of Christmas trees. The government will create a new “Christmas Tree Promotion Board.” The Administration explains that he 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)).

It is of course remarkably dumb in an election year during the holiday season to announce such a tax but this White House appears the most politically tone-deaf Administration in decades. To make it even more incomprehensible, they announce the tax, take widespread criticism, and then the next day they announce that they will delay (though not cancel) the tax. In the end, however, I am most interested in whether we really need a new Board or to subsidize an industry’s image building at a time of economic distress. It is not the 15 cents per tree. I thought we were trying to reduce government. The Administration is slashing scientific and educational programs, but we really need a Christmas Tree Promotion Board?

Source: BDtonline as first seen on Reddit.

50 thoughts on “Sign of the Times: Santa Fired Due To Budget Cuts While Administration Moves To Tax Christmas Trees”

  1. Lottakatz:

    the quicker the better and you are right.

    Energy to, except the Nuke Regulators.

  3. no section 52 but they do Kiwi

    [Code of Federal Regulations]
    [Title 7, Volume 10]
    [Revised as of January 1, 2002]
    From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access
    [CITE: 7CFR1214.200]

    [Page 119]

    TITLE 7–AGRICULTURE

    CHAPTER XI–AGRICULTURAL MARKETING SERVICE (MARKETING AGREEMENTS AND
    ORDERS; MISCELLANEOUS COMMODITIES), DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

    PART 1214–KIWIFRUIT RESEARCH, PROMOTION, AND CONSUMER INFORMATION ORDER–Table of Contents

    Subpart C–Procedure for the Conduct of Referenda in Connection With the
    Kiwifruit Research, Promotion, and Consumer Information Order

    Sec. 1214.200 General.

    A referendum to determine whether eligible producers and importers
    favor the issuance of a proposed Kiwifruit Research, Promotion, and
    Consumer Information Order shall be conducted in accordance with this
    subpart.

  4. The Department of Agriculture is little more than a lobby group/advertising agency that works also to facilitate subsidies to the food/farming industry. The problem isn’t the tax, its DoA. I’m for getting rid of DoA.

  5. Santa Saved From Budget Execution In Suffolk County!

    http://gothamist.com/2011/11/04/suffolk_county_santa_saved_from_bud.php

    Steve Bellone (D) was elected Suffolk County Executive last night.

    Steve Levy (Grinch), current S. County Exec., agreed not to run as part of a plea deal with the Suffolk County DA in a corruption investigation.

    And the last time I was in that store, the guy playing Santa had to be in his late 40’s early 50’s. I feel old.

  6. Well….well….Thats it….I’ll stick with my fake tree like a lot of folks….

  7. Mike Spindell wrote: As someone who has worked as a Budget Director in a municipal agency it boggles my mind how saving $660 by firing a p/t Santa Claus even got put on the table. The amount represents 1 weeks pay for a county worker. Budget cutting never gets to that microcosmic level. What were they thinking? How could this be seen as a positive move. If you want people to accept higher taxes, direct your budget cuts at areas where the cuts will be obviously visibile, like dropping Santa. Nobody may notice that the grass isn’t mowed as often as it used to be, but they’ll notice there wasn’t a santa this year.

  8. Swarthmore mom 1, November 9, 2011 at 10:50 am

    http://mediamatters.org/blog/201111090001?frontpage Right wing media launches fake Obama Christmas tree tax, according to media matters. They want to show Obama is anti-Christmas and anti-christian.

    Obama Administration to Delay New 15-Cent Christmas Tree ‘Fee’

    http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/2011/11/obama-administration-to-delay-new-15-cent-christmas-tree-fee/

    Ok now he’s anti Christmas and anti Christian for not wanting to promote Christmas Trees 🙂

  9. Bda,

    What??!! No Corporate welfare for the live Christmas Tree Industry … what’s this nation coming too? They should have changed their name to The Live Christmas Tree Bank and claimed they were too big to fail without a federally funded ad campaign.

  12. Nodoublestandard,

    go back and break it down into 2, 3, or even 4 posts … we’ll read them.

  13. Obama/Biden, Cain/Gingrich–unless we vote any combination of these bastards from office down to dog catcher, ladies and gentlemen, look out!

    “Comment from ACLU Attorney Attending Al-Nashiri Hearing at Guantánamo
    Military Commissions Especially Unfit to Try Death Penalty Cases, Says ACLU

    GUANTÁNAMO BAY, Cuba – November 9 – The American Civil Liberties Union is at Guantánamo today to monitor the pretrial proceedings of Abd al Rahim Hussayn Muhammad al-Nashiri, who could face the death penalty if convicted. No capital case has been completed by the Guantánamo military commissions. Al-Nashiri, who was tortured while in U.S. custody, is accused of planning the 2000 bombing of the U.S.S. Cole.

    Zachary Katznelson, senior staff attorney with the ACLU National Security Project, is at Guantánamo observing al-Nashiri’s hearing. “This military commission threatens to put someone to death based on coerced evidence and hearsay. That is no way to run a trial, let alone convince the world that America is committed to justice.” Katznelson said. “Terrorism suspects should be tried in our time-tested federal courts, and that is especially true where the government is seeking to impose the death penalty.”

  14. Elaine M. 1, November 9, 2011 at 11:34 am

    Nodoublestandard,

    You can post a maximum of two links in a comment–otherwise, it goes into moderation status.
    ==========================
    And there are no moderates watching that cue.

    It is kinda like what the famous lineman said about coach Bear Bryant: “he is very fair, he treats all of us like garbage”. 😉

  16. I see this story as indicative of what is going wrong in our society. The governing elites are stealing money, sometimes legally, often not, from the people to line their own coffers. In order to squeeze out every last dime, ordinary people are losing everything. We are going under.

    “Only when the last tree has been cut down; Only when the last river has been poisoned; Only when the last fish has been caught; Only then will you find that money cannot be eaten.”
    Proverb, American Indian

    We can’t let this happen.

  20. Here’s the latest headlines

    AP Exclusive: Accuser filed complaint in next job

    One accuser works for Obama…

    Another lived in same building as Axelrod

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