We went Christmas tree shopping with the kids last weekend. Every year, the ritual reminds me of some of the strangest federal taxes on the books and one of the clearest examples of government-sponsored industry collusion.

Most people have never heard of this small 15-cent tax that is part of the Christmas tree check-off program or the almost two dozen other similar programs through which the government levies a billion-dollar tax on private industry to fund compelled speech and industry-directed research.

...read more at cato.org