Dim Bulbs Outlaw Light Bulbs

When incandescent light bulbs are against the law, then only outlaws will have incandescent light bulbs!
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Congress has passed, and President Bush has indicated that he will sign, a law which will ban the incandescent light bulbs currently in your homes. The bulbs will be phased out over the next 4-12 years. The only type of bulb which currently meets the efficiency standards set to take effect in 2020 are fluorescents, which cast a chartreuse-tinted light and contain mercury.

On the heels of this legislative genius is the law directing each and every model of vehicle (car-light truck) sold in the United States to get 35 miles per gallon. I don't mean that should be the average of the line, I mean that no auto maker can sell a model of vehicle that gets lower gas mileage. I can only presume that the legislation contains exemptions for our valued government leaders and their bullet-proof limousines. This is coming in two years. I think it will be even more popular with Americans than those new federally-mandated "water saver" toilets that you have to flush twice.

My friends, it is my desire to respect and honor our government leaders. That is what the Good Book commands us to do. Nevertheless I must confess my sin here, I am not up to the task. I cannot do what I ought without God's help, due to a combination of my own sinful impatience and the idiocy, corruption, and lawlessness of their policies. They make it too hard for me to do what I ought as consistently as I should.

Is there anyone out there who can honestly say they believe this is what the Founding Fathers risked their "lives, their fortunes, and their sacred Honor" for? Does anyone, anyone I say, believe that the Constitution they established authorizes the Federal Government in Washington D.C. to tell someone in Maynard, Arkansas what kind of light bulbs he is permitted to illuminate his own home with; what sort of toilet he must have, and the miles per gallon that his car must attain? No I say. No. The shackles and intrusions of the British King, which our noble forbears found intolerable and violently cast off, were not one tenth of those we now endure from our own federal government.

How can those statesmen know the needs of each citizen in directing these matters? Does a farm truck that is driven 20 miles per week at 20 miles per gallon pollute less than a car which gets double the gas mileage but drives triple the miles? So they actually limit the choices of a man who needs more horsepower but drives fewer miles. When blizzards come, who is not glad that they know at least one citizens with a powerful truck to pull them out of the ditch? No more I suppose, for they would have it that we can only turn to the government for help, not each other.

They claim the incandescent bulbs are "less efficient", but that assumes that all anybody ever wants from them is the light. The rest of their energy is released as heat, but in cold climates and cold seasons what is wrong with that? The "more efficient" bulbs that release less heat will only cause the thermostat to kick on a bit more often than if we had "less efficient" bulbs which also contributed some heat.

Washington can't know all the details of our situation, so it should not try to dictate all of our choices. Charge us what the energy costs and when it gets better for us to change bulbs then we will. Instead, Washington wants to tax half of us to subsidize the energy costs for the other half and then, since it has removed the free-market incentive to conserve energy, replace the market with centrally directed mandates for all. They have gone mad I tell you. Drunk with power and corruption.

And make no mistake, this legislation is corrupt. Corrupt to the core. The patents for the incandescent bulb have long expired. Big corporations have a very low profit margin on these items because anyone can make them. But there is much money to be made by forcing everyone into switching to the new types of bulbs before the patents on those expire as well. Lots of companies have much to gain from bribing the government into forcing you to switch to higher-margin products. Thus, under the cloak of concern for the environment and energy conservation, those hirelings in Washington have again done the bidding of their corporate masters at our expense.

The only candidate for President I have seen who even expresses that they understand what the problem is and shows any desire to fix it is Ron Paul. This is part of why I believe that all patriotic Americans must put aside their differences with the Congressman and get behind him. The federal government has slipped its chains and the beast has turned 'round on it's supposed master (we the People). Paul is the only one who even wants to stop it.