Click on the title to get a nice summary of what I said long, long ago about Congress and the President telling you that you must buy compact fluorescent bulbs (CFL). This is not even law school level stuff.
First, There is an issue of no power given by the states to the federal government directing the people to buy anything or not buy anything. That is what the King and Queen did by having chartered companies. As I recall, we didn't like statism.
There is no federal purpose in this law other than, perhaps, feeding GE which will makes huge profits on the new bulbs, which are made in China. Here is an example of the fascism I often mention and which, now, the general public is coming to see. Notice GE's boss is not on Obama's team and GE funds money to him. The public is herded along by raising the banner of "THE ENVIRONMENT." They feel and don't think.
The HEALTH CARE banner got Obamacare pushed through and, as you see, it is under broad attack as falacious in its Constitutional basis. States are suing here because off the huge cost; the small cuts we endure rarely get into court and are pursued by government worker bees. You can't tell citizens that they have to buy something, is the objection. Sound familiar?
As an aside, it seems fascism under the Democratic Party is acceptable while that under Republicans is horrible and the subject of the media's daily reportage. As in the CFL, you are a fan of your favorite team, no matter who owns them or what they do. When someone's responsive argument is: " Well, Bush did so and so..." I know I am no longer having a discussion; I am on a radio sports show.
The only argument the Obama administration can make to justify this bulb intrusion is that it has an interstate commerce interest here. This makes no sense even inside the left. It is merely a justification, a hook to hang a cloak of control. I won't even address the pretense of a basis here.
Just think about it: the clause designed to prevent confusion and obstruction regarding individual state control of products and commerce among themselves, we are told means the federal government can tell citizens they must buy a product made in China.
A major purpose of the U.S. Constitution is to eliminate state fascism. It was not intended to create a federal one. This is a direct result of people accepting interstate commerce as the basis of forcing desegregation in the courts. You cannot run anything on means justifies the ends philosophy, except the mafia. Actually, that may not be true.
Oh, you say, this is about regulating the environment. That makes no sense as the CFL is a hazardous product that will pollute a DUMP when it breaks! How does a regular bulb hurt the environment?
Oh, you say, this is about energy. In this continuing cascade of justifications we are now being told the Constitution gives the Congress the right to force people to use less energy (putting aside the energy built into the creation and recycling of the bulbs). It doesn't matter what they want, the collective, we are told, has an interest in reducing energy use because the creation of energy converts stuff into more CO2 and this is bad, somehow. (There was a poll and some lies - good enough for science.) As you can see looking at the March snowstorm today, this CO2 is causing warming becuase of the cooling. When the cooling stops: OMG it will be warming!
What the people want is irrelevant in the face of a political drive to control them. The cleverness of the left and fascists is they never argue the truth. We are told that some END is good, that those opposed are bad, and the the MEANS is irrelevant. This argument works on those whose lives run on emotion without reason.
Thus, we arrive at the second issue of regulation. Laws and rules have to be reasonable. Yes, government has to be reasonable or, at least, it used to be a requirement. So, putting aside the Constitutional failure, we need to see if the law makes sense even if there is a federal question. The analysis is simply: HUH? The answer to the global warming (I said assume) is to reduce energy use by forcing citizens to buy an expensive, toxic replacement. This could be reasonable, again assuming a problem, if there were no other altlernatives to, I don't know, improving current bulbs or supprt LCD projects or issuing candles.
Consider that this law, like Obamacare and thousands of other laws and regulations, is about controlling us. I will never use as much carbon based fuel as the president on a weekend jaunt in Airforce One, or Gore's or Edward's or Kerry's private jets. Thousands of activists fly jets to world conferences spewing out tons of CO2 in order to talk about not creating CO2. Please. They are talking about a world movement to control people and (for the big money behind all this) to reduce the annoyance of local governments. This is the "new-world order" you have heard about for decades.
You dismiss the presence of a hidden, long-term agenda at your own risk. Indeed, there is no risk if we ignore it. We have made ourselves slaves. The union of the left, big money, and, Marxists, and Muslim activists (they say this, not me) is winning. Our window of escape is almost closed. Once it is closed, they will fight out who gets control while we pay them taxes. Who will win: murderers, as in Russia after 1917, or the money people. The idealists, of course, will be brushed aside. Morons.
In the end, if the majority of voters do not understand what is going on, we are done. We will have democracy: mob rule. This is a tool of the few; it is not some fantasy good government. Years ago, I wrote of the Grachii brothers in ancient Rome, if you can't find it here, look them up. The mob follows its leaders, until it kills them.
Mobs under the control of a few is what Wisconsin is about. Scream, yell, and threaten legislators. Accuse them of crimes while sitting in a motel in Illinois. This is Russia in 1916, Europe after the World War II, Mexico, Venezuela.... What they want is access to union member's money. They want the government to confiscate money, give it to them to use to destroy the government. This is mob rule. It is distasteful and hateful - except it has learned how to hide.
What I am describing is the cycle of world history. It is described in ancient Greece. I had hoped that our republic of educated citizens had risen above the cycle, but behind the scenes we are being made stupid and dependent on government. We are greedy and self-absorbed - weaknesses the pusher uses. If we lose our heritage, then we lose out exceptionalism. We are just another episode that historians, paid by the state, will make disappear. See:
1984.
Either you feel this is crazy stuff or you are blind. I won't forget that in the land of the blind, the one-eyed man, contrary to what you may think, is put in prison.
FINAL THOUGHT: If you are thinking I am against a more efficient bulb, you are missing the entire point. Please reread. As for efficiency, the future is in LCD bulbs, not toxic CFLs.
Labels: CFL, economic fascism, Interstate Commerce
