Think Progress reports on the latest episode of dysfunctionality of the modern Republican Party:
By a voice vote on Friday, the House passed a “light bulb ban” amendment to the 2012 Energy and Water Appropriations Act (HR 2354). The amendment, offered by climate denier Rep. Michael Burgess (R-TX), prohibits spending to enforce the incandescent lighting efficiency standards in the 2007 energy law signed by President George W. Bush. These standards have already spurred the lighting industry to create innovative new incandescent bulbs that are dramatically more efficient than the century-old design the Tea Party is bent on defending. This amendment will hurt jobs, hurt manufacturing, and hurt the environment — helping instead coal-powered electricity producers who depend on wasteful use of energy. The standards were originally proposed by Rep. Fred Upton (R-MI), who turned his back on better light bulbs in order to curry Tea Party favor and get the chairmanship of the powerful House Energy and Commerce Committee. This is but the latest example of House Republican leaders promoting a right-wing, dirty energy agenda that harms families and businesses rather than investing in innovation, new products, and jobs — even if they came up with the idea in the first place.
There's no mystery here. "Evil" is pretty much the word that describes Republicans these days. If there's something good going to happen, they're against it. They don't have to think about it a bit. The Dems are only a very slight bit better. I didn't used to believe in an invisible evil spirit that influences people, but so many people are acting in ways that are so contrary to their own good and the public good, I think that can be the only explanation. It's turning me religious.
Republican/TEA Party lightbulb joke.
Q: How many Republican/TEA Party legislators does it take to change a CFL?
A: None, They'er more afraid of the lightbulb than they are of the dark.
A: None, they prefer to be unenlightened.
A: None, their imaiginary haloes will light their way.
A: None, they are the ones that removed the lightbulb allocation from the budget in the first place.
A: None, They already fired the congressional janitor so their campaign contributers won't have to pay taxes.
Only one, after they hire an exorcist who first makes the CFL safe to handle.
My fingers have been dripping acid lately – I've been watching the state of political posturing and misinformation, can you blame me?
When I heard that Burgess was doing this, (clearly he did not understand the original law – nor did the plethora of fools that circulated the emails claiming that incandescents were being banned), I started drafting a post, but that acid made it too caustic for even my disgust. So I refrained. Thanks for putting this up.
I saw a poster recently that read "You can't fix stupid – but you can vote it out." I guessed from the context that the holder of the sign did not think as I…but in this case, our aims align.
(Yes, I mixed "acid" and "caustic" in the same sentence…literary use versus science will have the chemistry nuts wondering what the outcome would be – neutral?)
There's at least some degree of evil in all of us. Some try to hide it, others just don't care anymore.
http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2011/07/17/18685…