I learned about the “Light Bulb Freedom of Choice Act” from townhall.com writer Johnnie B Byrd. I like it, and I like the new compact fluorescent bulbs. We’ve started using them a lot at home because of the economics. But it seems that Congress is scared to death that people will find out that markets can work, so found it necessary to make them mandatory.
Until now I had not ever heard of Michele Bachman, U.S. Representative from Minnesota’s 6th district, who proposed this measure. From reading the wikipedia article about her I see a few things that make me nervous, but anyone who can propose a law like this can’t be all bad.
And to think I used to live in St. Cloud, Minnesota, which is part of her district. When I was living there back in the 70s we had a leftwing Democrat as our congressman. I don’t remember his name, but I remember being told that he had shown up at a manufacturing plant where I was working, to stick his nose in some labor business, and was told by the plant manager to get the hell off of the property. I like living in a country where plant managers can tell members of Congress to do that without having to live in fear of retribution. In this particular case, I actually sympathized somewhat with the unionized workers, but I heartily approved of the plant manager’s action.