Sarah sez

One in a series that takes a look at some of the zany and madcap things said by the ex-governor of Alaska.



In response to a House bill that would overturn an effective ban on older incandescent light bulbs, Palin said the following:

"We are taking away a choice that continues to let people waste their own money,"

So typical of a conservative Republican, isn't it? Whether it's killing the unborn or having the ability to choose what type of light bulb you want to use, they're always so into bossing people around and denying them choices.



Wait. That wasn't Sarah Palin but rather Department of Energy Secretary, Steven Chu?


What he said was rather odd because we can't recall anywhere in the Constitution where it grants the federal government the power to dictate how it is people choose to spend their money.

As for Chu saying this, it really shouldn't come as too much of a surprise as this is the same gent who said he's cool with high gas prices.


But we do thank Chu for his refreshing honesty as he essentially reveals the statist mindset: You are not to be trusted with personal economic choices. Since you cannot be trusted to make the correct choice, we will do it for you.

And what is becoming a trend for this administration is that being drunk with power has this wonderful ability to shed inhibitions and with it, any premise of even attempting veiled meaning or code-speak so we instead get the unvarnished truth.

Not a real bright idea

“Government did us in,” says Dwayne Madigan, whose job will terminate when General Electric closes its factory next July.

Madigan makes a product that will soon be illegal to sell in the U.S. - a regular incandescent bulb. Two years ago, his employer, GE, lobbied in favor of the law that will outlaw the bulbs.

Madigan’s colleagues, waiting for their evening shift to begin, all know that GE is replacing the incandescents for now with compact fluorescents bulbs, which GE manufactures in China.

That would be mercury-containing fluorescents for those of you scoring at home. Publicly, G.E. states the reason they are shutting down the Winchester Bulb Plant (200 jobs lost) which is 80 miles west of D.C. is that their hand was forced by environmental regulations that phase-out the use of incandescent bulbs in favor of the fluorescents.

However, the dirty little secret is that G.E. lobbied for these regulatory changes contained within the 2007 Energy bill. The opportunity to mandate that consumers buy the more expensive fluorescents with the additional benefit of having them manufactured on the cheap in China was one that G.E. was not going to pass up.

So to recap: More expensive bulbs? Check. Bulbs that cost American jobs? Check. Bulbs that contain an element, Mercury, that is on every banned-list that we are aware of, including the construction program we are currently working on? Check. Bulbs that allow G.E. some back-slapping smuggery that they are doin’ it, doin’ it, doin’t, yea, for the environment? Double-check.

And don’t be at all surprised if at this very moment, G.E. is working on a patent for curbside pick-up of those mercury-containing light bulbs to be disposed of in a proper fashion. For a small fee, of course.