Republicans in the US House are showing us their priorities. On Tuesday, they passed an energy spending bill that is riddled with amendments that are bad for our country. Compared to what Obama requested, they removed funding for clean-energy and efficiency programs, and added additional money for fossil-fuel and nuclear programs.
But the most ironic amendment was one that strips the government of the ability to enforce the light bulb efficiency standards that already went into effect this year. Even though the efficiency law was passed in 2007 — under George Bush — that hasn’t stopped the GOP from using it to attack Obama.
Assuming this amendment survives, it won’t actually do what its promoters claim. The light bulb efficiency law would still be on the books, and US manufacturers have already changed their products to comply with the law, so they will keep making more efficient light bulbs that generate the same amount of light with less electricity. Instead, it will open the doors to unscrupulous foreign manufacturers to dump cheap, inferior light bulbs on the American market (with no way for the government to enforce the law).
So, in one stroke, the GOP shows that it wants to increase our energy dependence, hurt US manufacturers and put US jobs at risk, damage the economy, and increase pollution. Could it be any clearer?
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I have wondered whether the GOP is smart enough to have done this deliberately — but then I wondered in 2008 if they had “allowed” a democratic win so somebody else had to clean up their mess — currently I find myself wondering if they would have enough control to keep the country’s fiscal house of cards afloat if they did return to 100% power.
But then, I wonder if Lenin was smarter than he looked when he developed the idea of forcing failure to facilitate revolution. H-m-m-m — I guess I’d better stop wondering in the middle of the night! 🙂
Please note: the preceeding was an ironic case of wondering!
We’re all about irony!