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(My sincere condolences to Ed, whose stepfather died last night. RIP good sir. While Ed takes care of funeral arrangements, I’ll be kicking in a few more posts today.)
So things are looking pretty grim. In Europe, Greece is circling the drain faster and faster; it could be broke by July. Martin Wolf titles his latest column “Panic has become all too rational.” The ECB, which could still cut interest rates (!!!), decided they won’t right now. As Atrios says, this wouldn’t solve anything, but it certainly would help a little, and the fact that they won’t do even the first, most obvious thing is staggering. Back on our side of the Atlantic, May’s jobs numbers were atrocious, and there are indications that the European crisis is starting to drag on our economy.
So what are our noble elected representatives in the House doing? Why, voting against efficient lightbulb standards, of course!
In a voice vote, the House approved an amendment to the Energy and Water spending bill for 2013 that would prevent the Department of Energy from spending money to enforce a 2007 law that sets bulb efficiency standards. The law bans the sale of 100 watt incandescent bulbs and will ban the sale of 75 watt traditional bulbs in July 2013.
This graf is grossly misleading, as Kevin Drum could tell you: “Nope. Traditional bulbs will continue to be available. They’ll just be more efficient.”
But that fact that House conservatives have settled on this as the new incarnation of big-government socialism, a bill passed with huge majorities and signed by George W. Bush, doesn’t bode well for the republic.
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Kathy on June 06, 2012 10:03 AM:
Sincere condolences to Ed and his family. Welcome Ryan and thanks for holding down the fort. I look forward to Ed's return but it is great to hear your voice as well.
boatboy_srq on June 06, 2012 10:04 AM:
New plaque for Reichwing kitchens, alongside "Gawd Bless This House" - "My 'traditional' light bulbs offset my neighbors' CFLs."
You would think that people would resent paying power companies ever more to light/heat/cool their homes. Apparently giving your whole paycheck to the utilities has become some sort of patriotic thing to do.
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Has anyone else read the comments over at The Hill? The vitriol against doing anything remotely energy-efficient is remarkable. These are the people who campaigned against electricity because converting to electric lighting would put all those poor whalers out of business, or the ones who bought big cars in '73-4 just so they could complain louder about how much it cost to fill their tank (what? people didn't do that back then? Oh.)
T2 on June 06, 2012 10:09 AM:
yeah boatboy...you'd think the country is being run by Rush Limbaugh.
Old Hippie on June 06, 2012 10:28 AM:
Let me echo how patriotic it is to needlessly increase the BIG gob'ments use of energy, costing the country more during a time of massive debt, a debt that the Rebaggers say it cataclysmic and must be halted immediately. Isn't spending MORE of our tax dollars on wasted energy another example of BIG, wasteful government in action? The fact that these imbeciles who we euphemistically call House Republicans don't see the irony of their behavior is classic. The fact that they don't care that we see their rank hypocrisy is smug and arrogant. ("I hate BIG government!! [except when I want it."]) - Joe Republican
Ron Byers on June 06, 2012 10:58 AM:
I went to a ballgame last evening and found myself sitting next to a retired politician who is very disappointed in our current elected representatives because they all seem to put their own careers ahead of the interests of the nation. In the old days politicians of both parties took governing seriously. Now Republicans have no interest in governing at all and Democrats have no interest in the real party building needed to find the next generation of leaders. He complained that everybody in politics seems more interested in becoming the next Bill O'Reilly or Rachel Maddow or maybe the next big partner at some beltway lobbying firm than in actually doing the hard work needed to reach the compromises that are in the best interests of the country. Leadership is hard and sometimes thankless work, but leaders lead.
What is the Democratic party doing to promote youthful leadership at the grassroots level?
The Royals beat the Twins 1-0. Great pitching or lousy batting. I couldn't tell from where I sat.
SecularAnimist on June 06, 2012 11:22 AM:
Ryan Cooper wrote: "House conservatives have settled on this as the new incarnation of big-government socialism"
Wrong. House stooges for the Koch Brothers have settled on this as the latest threat to the Koch Brothers' profits.
There is nothing remotely "conservative" about any of them. They are bought-and-paid-for stooges for the fossil fuel corporations, period, end of story.
Their so-called "conservatism" is a line of BS to bamboozle the rubes.
It doesn't help to legitimize their BS by going along with their pretense that they represent some sort of ideology or political philosophy, when in fact they represent nothing but the narrow profit motives of a few billionaires in one particular industry.
HelpThe99ers on June 06, 2012 11:47 AM:
Ed, please let me add my sincere condolences on your stepfather's passing.
Celebrate his life and treasure the good memories he's left you with.
We'll be here when you get back.
Kathryn on June 06, 2012 12:06 PM:
Condolences Ed to you, especially to your Mother and all family members.
skippy on June 06, 2012 12:28 PM:
ryan, please pass my sincere condolences onto ed for me.
Sgt. Gym Bunny on June 06, 2012 12:37 PM:
Yesterday evening, we had "subsidary energy provider" of the local power company (BGE) canvassing the neighborhood, attempting to enroll residents in a one-year discount plan. The power company raised rates, so this new baby-plan was supposed to guarantee a lower rate for at least a year, or so they said. (This is a really garbled description: I just got off the commuter train, and the representative's Nicki Minaj-esque false eyelashes and bright pink lipstick were destracting...). This is hardly tangential to the topic at hand, but I thought I'd mention it.
But, personally, I'm pretty anti-brightlightbulb. Haven't purchased a bulb over 40 watts in a few years, and just this past weekend I read War and Peace by tealight--it lent a nice ambiance for the reading of a historical novel, while reducing my little carbon footprint.
Patango on June 06, 2012 1:40 PM:
Certainly gop voters are up in arms about their reps not working on jods jobs jobs!!!!!!
You would be wrong
US Congressional Generic Ballot.... GOP 44% DEM42%
http://polltracker.talkingpointsmemo.com/contests/us-congressional-generic-ballot