Lights Out

Did you know that Congress has already banned incandescent light bulbs in the future?  Neither do most Americans.  The law was passed in 2007; the phase-out begins with the 100-watt bulb in 2012.  (You can also read more about it at a Web site created for the movement to repeal the ban.)

Practically speaking, like most overweening big-government schemes, this will have unintended consequences.  In this case, we already know what some of them will be: 

1 — Scientists find that the main alternative, compact fluorescent light bulbs (CFLs), should be used sparingly and not left on for very long, because they are poisonous and may give you cancer: 

Starting to Paddle Back from the Cliff

Republican House speaker John Boehner and Democrat Senate majority leader Harry Reid appear to have reached a final deal on this year’s budget.

If you’re just joining us, the Democrats didn’t pass a budget last year for this fiscal year (October 2010 to September 2011), possibly because they could already see the rising tide of public sentiment against government spending and thought passing any kind of Democrat budget would only hurt them even further in last November’s elections. 

Tightening the Belt?

(Tightening the screws?)

I’ve talked before (here and here) about the possibility of a constitutional amendment to address the structural problems with our democracy that make it tend toward a more and more bloated government.  Apparently Senator Orrin Hatch has proposed a balanced-budget amendment several times before, but this time, as I’ve suggested, the current political climate could actually make it happen.  In fact, this writer says that new Senator Rand Paul will also be proposing a balanced-budget amendment of his own.  Better too many than too few!

In other news, I’m encouraged to hear that new Tea Party-type congressmen and the American people may actually be serious about dealing with the problem of government spending.

Update (February 10th, 2011): National Review Online reports (with links to further details) that the conservatives have won this internal debate among House Republicans:  “GOP Will Fulfill ‘Pledge,’ Cut $100 Billion”.  It’s only one battle, but as far as it goes, I think this is great news!