When Government Gets Just Too Intrusive

Yesterday Politico reported on some comments made by Senator Ron Paul during an applicance efficiency hearing at the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee.  Senator Paul was addressing Kathleen Hogan, the DOE deputy assistant secretary.   The Senator asked Ms. Hogan if she was pro-choice.  She answered that she was pro-choice on light bulbs.  At that point, Senator Paul pointed out that she was not pro-choice on light bulbs.  The law requiring all light bulbs sold to be compact fluorescent lights (CFL) goes into effect on January 1st. 

A website called Benzinga.com lists a few of the problems with CFL’s:

“When a CFL light bulb is broken it releases high levels of mercury into the air.

“The quality of light produced by CFL bulbs is poorer.

“CFL bulbs are dimmer.

“CFL bulbs tend to flicker and this causes some people to become dizzy or ill.

“CFL have been associated with migraine headaches and sleep abnornalities.

“CFL bulbs are so toxic that they require special disposal.

“The mercury in CFL bulbs is particularly harmful to fetuses and children.

“The amount of mercury in a CFL bulb is enough to make 1,000 gallons of water unsafe for human consumption.”

Why in the world is the government forcing us to buy something that is known to be harmful to us?  Why does the government care what kind of light bulbs we use?

We need to get the government out of our light bulb choices!