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EDITORIAL: Light-bulb rights showdown--States defy federal claim to meddle in fixture choice
The Washington Times ^ | April 1, 2011 | Editorial

Posted on 04/01/2011 4:53:52 PM PDT by jazusamo

State lawmakers are fed up with the federal government micromanaging their lives. The South Carolina Senate is scheduled to strike back Tuesday with a bill that asserts the 10th Amendment right of the state to tell Washington to take a hike when it comes to the sale of incandescent light bulbs manufactured within state borders.

Ever since then-President George W. Bush signed into law the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007, the clock has been ticking on Thomas Edison’s venerable incandescent. Unless Congress acts before Jan. 1, 2012, federal bureaucrats will begin their campaign to foist the mostly Chinese-made, compact fluorescent bulbs on a public that has shown no interest in buying them on the free market.

Palmetto State lawmakers aren’t interested in waiting for the feds to see the light. The “South Carolina Incandescent Light Bulb Freedom Act” declares any fixture that bears the stamp “Made in South Carolina” is a product of intrastate commerce and thus “is not subject to federal law or federal regulation.” State Rep. William E. Sandifer III, chairman of the South Carolina House Labor, Commerce and Industry Committee, told The Washington Times that the measure he co-sponsored has a very good chance of becoming law. “I believe that it is improper for the federal government to tell us as citizens what light bulbs we can use to light our own private homes or businesses,” he explained. “I think the feds have overstepped our 10th Amendment constitutional rights as they’ve so often done under the Commerce Clause.”

(Excerpt) Read more at washingtontimes.com ...


TOPICS: Constitution/Conservatism; Culture/Society; Editorial; Front Page News; US: South Carolina
KEYWORDS: 10thamendment; cfl; incandescentbulbs; statesrights
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To: jazusamo

This seems to me like a meaningless reaction. The law seems to refer to fixtures using bulbs rather than the actual bulbs. It would seem that the intra state regulation of bulbs produced within the state should be at issue.

Since there is no facility in South Carolina making the incandescent bulbs, the effort is foolish and irrelevant.

To be meaningful, the law should state that bulbs partially manufactured any where receive the made in South carolina seal by being partially manufactured in the state. On import, stickers affixed to the bulbs complete the manufacture process and thus make them acceptable under the law of the state.


61 posted on 04/02/2011 5:39:41 AM PDT by bert (K.E. N.P. N.C. D.E. +12 ....( History is a process, not an event ))
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To: jazusamo

Didn’t the UN and Harry Reid just declare that unless incandescent bulbs are banned, 70,000 children a year will die? Oh, the humanity?


62 posted on 04/02/2011 6:37:15 AM PDT by pabianice
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To: NCjim; John Robinson

I agree. Thanks.

IMHO, FR also needs an Edit button on posts so the author can fix errors. That button would remain active for 15 minutes after the post. Part of the edit could be a Delete button in case you changed your mind.


63 posted on 04/02/2011 7:48:12 AM PDT by upchuck (When excerpting please use the entire 300 words we are allowed. No more one or two sentence posts!)
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To: Flag_This
I would have to go back to 1908, but William Jennings Bryan was no prize either.

Y'know, it is amazing; the quality of the human being that the Democrats usually nominate:

Barack Obama -- totally incompetent, insufferably arrogant, a Marxist.

John Kerry -- totally incompetent, insufferably arrogant, a traitor.

Bill Clinton -- just incredibly corrupt.

Michael Dukakis -- utter wimp

Walter Mondale -- contempuous of middle-class America (a common failing of Democrats, in general).

Jimmeh Cahtuh -- proven incompetent and a very little man, in the most pejorative sense. An anti-Semite to boot...

George McGovern -- a nice man, perhaps, but without the foggiest idea how the world works.

Hubert Humphrey -- I'm willing to give ol' Hubert the benefit of the doubt. He might've made an OK president. At least, he didn't display the rampant character flaws of his successors.

Over the years, the liberals have built a political base which is incapable of recognizing (or caring about) the quality of a man's character.

And, I would contend, character is the most important qualification for high office.

Not that the GOP hasn't had its share of character-failures. But is there any doubt that Richard M. Nixon loved his country and wanted the best for it? And, while George W. Bush had his shortcomings, was there any doubt that he was, at heart, a good man who loved his country?

You can't say the same for any Democrat Presidential candidate in the last forty years.

64 posted on 04/02/2011 9:30:30 AM PDT by okie01 (THE MAINSTREAM MEDIA: Ignorance On Parade)
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To: jazusamo

It ain’t Fort Sumter, but it’s a step in the right direction! Time to reassert the Tenth Amendment and put the Federal Government back in its rightful place SUBORDINATE to the States and the People!


65 posted on 04/02/2011 9:38:22 AM PDT by patriot preacher
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To: okie01
"Y'know, it is amazing; the quality of the human being that the Democrats usually nominate:"

I think their primary concern is the candidate's adherence to liberal-leftist ideology. They've become more and more radicalized over the years.

66 posted on 04/02/2011 10:13:53 AM PDT by Flag_This (Real presidents don't bow.)
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To: jazusamo

My sister is sensitive to flourescent light. If she spends as little as 20 min. in a room with then she gets a headache and joint pain. It is suspected that they have also made her sensitive to sunlight. She has since gotten better now that she has stayed away from them, but last summer she couldn’t go outside for more than a couple of minutes without burning.


Health Hazards of Fluorescent Lighting

Known effects and their likely causes

The following is a list of symptoms and diseases known to be linked to exposure to fluorescent lighting:

Headache, eyestrain, eye irritation, fatigue, difficulty in concentration, increased rate of ‘misjudgments’ and accidents, malaise and irritability can be caused by noise, glare and flicker from fluorescent lighting.

Increased stress (which may in turn lead to heart disease) can arise from increasing the intensity of artificial light with fluorescent tubes. It has been shown that increased use of artificial light (rather than natural light) affects the levels of hormones in the body, particularly the hormones associated with stress, such as cortisol.

Variation in brightness, as provided by daylight, is necessary for the normal functioning of the body’s rhythms. The monotonous illumination of fluorescent lighting may also add to the changes in hormone production.

Allergic skin reactions and dermatitis can be caused by exposure to fluorescent lights. An unknown number of people suffer from ‘cutaneous light sensitivity’ due to fluorescent lights. This means that not only can they become allergic to fluorescent lighting but they can become more sensitive to ordinary sunlight.

Certain long-term, mild skin diseases can become worse if the sufferer is exposed to fluorescent light. Some medical drugs (including some tranquilizers, antibiotics, heart drugs and diuretics) can make you particularly sensitive to UV radiation (photosensitivity). Skin eruptions then occur even with the small doses of UV (in the 300-320nm wavelength range) emitted by white fluorescent lights.

Hyperactivity has been linked to the flickering produced by fluorescent lighting. Microwave emissions from fluorescent lighting are also suspected of contributing to these behavioral disorders. Other mild behavioral disorders in children may be made worse by working at school under fluorescent lighting.


67 posted on 04/02/2011 10:25:52 AM PDT by READINABLUESTATE (“It is seldom that liberty of any kind is lost all at once.” - David Hume)
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To: Yardstick

“Uhhhhhh. Yes.”

Good answer. :-)


68 posted on 04/02/2011 10:49:29 AM PDT by jazusamo (His [Obama's] political base---the young, the left and the thoughtless: Thomas Sowell)
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To: bert

There is a small company that makes them according to the article.


69 posted on 04/02/2011 10:51:48 AM PDT by jazusamo (His [Obama's] political base---the young, the left and the thoughtless: Thomas Sowell)
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To: pabianice

LOL! I saw something about tha Rats saying 70,000 chillun would die and laughed but didn’t read from what. Oh, the humanity is right. :-)


70 posted on 04/02/2011 10:54:35 AM PDT by jazusamo (His [Obama's] political base---the young, the left and the thoughtless: Thomas Sowell)
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To: jazusamo

“I don’t want the government telling me what bulb, toilet, soap, washing machine, etc. to use. ...I should be able to make my own choices.”

Add to that the fact that we’re forced to “buy” cable TV channels that we’d neverr watch in a million years. Not sure if that’s a state or fed decree... a public utility commission? Whatever it is, if a TV station can’t survive without being crammed down people’s throats, it doesn’t deserve to exist at all.


71 posted on 04/02/2011 11:17:47 AM PDT by MayflowerMadam
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To: rlmorel

Just shut up, use CFLs and inflate your tires so we don’t have an energy crisis.


72 posted on 04/02/2011 12:14:46 PM PDT by GregoryFul (Obama - Jim Jones redux)
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To: upchuck

If the South Carolina bill passes, it could boost hiring at American Light Bulb Manufacturing Inc., which has a factory in Mullins, in an impoverished, rural part of the state, president Ray Schlosser said from the company’s headquarters in Schaumburg, Ill. The plant is in Marion County, the state’s capital for unemployment, with one-fifth of the work force jobless.

http://fuelfix.com/blog/2011/03/29/south-carolina-lawmakers-take-dim-view-of-new-light-bulbs/


73 posted on 04/02/2011 1:05:22 PM PDT by snippy_about_it (Looking for our Sam Adams)
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To: boop
He's a compassionate conservative. Translated, that means an ass kisser to rabid liberals.
74 posted on 04/02/2011 1:08:32 PM PDT by Gaffer
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To: GregoryFul

LOL...I’m on it!


75 posted on 04/02/2011 1:09:44 PM PDT by rlmorel (Capitalism is the Goose that lays The Golden Egg.)
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To: EGPWS

“What is there in an individuals life each day that one could point out that government doesn’t have some sort of control over?”

No sh!t.

(if you drive a car, car;) - I’ll tax the street;
(if you try to sit, sit;) - I’ll tax your seat;
(if you get too cold, cold;) - I’ll tax the heat;
(if you take a walk, walk;) - I’ll tax your feet.

...And you’re working for no one but me!

Hard to believe ‘The Beatles’ GOT IT, but I don’t know which of them wrote those lyrics...


76 posted on 04/02/2011 5:16:54 PM PDT by Diana in Wisconsin (I don't have 'Hobbies.' I'm developing a robust post-Apocalyptic skill set...)
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To: Diana in Wisconsin
but I don’t know which of them wrote those lyrics...

George Harrison.

77 posted on 04/02/2011 5:26:55 PM PDT by EGPWS (Trust in God, question everyone else)
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To: EGPWS

Thank you. Makes sense. :)


78 posted on 04/02/2011 5:28:10 PM PDT by Diana in Wisconsin (I don't have 'Hobbies.' I'm developing a robust post-Apocalyptic skill set...)
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To: pabianice

“Didn’t the UN and Harry Reid just declare that unless incandescent bulbs are banned, 70,000 children a year will die? Oh, the humanity?”

We need incandescent lights so the Cowboy Poets can read their poems.


79 posted on 04/03/2011 11:06:38 AM PDT by headstamp 2 (We live two lives, the life we learn and the life we live with after that.)
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To: The Antiyuppie

When the federal ‘food police’ bill passed last year and was signed into law, it included thousands of new federal ‘police’ to prevent ‘smuggling’.

No doubt, the feds will have light bulb police too, to prevent smuggling. And there wont just be fines or a ‘tax’. It will be jail time.

(so have a few illegal aliens in your car too, to avoid your car from being searched)


80 posted on 04/03/2011 12:45:42 PM PDT by Future Useless Eater (Chicago politics = corrupted capitalism = takeover by COMMUNity-ISM)
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