Government Needs To Back Off Our Toilets & Light Bulbs

Last week Sen. Rand Paul went on a tirade during a committee meeting against anti-choice rulings from the Department of Energy concerning toilets, refrigerators and light bulbs. Around 19 years ago the Clinton administration decided that new toilets had to be low flow toilets, thus restricting consumer choice. Prior to the Clinton administration’s edict, most toilets used 3 gallons of water, the low flow toilets use 1.6 gallons. Unfortunately they don’t really work very well.

The problem here is that government has no business telling consumers what kind of toilet they have to buy. Essentially what the Dept. of Energy did during the Clinton administration was decide that they know what’s best for us and by the power of law they now force us to buy certain kinds of toilets. It is insulting to the intelligence of the average American to have the government telling us they know what’s best for us. I know what’s best for my family and the government has no place stepping in and telling me otherwise.

Some people want low flow toilets, they may have any number of reasons why they might prefer such a contraption. That’s their choice, they should be allowed to make it in a free market. Others might prefer a traditional toilet, again in a free market place this is a choice they ought to be able to make. Unfortunately the government has restricted the choice of toilets to one kind, the low flow toilet. Those of us who don’t want it are out of luck. There is something fundamentally wrong about have the state step in and restrict freedom of choice when it comes to basic consumer goods like toilets.

The government has done the same thing concerning light bulbs. This time it is the Bush administration which has banned the incandescent light bulb in favor of the fluorescent bulb with the squiggly shape. There are any number of problems with the fluorescent light bulbs, not the least of which is that they’re annoying because they take time to warm up and flicker.

These bulbs are the only ones available in Europe and for those living in Britain the trashman won’t pick them up because they’re toxic. The fluorescent bulbs have mercury and other toxins in them, thus if they break you can’t just use your vacuum on them. The area around a broken bulb needs to have a specialty cleaning service properly clean the mess because it’s dangerous otherwise. These bulbs also aren’t made in the United States, unlike regular light bulbs which overwhelmingly are made here in the US. Thanks to the Bush administration and the do gooders in the Dept. of Energy jobs are being shipped overseas to appease environmentalists.

This issue all comes down to choice. Should Americans be free to choose what kind of consumer products they want to buy or should government decide for us. The founders believed in freedom from such government intrusion. Those of us who still love freedom believe that each of us individually can think for ourselves and determine what products we would like to buy with out government making decisions for us. We don’t need our nanny at the Dept. of Energy imposing their bizarre morality on us via regulations.