A big victory for the Tea Party!<\/p>\n
Not.<\/p>\n
Republican Fred Upton of western Michigan is the head of the Energy and Commerce Committee in the House.\u00a0\u00a0 The “ban” on incandescent light bulbs was his idea in 2007 when George Bush was President and the Democrats controlled the House following the disastrous 2006 election.<\/p>\n
The way things work in the House is a bill needs a Rule in order to be discussed and voted on.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 First, the committee that has jurisdiction over an area (like Energy)\u00a0must vote and report a bill out of committee.\u00a0\u00a0 The bill then goes to the Rules Committee, which works with Speaker Boehner to decide if and when to put that bill on the House Calender for debate and a vote.<\/p>\n
Fred Upton is head of the Energy Committee on Energy & Commerce.\u00a0\u00a0 He wasn’t about to pass a bill out of his committee to kill the bill that he created in 2007.<\/p>\n
To force a bill to the whole\u00a0House against the wishes of the Committee chairman, the House has to have\u00a0a vote for “suspension of the\u00a0rules” to bypass the committee.\u00a0\u00a0 Suspension of the rules requires a 2\/3 vote to pass, which prevents the technique from being used for controversial bills unless there is broad agreement of both parties.<\/p>\n
So the House voted today in a symbolic vote <\/span>to repeal the light bulb ban.\u00a0 Even Fred\u00a0Upton\u00a0voted to kill his own ban, knowing it had no chance of passing<\/span> the\u00a02\/3 vote.\u00a0 So now all the Tea Party people can claim victory, having passed nothing.\u00a0\u00a0 Had the bill accidentally passed the House, it\u00a0still would have to be passed\u00a0in the Senate and signed by President Obama – both very unlikely.<\/p>\n Fred Upton is the grandson of the man who founded Whirlpool, which is located in the dreadful\u00a0cesspool of Saint Joseph \/ Benton Harbor, Michigan\u00a0\u00a0 (I lived close to there for about 5 years).\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Whirlpool and Philips (one of the main makers of CFLs) have a joint history.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Back in 1991, Whirlpool acquired the major appliance division of Philips.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" A big victory for the Tea Party! Not. Republican Fred Upton of western Michigan is the head of the Energy and Commerce Committee in the House.\u00a0\u00a0 The “ban” on incandescent light bulbs was his idea in 2007 when George Bush … Continue reading