Everything’s bigger — and now also brighter — in Texas
posted at 8:05 pm on June 20, 2011 by Tina Korbe
Texas Gov. Rick Perry today signed a law that will free Texans from the federal government’s impending incandescent light bulb ban:
The measure, sent to Gov. Rick Perry for consideration [he subsequently signed it], lets any incandescent light bulb manufactured in Texas – and sold in that state – avoid the authority of the federal government or the repeal of the 2007 energy independence act that starts phasing out some incandescent light bulbs next year.
Texas wasn’t the first state to explore this kind of legislation: South Carolina has advanced a similar bill and, last year, the Arizona legislature passed a bill to the same effect — but Gov. Jan Brewer vetoed it.
Few issues illuminate the consumer will to choose — and the disparate faith in consumers of liberals and conservatives, as revealed by proposed policies — as clearly as the federal government’s light bulb ban. As Heritage Foundation energy analyst Nick Loris puts it, “Consumers can make intelligent decisions on their own without the government forcing choices upon them.”
Not surprisingly, environmentalist groups — chief among them the New-York based Natural Resources Defense Council — wanted Perry to veto the bill. But the governor’s slick signature on this is yet one more reason to like the man many want to run for president.
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yeah, light bulbs. light bulbs. light bulbs. Nope, light bulb freedom will not save America.
I see your point, and it’s not a bad point. Just not, you know, a big deal.
rightwingyahooo on June 20, 2011 at 11:27 PM
What king of comment is that? Touching one’s sexual junk does not screen out the real perpetrators, and it is a gross violation of every decency and peaceful common sense law in our Republic. The reason we prosecute perverts that touch other people’s sexual organs is because it is just plain wrong and it is against the dignity and peace of the State, and no amount of making excuses for this gross violation by TSA is ever going to circumvent common sense law.
If you’re an idiot or a Big Government shill or you are just plain stupid or ignorant then you should see this: An expose of a Documentary:
Please Remove Your Shoes: Examining Security at America’s Airports
http://www.pleaseremoveyourshoesmovie.com/
Mcguyver on June 20, 2011 at 11:47 PM
rightwingyahooo on June 20, 2011 at 11:27 PM
This thread never claimed that the lightbulb issue would “save America”, so what is your point in this thread? This is a good thing Perry’s done and all you could add was “He’s a RINO!!11!!” which really had nothing to do with the topic at hand.
-Aslan’s Girl
Aslans Girl on June 21, 2011 at 12:04 AM
Hands off my lights
tx2654 on June 21, 2011 at 1:11 AM
There is only one thing keeping Texas afloat, and that’s energy production. Perry is a fool,and so are the rest of you who are willing to vote for this jackass.
wheelgun on June 21, 2011 at 8:07 AM
Bob did not drink Lone Star Beers. Bob was a strsight Tennessee whiskey drinker. He often didn’t bother with a glass. Where did you think all those adliv yahoos come from.
By the way, Bob and his brother Johnnie Lee spent most of the successful part of their lives in Tulsa where they had homes (along with most of their band members). Eldin Shandlin lived up the road from me when I was a boy. They kept their travel bus across the road from my grade school at Tillie Roache’s service station.
Old Country Boy on June 21, 2011 at 8:12 AM
Drudge is saying Perry has now put the anti groping bill back on the agenda in Texas! Woo Hoo!
JellyToast on June 21, 2011 at 9:05 AM
Rick Perry is not the Republican you’re looking for.
lm10001 on June 21, 2011 at 9:23 AM
Choose your poison – CO2 or Mercury…..duh
tomg51 on June 21, 2011 at 9:27 AM
This is a verbatim headline from “Politico”. Verbatim. Yet HotAir links to these morons continually. They are slimy snot-nosed liberal college gra-jee-ates (who can’t spell “aides”)
Marcus on June 21, 2011 at 9:31 AM
Concur. Spring, TX
tomg51 on June 21, 2011 at 9:39 AM
I see what you did there…
DrAllecon on June 21, 2011 at 9:40 AM
+1 ^5
Katfish on June 21, 2011 at 9:46 AM
Good win for Texas and Perry. He’s making asome very right moves. Even though I’ve never been big on Perry (I used to call him “Zoolander Perry”) I have to acknowledge his correct moves as well as his follies.
I can compare him to Palin though, and I still come out of that with a strong pull for Palin. But… should Sarah decide not to run, Perry is looking more and more like a decent and respectable compromise inside 44Magnums mind to vote for should he get the Nom.
/reiterate.. WANT Palin!!
44Magnum on June 21, 2011 at 9:47 AM
…are full of crap. Coldspring, TX
cartooner on June 21, 2011 at 9:48 AM
Pity them. They are stuck with Obama.
Roy Rogers on June 21, 2011 at 10:09 AM
Yes, & HotAir unfortunately also links the Wash. ComPost, the NY Slimes, HuffPoo, LATrines, & other disreputable sources. Most of the stories linked are available at better outlets. Why not use those?
itsnotaboutme on June 21, 2011 at 10:11 AM
I see a good many people who say that Perry is not a real conservative, yet I have yet to see any details as to why. Someone care to elaborate?
MississippiMom on June 21, 2011 at 10:22 AM
You just opened a can of worms. :) Be prepared for the Gardasil,amnesty, and Trans Texas Corridor arguments.
maables on June 21, 2011 at 10:24 AM
The crickets are deafening
Roy Rogers on June 21, 2011 at 10:25 AM
I’m assuming you mean the Trans Texas Corridor.
This is a good question and I’m waiting to hear what Perry has to say about it after he announces his run.
What I’ve gotten from my own research is… the Trans Texas Corridor was a ten-mile wide multi-use transportation/communication corridor going up the middle of Texas (three different routes were proposed) The highway portion is sorely needed. One only has to survive the almost constant bumper to bumper traffic on I-35 to know that’s a fact. We also need some fast mass transportation in Texas. So the need was/is there.
Folks didn’t like several things about it: 1. massive eminent domain usage, 2. a foreign company contracted to build the tollways, 3. the Texas Department of Transportation was completely botching communications about the project giving rise to even more questions being asked, and, of course, 4. the pricetag.
But we didn’t really know much about the project until TxDOT started holding regional meetings in order to determine the route. That’s when things really blew up and the Corridor project is now officially dead. That’s the corridor project. We are still building the highways and tollroads.
Perry killed the project when the public demanded that it be killed. There were some good things, and some bad things in the project… really need to get into the details before we could debate those. But my take away is this: Perry backed off the project when the people said they didn’t want it. He did the same thing when it came to signing the vaccine law… he acquiesced to the will of the people.
Now some folks might see backing off as a bad thing. I don’t. I like it when an elected official listens to the people he’s supposed to be serving. Wish TxDOT had done their public hearings earlier. But, like I said, I’m real interested in what Perry will be saying about this issue.
itsacookbook on June 21, 2011 at 10:31 AM
MississippiMom on June 21, 2011 at 10:22 AM
here is a fair and balanced opinion by a Texan
http://legalinsurrection.com/2011/06/a-case-for-rick-perry/
windansea on June 21, 2011 at 10:32 AM
nicely put
windansea on June 21, 2011 at 10:35 AM
Bingo
Roy Rogers on June 21, 2011 at 10:39 AM
Thanks for the link. Most reasoned discussion of Perry I have seen.
I like Perry, but I only know of him through his speeches. I would love to finally get excited/hopeful over a candidate. Maybe Perry could be my guy. That speech he gave at RLC this weekend sure made me sit on the edge of my couch. There were moments, especially when he said we should stop apologizing for what we believe, that I wanted to stand up and cheer. Name one current candidate who can inspire that!
Enthusiasm aside, I still need to know that Perry is the real deal, and someone who could beat Obama. I still fear that he would not be able to overcome the media caricature of the crazy secessionist.
MississippiMom on June 21, 2011 at 10:53 AM
Exactly! And while I don’t agree with Perry on everything I am happy to see that he does listen to us.
maables on June 21, 2011 at 10:58 AM
The TSA has become the “New Gestapo”: intrusive, unbridled, unreasoning, unresponsive, vindictive, and law-unto-itself. TSA needs to be disbanded and banished to the dustbin of history ASAP.
This kind of organization has no legitimate place in the USA. It needs to be disbanded, and security functions need to be relegated to the airlines and the states…both of which are much more responsive to citizens rights and actual safety (rather than TSA’s ‘safety theatre’).
landlines on June 21, 2011 at 11:16 AM
Great write up Tina. Looking forward to hearing more from this potential candidate. I also can’t wait for Illinois to start making our own incandescent light bulbs here so we too will be able to keep buying them. I assume Gov Quinn will start that up any day now.
kerrhome on June 21, 2011 at 11:24 AM
I’d pray for Ohio to follow Texas’ lead, but it’s too late for our light bulb industry. That’s already gone to China.
RebeccaH on June 21, 2011 at 11:27 AM
…are full of crap. Coldspring, TX
cartooner on June 21, 2011 at 9:48 AM
Ditto. Mexia, TX
gitarfan on June 21, 2011 at 11:28 AM
Rick Perry isn’t Jesus Reagan but he’s a damn sight better than you’ll get with Mitt Romney that’s for damn sure.
HondaV65 on June 21, 2011 at 11:31 AM
If you are right, then this will surely come out in the debates. Some of us like what we see in Rick Perry now, and HondaV65 is right that he is better looking that Romney. He’s definitely sounding better in his speeches than nearly any other Republican running (save Bachmann and one or two others). I want him out there yelling conservative principles from the roof tops.
kerrhome on June 21, 2011 at 11:37 AM
Fantasy Ticket:
Perry/Bachmann
West: sec def
Bolton: state
Palin: energy
Cain: (business?)
gh on June 21, 2011 at 11:38 AM
Reagan wasn’t Jesus Reagan either. Actually Perry and Reagan have many similarities, both former democrats and both Governors of large states with complex economies, socially conservative, etc
windansea on June 21, 2011 at 11:49 AM
I really don’t think there is currently much of a lightbulb industry in Texas either – that’s kind of the point of the legislation …
The bulbs have to be made and sold in Texas – to avoid the interstate commerce clause challenge that would happen in the courts if the bulbs were made out of state – or made in state and shipped out of state.
So the law opens an opportunity for a Texas lightbulb industry to start up – if it doesn’t already have one.
HondaV65 on June 21, 2011 at 11:49 AM
I like LTC West.
Deserves a Silver Star for saving the lives of his troops.
Roy Rogers on June 21, 2011 at 11:58 AM
In your EYE libtards!
tx2654 on June 21, 2011 at 12:01 PM
It probably wouldn’t be that difficult. You’d just have to locate the equipment from one of the plants that have shut down here in the states (assuming it hasn’t been scrapped). There’s a place for CFLs, and a place for incandescents.
Ward Cleaver on June 21, 2011 at 12:03 PM
Nope. Texas diversified its economy after oil crash in the 80s. Oil and gas not top. Try Financial Services, Manufacturing, Business Services, and more.
Texas Gross State Product by Industry
Scroll over to current year.
publiuspen on June 21, 2011 at 12:05 PM
Doesn’t look my first choice is going to choose to run. I’m sad about that – but gotta pick someone. Bachmann can’t win the South … Perry isn’t perfect – but he can carry the South and he’s a damn sight better than Mitt Romney.
So yeah – I mean, I’m known as a “purist” around here – but I’ll take a light dose of impurity (Perry) if it’s a cure for a terminal dose of impurity (Romney).
Romney has a big war chest – I don’t see how he can win the South – but maybe if the Conservative vote is split he can carry these states with 30 percent or less – which is a damn crime – but … reality I think.
It’s the STOP ROMNEY EXPRESS … powered by RICK PERRY.
HondaV65 on June 21, 2011 at 12:31 PM
wheelgun is just another nista loaded with snark but not many facts.
there are now too many Perry supporters and defenders on HA for nistas to employ their patented swarm and gangsnark techiniques, plus they keep getting pawned by the facts.
windansea on June 21, 2011 at 12:32 PM
welcome! I think the more sane Palinistas will realize the same thing shortly, if Palin is not running it will come down to Perry vs Romney, and Romney has a formidable fundraising and campaign machine, it will be a battle.
I like Perry’s chances vs Obama electorally, and also because it’s going to be about the economy, and Perry holds all the aces on that issue.
Obama: “uh, well, uh we inherited a Bush economy”
Perry: “me too”
windansea on June 21, 2011 at 12:46 PM
Love this!
kerrhome on June 21, 2011 at 1:11 PM
the libs (and probably competing campaigns)will attack Perry for his education cuts, as Krugman did recently.
here is a superb post by Iowahawk refuting that
http://iowahawk.typepad.com/iowahawk/2011/03/longhorns-17-badgers-1.html
windansea on June 21, 2011 at 1:32 PM
Perry is being groomed to be Bush III
I notice the references to Perry’s support for the the NAFTA Superhighway were cleansed from Wikipedia
However, WND has an excellent 2007 article on the subject entitled
“Texas governor clears way for NAFTA superhighway – Vetoes legislation to delay big transportation corridor”
entagor on June 21, 2011 at 1:46 PM
Nope, still there.
itsacookbook on June 21, 2011 at 2:16 PM
LOL…worldnutdaily and Jerome Corsi?
the only sources Corsi links to in that article are to Corsi
surely you can do better than this
entagor on June 21, 2011 at 1:46 PM
windansea on June 21, 2011 at 2:20 PM
Odd since everything I hear is that the Bush team is no fan of Perry at all.
kerrhome on June 21, 2011 at 2:23 PM
wheelgun on June 21, 2011 at 8:07 AM
lm10001 on June 21, 2011 at 9:23 AM
tomg51 on June 21, 2011 at 9:39 AM
Funny, I’ve never seen these names before, yet they come out fo the woodwork to attack Perry? Things that make you go, “hmmmm”.
-Aslan’s Girl
Aslans Girl on June 21, 2011 at 3:06 PM
ZING!! Love it!
-Aslan’s Girl
Aslans Girl on June 21, 2011 at 3:07 PM
HondaV65 on June 21, 2011 at 12:31 PM
How come you think Bachmann can’t carry the South? She’s an evangelical Christian with ties to two universities in the South: Oral Roberts and William & Mary Law School. She shares the South’s Christian Conservative values.
Also, what “light dose of impurity”, exactly, does Perry have? From what I’ve seen of him he’s *very* conservative.
-Aslan’s Girl
Aslans Girl on June 21, 2011 at 3:11 PM
Was Reagan (amnesty, machine gun ban) a real conservative?
fossten on June 21, 2011 at 3:35 PM
and entagor
Where did these people come from? Did we open enrollment?
itsacookbook on June 21, 2011 at 3:46 PM
You conveniently left out that the NAFTA Superhighway was intended to provide duty-free, restriction-free, access for Mexican trucks directly into a NAFTA hub in Oklahoma. If the highway is necessary to handle common Texas North-South traffic, fine. All the other reasons you cite can be considered acceptable (overuse of eminent domain notwithstanding), but ceding U.S. sovereignty on a swath of U.S. land is a show-stopper.
For those who disbelieve, take a gander at spp.gov, the U.S. Government report on the North American Security and Prosperity Partnership.
Freelancer on June 21, 2011 at 4:24 PM
Great write up Tina. Looking forward to hearing more from this potential candidate. I also can’t wait for Illinois to start making our own incandescent light bulbs here so we too will be able to keep buying them. I assume Gov Quinn will start that up any day now.
kerrhome on June 21, 2011 at 11:24 AM
OMG! Thanks for the laugh!
*A former resident of Chicago Heights*
annoyinglittletwerp on June 22, 2011 at 1:35 AM
Another site when Perry is mentioned has people coming out of the woodwork claiming to be a “Texan” using the same anti-Perry talking points over and over again. I wonder why that is.
Voter from WA State on June 22, 2011 at 11:19 AM
Awesome! Please, Sir, may I have another?
Perry is not my first choice, but I’m not convinced my first choice (Cain) will be able or willing to go the distance. If Perry is the nominee, I’ll vote for him a sight more willingly than I did for McCain. I’ve heard it said that Kay Bailey is Rick Perry in a dress. In the end, she turned out to be George Bush in a dress, and that is what defeated her. Rick Perry is in no way Bush III.
Once again, Conservatives are faced with not only the obstacle of defeating the Demoncrats and liberal elitists, but we also have to fight the GOP, who will support the weakest possible candidate for the weakest possible reasons. The media are pushing Huntsman and the GOP is pushing Romney. Both are losing propositions.
I can’t think of any reason why someone, squeamish at the prospect of President Perry as not being conservative or electable or experienced enough, would give Jon Huntsman or Mitt Romney a second glance. It is just not logical.
NTXLass on June 22, 2011 at 1:44 PM
Just dress him in a ratty turban, and a death to America t-shirt.
Slowburn on July 29, 2011 at 12:03 AM
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