Upton: House Will Vote to Bring Back the Bulb

I'll believe it when it happens, and not before, but this is a positive development. Or positive lip service, anyway...
House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Fred Upton (R.,Mich.) has finally agreed to support a bill this summer that means lights out on the looming 2012 ban on the incandescent light bulb. Upton himself co-sponsored 2007 legislation making light bulbs illegal, a ban that has become a symbol of bipartisan Big Government run amok.
Here's a fascinating question. Presuming that Congress does, in fact, get a bill passed through both houses that removes the 2012 energy standards for light bulbs that was going to result in a de facto ban of the 100-watt incandescent, what are the political calculations by which President Obama decides to sign or veto it? It seems that, the more people become aware of what's supposed to happen, the more people are opposed to it. And the more people learn about the compact fluorescents, the more the enthusiasm for them has waned. It's hard to believe that there won't be significant majority support in favor of letting people choose their own light bulbs. On the other hand, the people who want that "ban" in the first place are Obama supporters, and he has to decide if he can disappoint them yet again.

My guess is that there won't be a "clean" bill, and it will get to his desk, if it manages to get through the Senate at all, no sure thing, with something attached by which he can justify a veto. But we'll have to wait and see.

The other interesting question is this. How many manufacturers of 100-watt incandescents are left, anyway?

All in all, I think I'll continue to add to my stash, which is probably only enough to last me 10 years or so at this point...