Beck Calls Congressman a Socialist, Congressman Acknowledges He Was Being Kinda Red About That Whole Light Bulb Thing, Repents

Not news: Glenn Beck called someone a socialist:

Beck called [Rep. Fred Upton (R-Mich.)] "all socialist" for cosponsoring legislation phasing out incandescent light bulbs that made it into a 2007 energy law signed by President George W. Bush.

News: That call, among others, has prompted a co-sponsor of legislation to make old fashioned light bulbs illegal to reconsider his position:

Hoping to counter attacks from his right, Rep. Fred Upton is promising to reexamine a controversial ban on incandescent light bulbs if he becomes chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee.

The Michigan Republican told POLITICO on Thursday that he's not afraid to go back after an issue he once supported but that has come under withering assault on the conservative airwaves, including on Rush Limbaugh and Glenn Beck's talk shows.

"If I become chairman, we'll be reexamining the light bulb issue, no problem," Upton said.

Lots of support for the relegalization of Lightbulb Classic—due to become endangered in a little over a year—here, here, and here, and in video form here.

Comments

[Old Mexican]

That's a lovely poster - I mean, the one from G.E., not Kat.

Ok, Kat, you're lovely, too.

[Colin]

Somewhat OT: Beck just said that so-called "missile" fired off the Californian coast was fired by the Chinese.

No, not kidding.

[Almanian]

If he'd have said that Chinese money paid for the missile, he'd have had a chance of being right, anyway.

[Suki]

It was fired by the North Koreans using a surplus Chinese submarine. Beck just can't get these things right.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Beck and his his stupid conspiracies. I have personally examined the footage and can conclude without a doubt that the missile in question is actually a long form birth certificate from Hawai'i.

[Suki]

The only other plausible explanation is Iron Man.

[Old Mexican]

The Michigan Republican told POLITICO on Thursday that he's not afraid to go back after an issue he once supported but that has come under withering assault on the conservative airwaves, including on Rush Limbaugh and Glenn Beck's talk shows.

"Who's affraid of the Big Bad Wolf, the Big Bad Wolf, the Big Bad Wolf?"

"Well, I am, it seems!" - Rep. Fred Upton (R-Mich.)

[Com'on man]

Good for that poor old victimized Congresshole, reconsidering his contribution to shitty legislation. If we didn't have that damned radio and television, maybe they could "solve people's problems" up 'er in Rome.

[Almanian]

Yet another reason we need the FCC to look into banning teh right wingers reinstating "equal time" laws ASAP!

Right Wing Radio - IT KILLS TEH ENVIRONMENTSSS!!1!

[Suki]

Same one who wants the FCC to shut down cable news, even though cable is not regulated by them.

By a strange accident of fate, his wife is a big shot in public television.

[Mr. FIFY]

"Same one who wants the FCC to shut down cable news, even though cable is not regulated by them."

Not *yet*. But give Obama and the Repubs time... between them, they'll figure it out.

[0x90]

"Lots of support for the relegalization of Lightbulb Classic..."

A wonderfully surreal way of encapsulating the scenario.

[Don't Touch My Junk]

True dat.

[shrike]

According to the Beckerhead all the top capitalists are really socialists.

And the Communist-fighting Soros is a Jew-hating Commie. Beck would be happy in a circle-jerk with Joe McCarthy and the founder of the John Birch Society.

[Anonymous Coward]

And the Communist-fighting Soros

You know who else fought Commies?

[Ed Schultz]

shrike, do you like movies about gladiators?

[Old Mexican]

Re: shrike,

According to the Beckerhead all the top capitalists are really socialists.

Not all - only those that like socialism.

And the Communist-fighting Soros is a Jew-hating Commie.

"Who knows what evil lurks in the hearts of men?"

Only The Shadow knows!

[Jordan]

The communist-fighting Soros just wrote a love letter to the Chinese government.

[Amakudari]

Beat me to it.

shrike, I don't know how you people rail against Wall Street then turn around and fellate Soros and Buffett. Soros is not a high-minded philosopher and Buffett is not an aw-shucks good ol' grandpa. These are hedge fund managers who take on poor countries' central banks and ride bailouts of their financial interests.

[Slap the Enlightened!]

I've never been able to tolerate watching Beck for more than 10 minutes. All the same, I do admire his taste in enemies.

Two thumbs up just for that!

[Keith Olbermann]

shrike, have you ever seen a grown man naked?

[Steve]

Not a Beck fan, but Communist-fighting Soros ain't exactly fighting for capitalism (unless it the crony-kind of course)

[Com'on man]

It's alright, Steve, if you're a Beck fan. No one here will make fun of you. This is a liberal-tarian, conservative publication.

[shrike]

So wrong.

Soros donates millions to micro-capitalism - $50 loans to hellholes like Pakistan so that market participation is seeded. He doesn't do it for profit.

Soros writes extensively on markets and capitalism and his philosophy (reflexivity).

Right wing nutjobs hate him because he campaigned against Bush in 04 and what he saw as nascent fascism - something he knows and fears.

[Cytotoxic]

No profit = fail

[Mr. FIFY]

"nascent fascism - something he knows and fears"

If that's true, why did he support a Democrat for president?

If he really wanted to stop fascism, he wouldn't have supported Team Red OR Team Blue. But keep telling yourself otherwise, shrike.

[Kevin P.]

I don't know if he feared fascism. When he worked for the Nazis, helping pack up Jews and send them to their deaths, he said that was an exhilarating time of his life.

[me]

What about the size of my toilet tank issue? Is anyone going to revisit that so that I don't have to flush 3 times in order to get a decent sized turd down - say, a 3 on the Couric scale?

[joshua corning]

So calling poeple socialists works???

Don't tell Moynahan, he might break a blood vessel.

[Com'on man]

Yeah, call Mohammed a socialist and see what happens!

[joshua corning]

Marx was born over a 1100 years after Mohamed died.

I think the socialist title has to have at least some plausibility for it to be effective.

By the way your comment has exposed you for the socialist that you are.

[Mr. FIFY]

The ideas that became socialism were around long before Marx... they just weren't collated and codified until he came along and created something that would eventually cause millions of deaths and untold suffering.

But don't tell shrike. It'll break his little heart.

[Oso Politico]

Apart from having the damn things shoved down my socket, does anyone have a problem with the light that these things give off? I have had problems with traditional florescent tubes, flicker, and dead colors, and have been told by true believers that it is merely my imagination and that these new twisty things don't have the same issues.

[PM770]

You can definitely tell the difference in a single bulb reading lamp.

[Lint]

Yeah, the twisty ones are crap too.

[Syd Henderson]

I have the problem with the traditional ones, not with the twisty kind. They're better suited for lights you use a lot, like in the living room, not so much for reading lamps, bathroom lights and closet lights. They do take a few seconds to warm up. The only time I've had flickering is when a transformer blew and fried the bulb.

[Ted S.]

The ballasts can also cause interference with AM radio signals.

[Mr. FIFY]

It's a plot to interfere with AM talk radio. Brilliant!

[Fist of Etiquette]

Great. And after I stocked up on incandescent lightbulbs for the eventual black market.

[G.E.]

Heads I win, tails you lose.

[GE]

Heads I win, tails you lose.

[General Electric]

Heads I win, tails you lose.

[General Electric]

Heads I win. Tails you lose.

[G. E.]

Heads I win...bla, bla, bla. See ya in the funny papers.

[?]

(unless it the crony-kind of course)

There's another name for that.

?

[Com'on man]

How do you make all 'em purdy pictures?

[wylie]

google "html ascii"

[cynical]

No, under fascist economics, business primarily serves state goals, rather than vice versa. Granted that like any subordinate power bloc in a corporatist society, they get carrots along with the stick.

[Steve]

The government and the corporations get to share all the carrots, but the people get the stick (and the shaft).

[lukas]

German "heatball" wheeze outwits EU light bulb ban.

[R C Dean]

does anyone have a problem with the light that these things give off?

Yeah. Not as, well, sharp, as incandescent light.

And that rot about how they last forever is pure horseshit. As near as I can tell, they last maybe half as long as an incandescent.

I don't see how the greenies can get their panties damp over a product that beats the hell out the environment on both the production and disposal ends of the lifecycle, but smarts has never been a part of the greenie toolkit.

[Syd Henderson]

If your bulbs last half as long as an incandescent, you'd better see an electrician.

[Slap the Enlightened!]

My experience with them is that they do indeed last longer than incandescents, provided they work in the fist place. My DOA rate for them has been about 1 out of 5.

They do have their merits for some applications. I use them in areas like the kitchen where the lighting gets high use and ambience isn't a consideration. Unfortunately, in areas like the hallways, where the lights are on only intermittently and energy consumption is negligible in the first place, I still had to replace the light fixtures to accommodate the oddly shaped bulb.

They are an absolute atrocity as a reading light.

[joshua corning]

I don't see how the greenies can get their panties damp over a product that beats the hell out the environment on both the production and disposal ends

Also in temperate regions during the fall winter and spring they offer no benefit if the area they are lighting has a properly functioning thermostat.

Incandescent light bulb inefficiency is given off as heat. That heat will cause your heater to run less....thus no energy savings if it is cold outside your home.

[TrickyVic]

"""Incandescent light bulb inefficiency is given off as heat. That heat will cause your heater to run less....thus no energy savings if it is cold outside your home."""

They never consider the benefit of the heat. Like putting LEDs in traffic lights in the Northern US.

[Syd Henderson]

And you have to run your air conditioner harder when it's warm.

[Don't Touch My Junk]

^^THIS^^

[Devilbunny]

I truly hate the damned fluorescent things, and the idea that we have to ban incandescents, but unless you live somewhere fairly warm (above about 40F, so you can use a heat pump) it's a lot cheaper to heat your house by burning something than by electric heaters.

[wylie]

The point is in the combined efficiency. You're getting the light AND the heat for the same money. No one is saying "run lightbulbs to heat your house!", but they do contribute to the heating while you're already using them for their main function.

[Mad Scientist]

"If I become chairman, we'll be reexamining the light bulb issue, no problem," Upton said.

Translation: I'd like you to support me in my effort to become chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, but I've never promised to do a damn thing about that shite lightbulb legislation.

[sr7]

shrike|11.19.10 @ 3:41PM|#

According to the Beckerhead all the top capitalists are really socialists.

So, shreek is Glen Beck?

It's exactly what he tells us. All the great billionaires are democrats, like Bernie Madoff, Mark Rich, and Michael Milken.

[T]

Given I have some devices that simply will not work without an incandescent bulb, this is good news.

I refer, of course, to my Lava Lamp. It just doesn't work with CFLs.

[wylie]

Lava Lamp: yet another application where the heat output of the bulb is important (hell, possibly even MORE important than the light output).

[R C Dean]

If your bulbs last half as long as an incandescent, you'd better see an electrician.

Wiring is fine, the house is only a few years old.

I think its that fluorescents don't like being turned on and off. They probably run longer if run continuously, but that's not what people do in their homes. Walk into a room, turn lights on. Walk out five minutes later, turn lights off. Repeat ad infinitum.

Well, not ad infinitum, because your fluorescent bulbs will quit working pretty soon.

[wylie]

I think its that fluorescents don't like being turned on and off.

Correct. The ballast circuit sees a lot of surge current every time it turns on, stressing the components. More complicated (read: expensive) design or more robust (read: expensive) components could solve it easily (read: expensively).

Possible solution: CFL lights with builtin motion detectors. Keep the switch on all the time, with the ballast energized (ie: caps charged), with the motion detector actually turning the light on&off;. Though, it would be a "Phantom Power" Menace then...so dunno how much power it would really save.

We got some motion light switches for the house a while back, and they're actually really great in hallways (not so great in the laundry room, unless you're real fast at unloading the dryer). They still wear out the CFL lights though, hence the idea of integrating the switch into the light.

Anyway, the ban on incandescents is retarded. We need the choice to be able to use the tool that best suits every situation, and for some situations filament based lighting is still superior, not only in performance but also from an efficiency standpoint. We're not really winning anything when you gotta replace the CFL in the hallway 2-5 times a year...infact, probably wasting more energy making and shipping the damn bulbs than a filament bulb would've ever wasted in its time in the socket. So forcing CFL use could actually be, on the whole, less efficient.

[Neu Mejican]

I have yet had a need to replace one of these things since putting them throughout the house 5 years ago.

The on off thing will wear out an incandescent just as fast as fluorescent, so that don't explain it. If you haven't switched, get LED. They are miles better.

[mikey]

My company's got a green thing going and brought in some vendor who sold the things at big discount. I got a bunch as I was just finishing a big remodeling project and need bulbs anyway. The light sucks. If the room is cold it takes awhile before there's enough usable light (if I just want to see while walking down a hall forget it). A couple months later there's like one or two left

[Lost in AZ]

Everybody knows that CFLs don't work outside in the cold, and that conventional fluorescent bulbs don't work below 50F, right? That's a lot of dark garages and barns in the north. (Heck, I live in Tucson and the fluorescents in my barn stop working right about now).

[Neu Mejican]

Never had this problem with ours here in the NW.

[Neu Mejican]

Buncha Luddites 'round these parts it seems.

Regarding heating your house with incandescent lighting. Can be done efficiently if you design the building correctly, but for the most part the trade off that Joshua posits is too small to matter much.