Federal Incandescent Light Bulb Ban

By Douglas V. Gibbs
Author, Speaker, Instructor, Radio Host

It is official.  July 31, 2023 is the final day Americans are allowed to buy incandescent light bulbs.  A gentleman I know bought 400 of them before the ban, arguing that he needed them for his garage door installation business.  LED lights, he said, puts out a frequency that interferes sometimes with the signal for the opener.  Congress probably never considered "unintended consequences" for their actions, such as that one.  Then again, they probably also are not considering that not only do they not have the authority to ban incandescent light bulbs as per the U.S. Constitution, but also because of the court case regarding Obamacare.  Remember that whole mandate thing about how the government cannot tell you what you have to buy?

The new rule states that you can own incandescent light bulbs, but the manufacture, sale, or transportation of incandescent light bulbs in the United States is hereby prohibited.

Hmmm, that sounds familiar.  Oh, yeah, those are essentially the same words from the Eighteenth Amendment, which initiated the prohibition of the manufacture, sale, or transportation of intoxicating liquors.  We know the time period during which that amendment was active as "Prohibition."  Funny how they knew back then that there is no mention regarding alcohol in the Constitution, so they needed an amendment to the Constitution in order to have the authority to put in place such a ban.

Are light bulbs mentioned as an authority in the Constitution?

No.

How about the environment, of which they claim the ban is in place for the purpose of saving?

No.

Then how is it that we so easily are accepting a ban on incandescent light bulbs by federal coercion without as much as a single complaint well knowing that there is no authority for the federal government to compel that incandescent light bulbs are removed from the free market?

It is still a free market, right?  

How many jobs will be lost?  How many unintended consequences will we see as a result of moving to LED only bulbs?  How many health issues will arise in the future due to the exposure of people to so much LED radiation?  Why do they have to ban incandescent light bulbs in the first place?  Why can't we have a choice?  Isn't that what liberty is all about?

Chalk the incandescent light bulb ban as just another sign as to how tyrannical and unconstitutional our government has become.

-- Political Pistachio Conservative News and Commentary