Don't lift the federal ban on incandescent light bulbs!

Via Instapundit — light bulbs have become the symbol of Big Government gone wild.

The incandescent bulb lit up America and came to symbolize a great idea. Now on the cusp of a federal ban, Thomas Edison’s invention has become a symbol for personal liberty.

Perhaps no issue better illuminates the transformation of the right from Big Government conservatism to Tea Party activism.

With many consumers griping about the cost and type of light of the substitute bulb, populists have won the ear of some once-staunch ban supporters .

Late last year Rep. Fred Upton, R-Mich., vowed to reverse the very ban on incandescent bulbs that he helped pass. But after five months as chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, he has yet to hold a hearing.

What are you waiting on, Rep. Upton? Hold a hearing, un-ban the incandescent light bulb.

Or, on second thought, don’t. Texas has legalized the manufacture and sale of incandescents within its borders, to escape the federal ban. If the feds don’t lift the ban, Texas may end up importing the incandescent light bulb manufacturing industry. With 26 million people in the state and the bulbs unavailable outside the state, that means jobs. If the rest of the country doesn’t want those jobs, we’ll take them. Texas is already in the habit of attracting other states’ companies, so light bulb manufacturers will just be one more industry we grab thanks to idiotic policies elsewhere. And the inevitable black market to sell the bulbs outside the state will ensure that the industry will thrive.