I know. I know. We’re all concentrating most of the day on a courtroom in New York City. However, that’s probably going to wrap up before 4:00 p.m., at which time the blogging gods have bestowed upon us a further gift. Allow me to present Monday’s agenda for the meeting of the Rules Committee of the United States House of Representatives. To be discussed and voted to the floor are the following:
H.R. 7637: The Refrigerator Freedom Act.
H.R. 7645: The Clothes Dryers Reliability Act.
H.R. 7673: The Liberty in Laundry Act.
H.R. 6192: The Hands Off Our Home Appliances Act.
This reads less like a legislative calendar and more like a prize package on The Price Is Right.
As you may have guessed, all of these monumental pieces of legislation are aimed at defeating the federal government’s attempts to convince us not to be such massive energy hogs in our daily lives. Take, for example, the Liberty in Laundry Act, if only because I giggle uncontrollably every time I type its name.
The brainchild of Rep. Andy Ogles (R-Tennessee), one of the House’s true omadhauns, this bill’s purpose is, and I quote from the bill itself.
To prohibit the Secretary of Energy from prescribing or enforcing energy conservation standards for clothes washers that are not cost-effective or technologically feasible, and for other purposes.
All of them are pretty much the same. These are going to pass the Rules Committee and be debated on the floor of the House while the seas are rising, the Middle East is on a knife’s edge, and Ukraine is begging for help. Of course, the Rules Committee will be dealing with these issues as well, in its usual calm and bipartisan manner.
H. Res. 1117: Opposing efforts to place one-sided pressure on Israel with respect to Gaza.
H. Res. 1112: Denouncing the Biden administration’s immigration policies.
These last two items, of course, are not bills aimed at becoming laws. They are merely tantrums under Robert’s Rules, by which the Republicans get to excoriate the administration for the benefit of the Defendant in New York City, and to try to distract everyone from the fact that they haven’t done practically anything else for two years. But they will set the refrigerators free. By God, they will do that.
Charles P Pierce is the author of four books, most recently Idiot America, and has been a working journalist since 1976. He lives near Boston and has three children.
