Democrat Policies Kill Last Major Incandescent Light Bulb Factory In USA

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Democrat Policies Kill Last Major Incandescent Light Bulb Factory In USA

Written By : William Teach

Strange that we always hear that Democrats are for the little guy. If so, they wouldn’t be looking to raise taxes on small business owners, nor enact legislation that drives companies out of business, putting “the little guy” on the unemployment line

The last major GE factory making ordinary incandescent light bulbs in the United States is closing this month, marking a small, sad exit for a product and company that can trace their roots to Thomas Alva Edison’s innovations in the 1870s.

The remaining 200 workers at the plant here will lose their jobs.

“Now what’re we going to do?” said Toby Savolainen, 49, who like many others worked for decades at the factory, making bulbs now deemed wasteful.

You are, unfortunately, going to watch your jobs go elsewhere

During the recession, political and business leaders have held out the promise that American advances, particularly in green technology, might stem the decades-long decline in U.S. manufacturing jobs. But as the lighting industry shows, even when the government pushes companies toward environmental innovations and Americans come up with them, the manufacture of the next generation technology can still end up overseas.

And what could have caused this?

What made the plant here vulnerable is, in part, a 2007 energy conservation measure passed by Congress that set standards essentially banning ordinary incandescents by 2014. The law will force millions of American households to switch to more efficient bulbs.

And by “more efficient,” they mean “more costly.” CFL’s used to be a great value. Sure, you paid more, but, they lasted so much longer, and produced less heat. Now, this overseas junk lasts the same as an incandescent, costs much more, and, you still have to worry about disposal of these bulbs which contain mercury. Personally, I have switched back to mostly incandescent bulbs, after having CFLs for years.

The resulting savings in energy and greenhouse-gas emissions are expected to be immense. But the move also had unintended consequences.

Rather than setting off a boom in the U.S. manufacture of replacement lights, the leading replacement lights are compact fluorescents, or CFLs, which are made almost entirely overseas, mostly in China.

So, Democrat policies are once again killing American business, putting people out of work, and sending the jobs overseas, where the products will have lower standards, and we will all be required to purchase them.

It’s a long article, well worth the read, so, let’s just end with this

“Everybody’s jumping on the green bandwagon,” said Pat Doyle, 54, who has worked at the plant for 26 years. But “we’ve been sold out. First sold out by the government. Then sold out by GE.”

And which Party was in charge of the government that sold “the little guy” out over this man caused global warming idiocy?

UFKA_Smithwick

The Chinese must be working on ways to secretly funnel money to democrat campaign coffers.

Those guys are a godsend for Chinese manufacturers.
baoxian

The first run American-made CFLs were indeed marvels of electrical engineering. You probably still have them in your house if you bought them when they first came out.

But as GE employees can tell you, they soon began producing an inferior discount brand of CFL which became the norm. Now we get Chinese crapola dumped on us at the same price. Chinese workers get cancer from making, and we need a HAZMAT team to dispose of this “green” product. All mandated by our own laws.

http://www.thepiratescove.us/ William_Teach

I still have several in my ceiling fan light fixture, and another in my bedside light. Maybe 5 years old. Every other one is gone.

http://profiles.yahoo.com/u/ELCWV5ANDUEJ5D5PB35FL2LZ6Y Bildo

I did one better. I stocked up on 100 watt incandescents. I have six cases of them in storage.

CFLs are ugly, produce a very unnatural type of light, are crazy expensive, and don't work with dimmer switches. Al Gore should have to eat a CFL for his role in this mess.

The LEDs will most likely be the bulb of the future, and unfortunately, they are all made in Asia as well.

http://www.thepiratescove.us/ William_Teach

I had them down to a tee on which ones to buy for which lamp. But, yeah, if you didn't know, basically by trying them out, you could end up with some crappy light.

http://conservativebootcamp.com Martin Hale

If you're serious about being “green” and you want to kick the incandescent habit, then you need to dump those toxic fluorescent bulbs (whether compact or not) and step up to LED's. They're expensive, so your start-up costs are high, but the operating expence, and longevity more than make up for the cost. And, as we all know, the cost of producing solid-state circuitry is almost all front-loaded with the design and tooling costs, meaning that over the lifetime of a product production run, the costs per unit drop dramatically. While unit #5 is very expensive, unit #50,000,000 is ridiculously cheap. Plus you won't be contributing to the slow mercury poisoning of the planet.

I switched from traditional gas-filled HPS and MH lamps to LED's for my indoor gardening a few years ago and I haven't regretted it at all. A fraction of the heat generated, much lower (~75% lower) electric costs and much greater control over the colour temperature profile of the lights – what's not to love?

I liked them so much that I've switched almost all of my lamps to LED's. I've yet to see even one of them fail, and given my age, I will likely have some of these lamps still functioning when I shuffle off this mortal coil.

http://profiles.yahoo.com/u/OZBTYQK5MN5SKP6FA6KK4TJOQ4 MichaelAlan

this is why the government should stay out of the light bulb industry and the health care industry.

As usual the FREE MARKET creates a solution to the problem faster than the buroweenies in the government can create a compromised solution federally enforced solution.

LED's are the real solution to the mercury GE Compact Florescence boondogle.
Fiza1

“They're expensive, so your start-up costs are high, …”

Yes, and Cree,Inc, the developer of the high brightness white LED's in the USA is doing very well, an amazing success story. But, as usual, they are getting strong competition from Korean, Chinese, and Japanese companies. Cree has recently set up a production plant in Asia. So, very shortly, many of your high power, high brightness, high efficiency white LED's will say “made in Korea/Japan/Taiwan/China and maybe even in North Carolina or silicon valley.

http://www.thepiratescove.us/ William_Teach

Are you saying North Carolina is a different country, Fiza1?

That joke said, you kinda prove the point that all these types of projects end up overseas, killing American jobs.

Fiza1

Not all of them. Intel still fabs all pentium processors in the USA. You figure out why. Lesser, low cost, non leading edge Intel processors and support chips are made overseas. Almost every semiconductor company has semiconductor fab plants in Asia or subcontracts out to Asian companies. Asian companies use the same equipment to fab semiconductors in Asia as companies use here. As I said previously, Cree is a great company that first developed high intensity white LED's, and most of their semiconductor products are still made in North Carolina. For how long, I don't know.

http://conservativebootcamp.com Martin Hale

The CREE units are OK, but they run much hotter than some of the newer LED packages and they're clearly much better suited to specialty niches, like outdoor advertising signs. All of my general purpose LED's which I use to light the rooms in my house are comprised of multiple 5mm LED packages arranged in varying densities on circuit boards. Since the basic 5mm package has a viewing angle of < 120? (most are <150?) it's better suited to general purpose lighting. For my growing lights, they are all 1 watt packages with lenses moulded into the package which bring the viewing angle down to > 60?, which, of course means that the light is focused more in a single direction and therefore penetrates the foliage canopy of a plant more effectively.

Where they're made, is unfortunately a result of the increasingly anti-business regulatory environment for manufacturers stateside, coupled with labour costs which make it impossible to compete in the world markets. Solve those two problems and you'll have a manufacturing revival in this nation the likes of which would eclipse the post-war boom. But I'm not holding my breath on that. I think that like Britain, we're doomed to be an importer, not a producer, of manufactured goods for a good long while.

baoxian

Speaking of doom, the way things are headed, I'll be happy if people aren't calling me Equality 7-2521 a few years from now.

Mahatma

“Now what're we going to do?” said Toby Savolainen, 49

Join the military, Toby. There's always money for the killing biz.

http://www.patriotpost.com bthewolf

Asshatma, the retard that just keeps vomitting his inane BS.
UFKA_Smithwick

In Obamas America the money lies in either working for the government, being on the dole, or as a top ranking union goon/democrat donor.

He's used to working so I don't know if a government job will suit him, and it's a bit late to work his way up through the union hierarchy. And obviously he doesn't have the money to become a major democrat donor at this point.

So it's looks like it's welfare for him.

Fiza1

When is the last time you saw an incandescent bulb with a made-in-USA label, Teach? Democratic policies? What Democratic policies? The Republicans have controlled the WH for 14 out of the last 42 yrs and most of congress from 1995 to 1997. It is business policies, Teach! I shouldn't have to point that out to a business oriented conservative like you, Teach. GE moved most of their light bulb production overseas long before global warming and this so-called “green bandwagon”. It is competition, Teach, which drove light bulb production overseas. When one mfgr moves production overseas and reduces costs, it's competitors are forced to do likewise. How many CRT or flat panel TV's, computer monitors, digital cameras, clothing, e.t.c., are made in the USA? Are you going to blame that lack of production here on global warming and this so-called “green bandwagon”? Maybe GE can compete against the Chinese made incandescent and compact flourescent bulbs by reducing wages in the Winchester plant to, say, $3/hr.

Perhaps you think the government should put a huge tax (to equalize labor costs) on foreign made light bulbs to force production in the USA. How about that, Teach?

http://www.wordaroundthenet.com Christopher Taylor

You're right, this wasn't “Democratic” either in the proper sense or the party. It was leftist. And since incandescent bulb production is illegal in the US, that may have had something to do with why people went overseas to make them.

Idiot.

Fiza1

“I should note that the bill to ban incandescents passed in 2007, by the Democrat-controlled congress.”

Did Bush sign the bill? I presume so! Did the Republicans say NO? Nope!

“Idiot.”

It is not “illegal” yet, and it is NOT illegal to make CFL's in the USA. It is apparently CHEAPER, even with shipping costs, to make them in China.

UFKA_Smithwick

“Perhaps you think the government should put a huge tax (to equalize labor costs) on foreign made light bulbs to force production in the USA. How about that, Teach? “

But of course! Taxing foreign imports to prop up your domestic production, why has no one thought of this before?

This will revolutionize our economy as we are able to shore up wages and productivity here, raise much needed tax revenue and certainly not face any sort of reprisal from those countries we are hitting with import taxes.

Fiza1

Where did I say that? I asked Teach if that is what “he” wanted to keep production here in the USA.

UFKA_Smithwick

Nope.

Not the only option.

You increase regulations to cripple industry then to help prevent that industry from being crippled you increase regulations more.

And you can't see any way out of that cycle. Well, complete economic collapse, but your type never seems to care about that.

http://profiles.yahoo.com/u/ELCWV5ANDUEJ5D5PB35FL2LZ6Y Bildo

Spoken like someone that really doesn't have a clue how modern manufacturing works. That plant that is closing was still producing incandescents at a competitive price, regardless of labor costs, because it was so automated. It would have continued to do so if Liberals hadn't forced its closure.

I blame lack of production in the US on labor unions and the most litigious society in the world. Germany, the second largest exporter of goods in the world behind China, has a very highly paid workforce. The difference is that they don't graduate a hundred thousand lawyers a year looking to buy Lear jets. Kill the tort industry, reduce government regulation, force labor unions to be subject to anti-trust law, and the US will eventually return to its rightful place as the world's largest producer.

Fiza1

“Spoken like someone that really doesn't have a clue how modern manufacturing works.”

Sorry Bildo, it is you that doesn't have a “clue how modern manufacturing works.”

If you think all Asian plants are low tech, labor intensive operations, you are stupid. Do you think Asians make state of art and leading edge semiconductors in some kind of low tech operation? Asian semiconductor plants use the same type of equipment as US fab plants. Much of the equipment is made in Japan, idiot! Are you so naive to think that, for example, Korean, or even Chinese automotive plants are not non high tech, labor intensive operations?

I guess you think Chinese made light bulbs are hand made one at a time in some kind of low tech plant with thousands of workers. If so, you are totally naive.

If the GE plant were competitive, it would still be producing lamps. Just about every hardware, houseware, or grocery store I have ever been to still sells incandescent bulbs.

Germany has more labor unions and regulations than the USA. German companies are moving a lot of production to eastern Europe, due to lower labor costs and lax regulations. Try buying German made clothes or electronics in Germany. Germans do, however, buy German made goods at higher costs.(which they perceive to be of higher quality) when possible.

No regulation in Germany? Obviously you haven't been to Germany and know absolutly nothing about Germany. It is one of the most “regulated”, (envirnmental, workers rights, etc.) countries in Europe.

http://www.thepiratescove.us/ William_Teach

Gee, that would be the last time I purchased a GE lightbulb, which had been made in the USA, as shown by the very start of the Washington Post article.
Henry Bowman

“Democratic policies? What Democratic policies? The Republicans have controlled the WH for 14 out of the last 42 yrs and most of congress from 1995 to 1997″

So is the point that you can't do the math, or are you hoping we can't?

http://www.wordaroundthenet.com Christopher Taylor

Incandescent bulbs would have become obsolete eventually anyway, with LEDs (like Martin Hale mentions) being the replacement over time. The left just can't let the market and people's individual choices have control though, they have to do it themselves. Its a power issue for them, the power to force others to agree with their choices.

UFKA_Smithwick

Exactly.

They tend to view the government as the source of all power. So any choice that is left up to individuals/corporations is an illegitimate use of power.

It's like the electric car, or solar panels. They may very well come in to their own eventually. But it can't be allowed to happen naturally, it has to be forced on everyone.

I don't know how any of them can stand living here given their stance on freedom and choice and how many freedoms and choices we still have left. It ought to be as infuriating to them as living in North Korea would be to me.

belacuse

More jobs destroyed by leftist policies? Meh, nothing to see here folks. Let's all go look up Obama's “jobs created or saved” stats – those are so much more sunny!
http://profiles.yahoo.com/u/OZBTYQK5MN5SKP6FA6KK4TJOQ4 MichaelAlan

No reason to cry for GE. They are the inventor of the CF light bulb, are the major pusher and funder of Al Gore's Global warming push, AND received huge amounts of money from the Barak administration under the financial bailout EVEN THOUGH THEY AREN'T A BANK.
http://www.facebook.com/people/Danny-Browning/1666222445 Danny Browning

The bill you're talking about didn't become law:

http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill=h110-2776

But then, maybe I missed the bill. Feel free to edit your post with a link to the bill that actually caused this plant to shutdown.

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