Wednesday, December 22, 2010

World-class micromanagers


Yesterday the US Senate passed H.R. 5470 ("To exclude an external power supply for certain security or life safety alarms and surveillance..."). The summary for this bill reads:
Amends the Energy Policy and Conservation Act to exempt from the applicability of No-Load Mode energy efficiency standards an external power supply manufactured before July 1, 2017, that: (1) is an AC-to-AC external power supply; (2) has a nameplate output of 20 watts or more; (3) is certified by the Secretary of Energy (DOE) as being designed to be connected to a security or life safety alarm or surveillance system component; and (4) is permanently marked with a distinguishing mark established within the External Power Supply International Efficiency Marking Protocol for Single Voltage External AC-DC and AC-AC Power Supplies. Defines a "security or life safety alarm or surveillance system" as equipment designed and marketed to, on a continuous basis: (1) monitor, detect, record, or provide notification of intrusion or access to real property or physical assets or notification of threats to life safety; (2) deter or control access to real property or physical assets or to prevent the unauthorized removal of physical assets; or (3) monitor, detect, record, or provide notification of fire, gas, smoke, flooding, or other physical threats to real property, physical assets, or life safety. Directs the Secretary to: (1) require, with appropriate safeguard for the protection of confidential business information, the submission of unit shipment data on an annual basis; and (2) restrict the eligibility of external power supplies for the exemption provided on a finding that a substantial number of external power supplies are being marketed to or installed in applications other than security or life safety alarm or surveillance systems.
Our Congress was not able to find time to pass a budget for the fiscal year we are now in. It has no idea how to fix the government's trillion dollar plus deficit, how to deal with a nuclear Iran or a nuclear N. Korea. Yet, it does find plenty of time for micromanaging the efficiency of wall-wart power supplies for security cameras (as in the above H.R. 5470).

Is democracy doomed?

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I don't know if Democracy is doomed, but personal Liberty is already bleeding profusely and slipping into unconsciousness.

The micromanagement you point out has nothing to do with Constitutional Government and everything to do with something that a special interest has lobbied for, for whatever reason that it may be important to that special interest.

The only group of people who receive any benefits from this type of thing other than the special interests are the legislators who receive the perks of the lobbying process.

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