Speaking of a budget mess …

Cross posted on Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood

Speaking of a budget mess … maybe part of the problem with the budget is that guys like Mike Rogers are proud of wasting money.
Mike Rogers has proudly announced the passage of a "server efficiency bill."

"Rogers’ bill directs the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to identify the potential energy and cost savings to the federal government and private business with the purchase of energy efficient servers and includes a sense of Congress that it is in the best interests of the United States for purchasers of computer servers to give high priority to energy efficiency."

Um … why?

Don’t we already know that the purchase of energy efficient servers is going to save money? Why pass a bill (which costs money) to do a study (which costs money) to see how much money can be saved by saving money?

We already know that energy efficient servers are desirable. So desirable, in fact, that IBM,HP,and Dell compete on the energy efficiency of their servers. Why did Rogers jump on this bandwagon? Is this his way of helping out an industry friend? The company with the highest energy efficiency gets the contracts?

(By the way, has anyone here heard of that pesky little war on terror? I’m going to go out on a limb and say that it’s in the best interest of the US for purchasers of servers to also give high priority to security, stability, and performance.)

It’s interesting that Rogers framed this bill as an environmental issue. He has a low ranking on environmental issues, even among Republicans, and he failed as Michigan’s self appointed champion on trash. Maybe this bill will help increase his standing on environmental issues.

So after 6 years in Congress, maybe Rogers has done one smart thing.

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