WASHING OUT BAD REGULATION: If you’ve bought a dishwasher recently, like I have, you’ve probably noticed that you need to run it on the heavy setting to get your dishes clean – and it runs for hours to do so. You can probably guess why – “energy efficiency” regulations from the Department of Energy. However, the law authorizing the regulations includes a provision to “preclude DOE from promulgating a standard that manufacturers are only able to meet by adopting engineering changes that eliminate performance characteristics.” What this means is that the DOE can actually create a class of dishwasher that can get your dishes clean in a hour.

So the Competitive Enterprise Institute has asked Secretary Perry to do so. Or, in the words of the Daily Caller, “Energy Department Petitioned to Stop Making Dishwashers Even Crappier.” As with all petitions, we need your help. To file comments (just a sentence or two will do, perhaps noting your own experience with crappy dishwashers), go to www.dishwasherchoice.com. Or you can go to www.regulations.gov and search for “dishwashers.” Let’s make America’s dishwashers clean again!