AHAM: "Our Weasels in Washington"

Why do perfectly decent people, who walk their dogs and love their children, who pick up their socks, and support their PTA, why do these wonderful citizens morph into weasels when they are employed by industry trade associations?  What is the process trade associations use to activate the dormant weasel-gene?  Perhaps science can answer this question.  For us, we can only judge by the results.

In response to Obama's directive to get appliance efficiency rule making back on track, TWICE reports: 

"The Association of Home Appliance Manufacturers (AHAM), the white goods industry trade group, said it "supports an effort to make sure DOE meets all its deadlines," but warns that "the old adage, haste makes waste, rings true here.  DOE’s must evaluate energy savings, consumer costs, technological feasibility and product performance in order to generate responsible appliance efficiency requirements. They need sufficient resources to do this job properly."

Weasels.  They aren't really speaking to the administration.  They are actually speaking to the AHAM membership saying:

"LOOK AT US, WE'RE DOING SOMETHING WITH ALL THAT MONEY YOU PAY US BY STATING THE OBVIOUS OUT LOUD!!!"

If AHAM really wants to defeat any regulation why would it be in a press release, and why annoy the administration, and why now?  Wouldn't you want to do this quietly in the future?

What's most whacked about all this is that the appliance industry is about to be brought back into the game and showered with wealth beyond their dreams.  The administration will publically declare obsolete every appliance in every home in America, and offer fat incentives to upgrade to reach our national goal of energy independence.  And AHAM's response:  "Let's slow that train down."

What they should have said:

"The Association of Home Appliance Manufacturers (AHAM), the white goods industry trade group populated by weasels, said it is "tickled pink to be involved in making better standards for better appliances as fast as we can" and they added, "we are so anxious to get started that our appliance engineers will don man-diapers and drink Ensure so not a minute is lost in moving forward to the Emerald City of energy efficiency".  The AHAM weasel then added "We are also going to roll up little sleaves and discuss with the administration the eye-popping incentives we need for America to dump the crap our members have spent 20 years foisting on them and replace it with the really expensive new stuff we are working on now"

We're OK, if they decide to use this.