GE: "We Bring Our Profits to Light!!"

You've known for a long time that what GE wants, GE gets--usually by writing regulations that Congress passes for it.  See, e.g., the company's self-written "zero tax" IRS regs.

And yes, with Fred "Lightbulb" Upton--an (R) assclown from Michigan--GE and a few co-conspirators managed to increase your cost of living while bringing more profit to light!  Yes, GWBush signed the bill.  He, too, was an assclown in a lot of ways.

...The 2007 Energy Bill, a stew of regulations and subsidies, set mandatory efficiency standards for most light bulbs. Any bulbs that couldn't produce a given brightness at the specified energy input would be illegal. That meant the 25-cent bulbs most Americans used in nearly every socket of their home would be outlawed.

People often assume green regulations like this represent the triumph of environmental activists trying to save the plant. That’s rarely the case, and it wasn't here. Light bulb manufacturers whole-heartedly supported the efficiency standards. General Electric, Sylvania and Philips — the three companies that dominated the bulb industry — all backed the 2007 rule, while opposing proposals to explicitly outlaw incandescent technology (thus leaving the door open for high-efficiency incandescents)....

One could use the term "corrupt" to describe thievery-by-legislation.  But "extortion" is more accurate.