Politics / Rand Paul Thanks to Obama, My Toilet Won't Flush: Rand Paul Senator slams administration's energy-efficiency rules By Matt Cantor, Newser Staff Posted Mar 11, 2011 7:07 AM CST Copied Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., with his "duster" addresses the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in Washington, Thursday, Feb. 10, 2011. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon) Sen. Rand Paul yesterday ripped into the Energy Department's efficiency rules, which he says require Americans to buy poorly-flushing toilets and unwanted light bulbs, reports USA Today. "My toilets don't work in my house. And I blame you and people like you who want to tell me what I can install in my house," Paul told an Energy Department official at a Senate hearing. The hearing focused on a bill to boost appliances' energy efficiency—as well as an effort to repeal a Bush-era law seeking a gradual switchover from traditional bulbs to more efficient ones. Paul supports the repeal effort, saying it’s "appalling" and "hypocritical" for the Obama administration to "favor a woman's right to an abortion but you don't favor a woman or a man's right to choose what kind of light bulb, what kind of dishwasher, what kind of washing machine." Energy Department official Kathleen Hogan said she’d help Paul find a better toilet. (Click to see Colbert's take on the Democrats' 'girly' light bulbs.) Report an error