Airing President Clinton’s filthy, filthy drawers

By Matt Miner

Today’s WSJ editorializes on a much-unheralded regulatory change enacted at the end of Bill Clinton’s presidency mandating that clothes washers use 35% less energy by 2007.

The manufacturers have delivered (what else could they do?), and now Consumer Reports notes that “Not so long ago you could count on most washers to get your clothes clean. Not anymore . . ."

This issue hit home for me because I just sold my washer and dryer with my house.  I bought the washer for $450 dollars and the dryer for $279 from Costco in April of 2001.  They have served me well, but they’re now six years old and I figured there couldn’t be much harm in parting with them when the buyer asked for them.  I imagined that for much the same price I could replace them, and I would get to save moving them to boot.

Now I’m pretty sure that my buyer had the right idea in snapping up these rare pre-ban appliances.

So I went to consumerrports.org to see what I was up against.  Most of the models reviewed which cost $1000 or less rated well on energy efficiency and water efficiency (remember, what gets measured gets done and Uncle Sam carries a Great Big Measuring Stick).  Seven of these 21 models rated only fair (3) or poor (4) on actually cleaning clothes.

I will continue my struggle to keep profanity out of my post - but what do people buy clothes washers for?  Do they buy them to not consume water or electricity?  They do not.  They buy them to clean their clothes.

If Charity and I want clean clothes we will have to buy an expensive front-loading machine ($1100 - $1500) plus a new dryer ($570 - $800).  We may have to spend $2300 to get done what was being accomplished for $800.  That’s an extra $1500.  Invested in my IRA, that $1500 would be worth $90,000 - $120,000 (in nominal dollars) at my retirement at age 65.  It could reduce my student loan burden.  It could pay for two years of diapers for my children.

But the government thinks I should spend it on my appliances.

What about the people who don’t have an extra $1500?  They will still buy the cheap washers which will not clean their clothes.  And they will feel badly because they will smell.  And I will feel badly for the same reason.

Or the people for whom an extra $1500 means more debt, more worry and more interest payments?