> For a drop in the bucket of energy savings

Incandescent bulbs last months, LEDs last years and use 5x less energy.

> Thank God for decent LED lights in the last few years or the irony would still be pretty thick.

Do you think we would be better off using incandescents?

I think the main thrust of your point is that you don't think the government should be able to tell folks they can't use crappy bulbs. I think without government intervention LEDs wouldn't be where they are today, which is partly due to that weird anxiety I mentioned, and that's unfortunate.