GE went downhill once Jack Welch left the company (retired).
It did, but it's always had it's snout in our pockets, even under Welch. In fact, IIRC, he was at the helm when this made its way through Congress, wasn't he?
But this whole charade is proof positive that the gov't only knows how to exacerbate things. These bulbs were supposedly going to reduce the amount of Hg in the environment by reducing the output of power stations (coal puts out the bulk of Hg, I think), thereby lowering the levels. But as we all know, the less responsible citizens amongst us, ya' know, the moochers and looters, will just toss these right in the trash and in 10-20 yrs, we'll have mercury levels so high entire regions will have related health issues.
And there will be absolutely no redress. No company will be held responsible and certainly .gov will simply say "We already took care of it by giving you free health care!"