This year, the absurd history of Congress's attempt to squeeze an energy savings out of our clocks is more pertinent than ever. The recent Indiana study, which proves that daylight saving wastes energy, might occasion another costly round of confusion. We could be in for a repeat of the 2007 unilateral time change that messed up everyone’s PDA and computer clock—not to mention the schedule of every American airline. Congress is late with its promised analysis and (by its own mandate) could decide to change the dates for daylight saving again next year.

In a new essay, Toothpaste Plus Snake Oil Equals Daylight Saving, which I’ve put up on the Huffington Post, I'm proposing we ask Congress not to write a new report. Instead, I’m hoping somebody in Congress will read the record of its own 1919 Hearings. It features a genuinely dazzling performance by the toothpaste magnate Sidney Colgate, which I excerpt in my essay for your reading pleasure.