I use and like CFLs. I've even found some that have an initial startup bright enough to work well as bathroom lights. They do suck as dimmer bulbs, and the ones I tried that are supposedly made for it for my chandelier thingy over the dining room table all died within six months, and that was just keeping the dimmer switch set to full blast, because the bulbs are only 15 watt equivalent output in a lamp that had 40 watt incandescents. I have yet to replace any of my other CFLs and it's going on four years now for many of them.
I am in complete agreement on forced use. This is the same as all the other "we know what's best for you" crap, like what car to drive and what food to eat. The nanny staters just don't get that with a solid block of Americans, their nanny laws have the opposite effect. As much as I like CFLs, when someone tells me I HAVE TO use them, I'm inclined to replace them all with incandescents.
Rev hit the nail on the head. There is still, I think, a (barely) majority of Americans that know these, "hey, it's just a little thing, it barely affects you" laws add up. But I am seeing that majority slowly drop as more people become complacent, apathetic, or actually embrace the nanny-ism.
The way things are going, if the US falls into socialism, it won't fall kicking and screaming with a last mighty roar. It will be with a whimper, as we lay on the floor bleeding out from a thousand small cuts.