Well, look at the groups who stand to be harmed by this proposed
legislation:
* Local fire, rescue, police, and emergency organizations
* Manufacturers and vendors of weather radios
* Media that can't afford to subscribe to AccuWeather or another commercial
service
And there are doubtless a lot more that don't come to mind immediately.
Trust me--this just ain't going to happen and I'd bet a significant amount
of money that even Senator Santorum doesn't expect it to. The senators and
congresspersons from every state that's ever suffered tornado damage can't
possibly support this because too many of their constituents depend on the
ready availability of weather information. That cuts directly across party
lines and ends of the political spectrum. From the day that the original
Weather Bureau of the Department of (I think) Commerce was activated,
farmers throughout the country have had a very special and particular
interest in that service and those farmers and their organizations, alone,
have a huge amount of political savvy and weight. Messing with their ability
to get quick, accurate weather information is a sure way to commit political
suicide. Santorum doesn't represent all that many farmers any more, so it's
not much of a consideration for him, but senators from states from Montana
to Alabama and Colorado to Ohio know which side their bread is buttered on.
----- Original Message -----
From: "Tom Behler" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Saturday, May 14, 2005 12:01 PM
Subject: Re: Save the national weather Service petition
Good points here!
I think the other concern is that it will get tacked onto some other piece
of legislation, where it will be missed by a lot of people.
We've seen that kind of thing happen before, where various bills get hidden
in larger pieces of legislation, and before you know it, they are law too.
Writing personal letters to your Senators is a great idea, and I'd support
that as well.
Best 73 from Tom Behler: KB8TYJ
----- Original Message -----
From: "Walt Smith" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Saturday, May 14, 2005 2:16 AM
Subject: Re: Save the national weather Service petition
> Okay, I see. It's not really _Pennsylvania_ that's trying to do something,
> it's AccuWeather, based in Pennsylvania, and that idiot senator of theirs
> teaming up. There's no way this is going to get anywhere--it's one of
> literally thousands of nuisance bills that get introduced every year to
make
> folks back home feel good. Moreover, be aware that petition efforts of
this
> kind are virtually meaningless because politicians don't pay attention to
> them. If you care, write a personal letter to your senators--it'll carry
> much more weight because they know that _you_ cared enough to take a
little
> time and put a little personal effort into the process instead of just
> signing somebody's shotgun petition.
>
>
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