This ranks right up there with tobacco subsidies for “most\nselfish, asinine government”.<\/p>\n\n
Senator Rick Santorum<\/a>\n(R-PA) wants to prohibit the National\nWeather Service<\/a> from releasing their weather data to the public. Note\nthat the National Weather Service is paid for by public tax monies — that\nis, paid for by the people whose access Sen. Santorum wants to block.<\/p>\n\n So, why does Sen. Santorum want to ban the public release of\ntaxpayer-funded weather data? Quoting the senator (as seen in, among other\nplaces, Of course, some of those companies are headquartered in his state,\nPennsylvania. I heard<\/span> on a TV<\/span> news report the senator saying something\nalong the lines of “these companies employ thousands of\npeople”. Geez, should the government outlaw cars because of their\nthreat to the horse-and-buggy industry? Considering the number of Amish in\nPennsylvania, a call<\/span> by Sen. Santorum to ban cars might not be\nunexpected.<\/p>\n\n What a moron.<\/p>\n\n\n\n “NOAA's actions threaten the continued success of the commercial\n weather\n industry<\/b>,” Santorum said in a Senate<\/span> session last week.\n“It's not an easy\n prospect for a business<\/span> to attract advertisers, subscribers, or investors\n when the government is providing similar products and services for\n free.<\/b>”\n\n<\/blockquote>\n\n