Do You Want Senate Bill 786 To Be Passed?

[Andrew92]

I looked here to see how dumb of a poll this was, knowing that there would be a 0% "yes" number, yet somehow 10 people have voted to essentially eliminate NOAA. It's these people that make you wonder about what the world is coming to . . .

Actually, come to think of it, part me is beginning to think at least one could be He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named (and I don't mean from the Harry Potter books).

I would support even TWC over this bill any day of the week.

-Andrew92

[senorpepr]

Here's a thought...

We've seen the hype involved in the media during storms to increase viewership and therefore increase profits. Wouldn't the privatized weather outlets do the same thing? Wouldn't the private sites overhype the threats of a weather system for a major metropolitian area and thus leave the "little guys" (people in least populated areas) in the dark?

[brunota2003]

I looked here to see how dumb of a poll this was, knowing that there would be a 0% "yes" number, yet somehow 10 people have voted to essentially eliminate NOAA. It's these people that make you wonder about what the world is coming to . . .

You think my poll is dumb? How insulting... I just wanted to see other peoples opinion's on the bill...

[WindRunner]

I looked here to see how dumb of a poll this was, knowing that there would be a 0% "yes" number, yet somehow 10 people have voted to essentially eliminate NOAA. It's these people that make you wonder about what the world is coming to . . .

You think my poll is dumb? How insulting... I just wanted to see other peoples opinion's on the bill...

Oh no, I don't think it's dumb at all. I wasn't aware that some do not see the imminent disaster if this bill passes. I think that this can serve to educate those who think that this bill is good because we need scientific progress. This isn't how to get there.

[brunota2003]

I looked here to see how dumb of a poll this was, knowing that there would be a 0% "yes" number, yet somehow 10 people have voted to essentially eliminate NOAA. It's these people that make you wonder about what the world is coming to . . .

You think my poll is dumb? How insulting... I just wanted to see other peoples opinion's on the bill...

Oh no, I don't think it's dumb at all. I wasn't aware that some do not see the imminent disaster if this bill passes. I think that this can serve to educate those who think that this bill is good because we need scientific progress. This isn't how to get there.

Ok, LOL i thought we'd have 0 on the yes also, plus i was surprised at how many people did vote yes, or didnt know about the bill, interesting...

[brunota2003]

bump, if you havent read this already...

[jasons2k]

I'm very much a conservative and all for free enterprise but I am completely against this bill. I'm actually shocked there are 11 votes in favor of it.

[mikemiller18]

I'm very much a conservative and all for free enterprise but I am completely against this bill. I'm actually shocked there are 11 votes in favor of it.

No you aren't, obviously. Don't let your bias' get in the way ha.


And to the overhyping, I would assume there would be a massive grey area to a threat. It would be hard to keep business' in check with what they report. Obviously news agencies report with drama to get viewers, but they also report. I think through competition, there has to be at least 1 honest one. Companies pay millions of dollars for a good reputation, I highly doubt they would want to ruin it.

[mikemiller18]

No.

At the basic root of the social contract, the Government's sole purpose is to protect its' citizens and give them the security that society must provide. That's why even small-government Republicans support lots of spending on national defense. It's one of the main reasons for government's existence. In my opinion, defending against natural disasters and any other sort of threat to our security and safety is considered national defense. Should we be privatizing the US military so we can have competing, steamlined military forces that work against each other in the hope of being recognized for the "best" job? That's what competition would do in this sort of case. There's also no real reason for private companies to be more motivated than the NWS. At the NWS, it's not about money, it's about an even more important reward - saving lives.

National Defense spending is fine, alongs it is domestic of course. The problems is how they are funding it, through many unnecessary taxes and regulations.

The public welfare quote in the constitution has been so interpreted liberally that people want to expand it to hurricanes. Jefferson must be rolling over in his grave.

[tornadochaser86]

yup i concur

[brunota2003]

since we have new members joining everyday, I decided to bump this poll up...

[Recurve]

No.

At the basic root of the social contract, the Government's sole purpose is to protect its' citizens and give them the security that society must provide. That's why even small-government Republicans support lots of spending on national defense. It's one of the main reasons for government's existence. In my opinion, defending against natural disasters and any other sort of threat to our security and safety is considered national defense. Should we be privatizing the US military so we can have competing, steamlined military forces that work against each other in the hope of being recognized for the "best" job? That's what competition would do in this sort of case. There's also no real reason for private companies to be more motivated than the NWS. At the NWS, it's not about money, it's about an even more important reward - saving lives.

National Defense spending is fine, alongs it is domestic of course. The problems is how they are funding it, through many unnecessary taxes and regulations.

The public welfare quote in the constitution has been so interpreted liberally that people want to expand it to hurricanes. Jefferson must be rolling over in his grave.

I wouldn't be so sure about Jefferson. He sold his personal library to the government to form the basis of the Library of Congress. You think he was against the government doing anything just because a private company could also do it? The king used to have a thing called royal charters that gave private companies monopolies on everything from tea to china. The U.S. democratic experiment was precisely against that kind of thing.

Some people have been fed a mythology of government = bad. Government is us, kid. If we want the NWS to provide the data it collects, on our dime, to us, and not just in secret to private companies, then that's what it's going to do. The data the NWS develops and releases is there for any capitalist to package, publish, massage, refute, comment on, spice up, add graphics, or do anything else it wants. Fortunes have been made by taking government-provided data and making it more valuable. It should never be about making the raw data unavailable simply so I have to subscribe to some private company's service to see it.

Where do you think a private weather service gets its maps? Did it send out cartographers to map the globe? No, maybe the USGS did, and thousands of private companies copied the free, publicly available geographic data to make their weather graphics, and their atlases, and their highway-diner placemats. Do you think the private companies placed buoys in the oceans to take temperature and salinity readings? No, maybe the coast guard did. Do you think the scientists who spent the last 50 years figuring out how tropical cyclones work did it with money from private weather companies? No, maybe they worked at land-grant universities and accepted government funding and used government computers. But now, it would be a perfect time for some private company, with all the infrastructure, research, and knowledge already in place, to cut a vital government agency off from We the People and start charging everybody (or making us slaves to TV stations who they will also charge) to get vital weather data. Puhhhleeeeze!

[mike815]

This bill just cant be passed Its that simple. I think this bill is bad news!

[terstorm1012]

I think a basic sticky about this bill should be posted, as I think a lot of people may be misunderstanding the public/private/privitization of weather data versus what this bill will actually do.