Santorm introducing bill that would make getting weather cost us money

[Quixote1818]

After reading, go to: http://www.weatherunderground.com/blog/JeffMasters/show.html and sign petition.

You are NOT going to believe this bill from Santorum!
>
>
> Here comes the rain again
>
> Republican Senator Rick Santorum doesn't want you to get your
weather for free. He's introduced a bill
>
<http://www.palmbeachpost.com/news/content/news/epaper/2005/04/21/m1a_
wx_0421.html>
> that would keep the National Weather Service from releasing weather
> forecast information to the public.
>
> Why? Because companies like AccuWeather offer the same information
for cost or on advertisement-driven sites, and they don't want the
competition.
>
> With the National Weather Service out of the picture (and its
incredibly useful website <http://www.nws.noaa.gov/> all but gone), weather
>forecasts would no longer be public information. The information
would be subject to the restrictions set on it by just a few private
>companies. And real competition and innovation would be stifled.
>
>Another supporter of the weather service's efforts, Tallahassee
>database analyst John Simpson, said the plethora of free data
>becoming available could eventually fuel a new industry of
small and emerging companies that would repackage the information for
public consumption. He said a similar explosion occurred in the 1990s,
when corporations' federal securities filings became freely
available onthe Web.
>
>Shutting off the information flow would stifle that innovation
and solidify the major weather companies' hold on the market,
Simpson said.
>
> So why is Santorum pushing this special interest gift for companies
like AccuWeather? We're sure he just has the best interests of the
American people in mind, and that it has nothing to do with his close
friendship with AccuWeather founder Joel Myers
> <http://www.opensecrets.org/indivs/search.asp?
> For Democrats, being pro-business means supporting innovation and
making our economy stronger. For Republicans, being pro-business means
selling legislation to the highest bidder.

[KlatooBNikto]

1. Santorum must be having a Dog Day Afternoon.

[bryant69]

2. Santorum has repeated shown the morals of a viper

And that might be an insult to vipers.

Bryant
Check it out --> http://politicalcomment.blogspot.com

[Mary in KC]

3. Here in the Midwest we really depend on NOAA weather

radios during tornado time.

[GiovanniC]

4. When I Get My Weather

I want easy-to-read, accurate weather information with easy access to interactive radar and satellite maps, high/low temperatures, precipitation, humidity, wind speeds, and alerts notifying me if there is severe weather in my area.

I have a Weather Channel tool on the desktop on my computer at home that flashes and produces a "thunder" noise when there is a severe weather alert.

Since I do a lot of traveling, I like to be able to select my departure and destination cities and see what the weather should be like on every leg of my journey.

If Accuweather, Weather Channel, et cetera can do these sorts of things in the most useful and user-friendly way, then they've got me.

Attempts to shut down competition from the Weather Service, however, prompts me to believe that they would rather have a monopoly on the weather than help me, the consumer.