I had heard about this, but I didn't think it was actually going anywhere. Apparently I was wrong. In essence, the short version is this: The National Weather Service, the government organization that collects reams and reams of weather data, all paid for by your tax dollars, gives away the information it collects for free. You, the taxpayer, pay for it, and the NWS gives it back to you for free. This information includes the realy really great thing we call the weather forecast. Like the 5 day weather forcast. As in today is going to be sunny with a high of 67F. All FREE, because you, the taxpayer paid for it. It's good stuff. Except, apparently, Senator Rick Santorum (R-PA), doesn't think this is a good idea. He thinks NWS should give the information for free to corporations like AccuWeather, and then they will sell it to you. So, let's review this. You, the taxpayer, paid for the NWS information (including the 5 day forecast). Then, the NWS gives away the information to companies. Then, the companies sell the information (the 5 day forecast) back to you. So, you the taxpayer, get the golden opportunity to pay for the same NWS information TWICE. Or, to put this back into Republican-speak, Santorum wants you to PAY ANOTHER TAX. I'm sorry if this seems a little shrill, I just can't stand it when sell-out senators seem to think that the job of taxpayer paid government is to make their corporate pimps rich. In case you'd like to register your displaeasure to AccuWeather whore Santorum, his DC office is: 511 Dirksen Senate Office Building Washington, DC 20510
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