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Your Tax Dollars At Work

The latest brainstorm from Capitol Hill is that American taxpayers should be denied access to information that we've already paid for with our tax dollars, because it's better that we should pay even more money to private companies before we can get access to the information. Not only does the legislation waste taxpayer money, but it also might kill people.

The legislation in question is the National Weather Services Duties Act of 2005. As described by our reporter Thomas Claburn, the bill would forbid the NWS from releasing information that might put it into competition with private-sector companies. It also forbids the NWS from distributing information if private-sector companies "could provide a similar service for a fee." Since the private sector could conceivably provide any service now provided by the NWS, we might as well just call this the Put-The-NWS-Out-Of-Business Act.

The availability of accurate weather prediction isn't just a convenience. The weather forecast doesn't exist to advise you whether to bring a sun hat or umbrella to work in the morning. Weather forecasts save lives by providing warnings of hurricanes, tornadoes, and other life-endangering weather. Claburn writes: "The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration reported in July that there had been no tornado fatalities since March, a first during this period since record keeping began in 1950." Similarly, forecasters accurately predicted where Hurricane Dennis made landfall five days in advance, a feat that would have been impossible 40 to 50 years ago. While the legislation by Sen. Rick Santorum specifically exempts emergency warnings from its anti-competitive provisions, the warnings will be less useful if they're less accurate.

Now, the NWS might have nothing to do with improved accuracy in predictions, but are you willing to bet your life on it? I don't mean that as a figure of speech. I mean it literally: Are you willing to die to test out your economic theories about privatization? I didn't think so.

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