Mike Johnston
EF5
With the federal govt. budget sequestration looking like a real possibility on March 1st, what are some of your insights into the actual effect on the NWS?
Of course, there's a lot of hype among agencies that may actually have to cut. Some stories this week are talking about lack of needed satellites and computing power to run the best forecasting models. But, I've seen these cuts come and go since the mid-80's and it seems like most agencies always publicize their most dramatic programs, and portray any budget impact that would create a crisis for society.
One one hand, the actual sequestration would involve a tiny fraction of total federal govt. spending, so I'm a little skeptical that individual dept. and agency directors couldn't find a way of meeting these cuts and still preserve their most high-priority programs. On the other hand, I can see that some agencies who have persevered in an environment of limited funding and growing needs could be impaired. Part of the problem with the sequestration is it's mostly "across the board" rather than the Senate actually proposing and passing a budget that reflects ACTUAL PRIORITIES, as determined by the people's representatives. So, I can see how this would be frustrating to an agency director.
This is not meant to open a political discussion, but rather discuss the potential impacts on our weather service and whether the stories we're seeing on TWC and other media are more or less reality, or mostly hype.
Of course, there's a lot of hype among agencies that may actually have to cut. Some stories this week are talking about lack of needed satellites and computing power to run the best forecasting models. But, I've seen these cuts come and go since the mid-80's and it seems like most agencies always publicize their most dramatic programs, and portray any budget impact that would create a crisis for society.
One one hand, the actual sequestration would involve a tiny fraction of total federal govt. spending, so I'm a little skeptical that individual dept. and agency directors couldn't find a way of meeting these cuts and still preserve their most high-priority programs. On the other hand, I can see that some agencies who have persevered in an environment of limited funding and growing needs could be impaired. Part of the problem with the sequestration is it's mostly "across the board" rather than the Senate actually proposing and passing a budget that reflects ACTUAL PRIORITIES, as determined by the people's representatives. So, I can see how this would be frustrating to an agency director.
This is not meant to open a political discussion, but rather discuss the potential impacts on our weather service and whether the stories we're seeing on TWC and other media are more or less reality, or mostly hype.
