Just 9 months after tornadoes tore through Joplin, killing scores of people, and just 10 months after the same thing happened in Birmingham, the President's FY2013 Budget is proposing to cut 100 key jobs from local warning and forecast offices. The sad thing is, President Obama probably doesn't even know about it.
Want to let him know? Sign the White House Petition, and tell him to stop risking the safety of the American public to appease Republican calls for austerity.
Probably more importantly, the President should be aware of what his line offices are doing and how they are handling the budget he hands down to them.
What positions are being cut? The President's FY2013 budget cuts IT support at EVERY field office in the nation, and consolidates them into 24 regional positions.
This basically means if the computers go down during a tornado warning situation, people better hope the problem can be solved remotely, or else they're not going to get their warnings. These IT professionals are critical to making sure hackers are kept at bay. Many of them are meteorologists themselves, and hop in to help monitor the radar and issue warnings during severe weather.
How much will this save taxpayers? About $10 million. Really?!? One tornado can take out 25 McMansions and cost our economy that much. The cost of one badly placed decision to evacuate a city due to an errant hurricane track forecast would be about this much as well.
We need to tell President Obama what's going on with his line agencies. Remember, he specifically mentioned that we "should not cut critical services like the NWS" to appease Republican calls for austerity. Well, his administration is doing just that, and he needs to know about it.
Sign the Petition by clicking here. Also look up "Protect the National Weather Service" on Facebook and like them, if you're interested in keeping up with the latest developments on this situation.