Well, I finally get to combine the fight against so-called "intellectual property" with our current economic malaise and the upcoming presidential election. Rick Santorum appeared on the Republican straw-poll debate in Ames, Iowa. Basically his presence (and remarks in subsequent post-debate interviews) was exemplified by his whining about the lack of camera time. I guess that the lack of camera time could be considered good news.
His presence at the debate reminded me that there is some history that would make him a poor selection for a presidential candidate. Back in 2005, according to the Democratic Underground.com, Santrorum introduced a bill "that would prohibit federal meteorologists from competing with private companies such as AccuWeather and The Weather Channel. He wants the weather service to surrender much of its data only to private industry, not the public." The quick counter point is that the Weather Service is not providing "free" weather reports, the public has paid the Weather Service for this service through their tax dollars, therefore we are entitled to it. Fortunately this bill failed to gain any traction. For some more information see the Electronic Frontier Foundation's Press Mentions: May, 2005.
One of my major ongoing criticisms of our elected officials is that they seem to have lost sight of working on behalf of the American people. The Weather Service receives its funding from our tax dollars and we are entitled to that data. For Santorum's to claim that the Weather Service should be prohibited from competing with a private company smacks of corporate protectionism. If a business cannot compete, then it has no business being in business. This incident may now be "old" and be relatively isolated but it does raise questions concerning who Santorum would represent should he be elected President.
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