Posted on 02/25/2009 8:09:40 PM PST by presidio9
After President Obama's speech on the economy last night, Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal criticized government spending in the stimulus bill, citing examples including "$140 million for something called 'volcano monitoring.'"
The $140 million to which Jindal referred is actually for a number of projects conducted by the United States Geological Survey, including volcano monitoring. This monitoring is aimed at helping geologists understand the inner workings of volcanoes as well as providing warnings of impending eruptions, in the United States and in active areas around the world where U.S. military bases are located.
Most of the money from the stimulus bill earmarked for monitoring (only about a tenth of the total going to the USGS) will go to modernizing existing monitoring equipment, including switching from analog to digital and installing GPS networks that can measure ground movements, said John Eichelberger, program coordinator for the USGS's Volcano Hazards Program. Much of the expense of this technology comes from the manpower required to make and install it, he added.
"Ultimately most of this creates jobs or saves jobs that would have been lost" to recent budget shortfalls Eichelberger told LiveScience.
When he heard Jindal's remarks, Eichelberger said he "was frankly astonished" that the governor would use this particular example, given his own state's recent brush with a catastrophic natural disaster.
Among the scenarios in which the USGS's monitoring can assist - the catastrophic eruption of Mount St. Helens on May 18, 1980, which killed 57 people (including a geologist monitoring the mountain) and was the deadliest and costliest volcanic eruption in U.S. history ($2.74 billion in 2007 dollars). This event was preceded by thousands of
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
if its rumbling, belching smoke, ash, dust, gas or fire; IT’S TIME TO LEAVE AND QUICKLY!!!!! LOL!
The merits of “Volcano Monitoring” aside. How does it stimulate the economy?
To be honest, with so many easy targets in the stimulus, I thought this was a bad choice by Jindal, just because that Alaskan volcano has been threatening lately. Imagine if ther is a city affecting eruption after Jindal singled this out?
The volcanoes are going to do what they do monitored or not, and although a little advanced warning would be good, all that's going to do is save a handful of human lives, not particularly help the economy.
By employing graduate students and ensuring that the education establishment can hang onto young people longer, and perhaps convince them to become climatologists after stringing them along for a number of years hiking out to remote volcanoes and installing equipment to monitor them.
But yes, the point you’re making is valid, it’s not a stimulus item, it should be part of the normal budget.
I’m not defending the funding, but if you are curious go to usgs.gov to check out what it is about.
He should have stated that; instead, he sounded like he was proud to be ignorant.
Don’t worry gevernor Jindal. America invented the automobile!
You can only put so much into a speech. In this case the point was OBVIOUS. No doubt it was entirely too subtle for Democrats ~ they didn’t even want to read their own bill.
Imagine if the entire $1,000,0000,0000,000 was investeted in volcano monitoring. Our nation would be up to it’s armpits in debt, the economy would still suck, and the volcano would still erupt. That’s what volcanos do sometimes, even if you decide to build a city next to them.
Meanwhile, earmarks like volcano monitoring have zero to do with stimulating the economy. A better use of the money would be on military spending, because obviously Palin will have to call the troops in after the volcano erupts.
I can see Mt Rainier from my front room window. I have been monitoring it for years. It is a volcano, but inactive. WHERE’S MY MONEY??????????????????????????????????
Doesn’t sound “shovel ready” ;-)
Doesn’t sound “shovel ready” ;-)
I like Jindal, and I consider myself conservative, but arguing over which program is proper and which is not is a waste of time.
The real question: Is this Constitutional? Is the spending part of Article 1, Section 8 of the Constitution?
By focusing on this program and that, we concede the larger point to the left - that the government should have the power to do whatever it wants to do, instead of living in a country with a limited government and strictly enumerated powers.
I’m sure that other people who live up here in Alaska can argue that a decent volcano watch program is a reasonable use of the federal government (I’m looking at all those clauses having to do with protecting commerce and promoting science - large numbers of volcanos in Alaska are right in the path of air cargo flights from Asia.)
However, I’m off topic. Is it Constitutional? That’s the question.
Karl had, of course, earlier invented the German Army command motorcycle with sidecar ~ which some people still believe to be an automobile!
I was one of the first people to post that Jindal did not have a good night. That I feel is acceptable.
But what is not acceptable is to continue the venom for another day. Let’s move on and focus on Obama.
Surprise. Ranier is NOT inactive. It’s just not spewing lava and smoke at the moment, but it could shimmy and shake and send a vast landslide down towards Seattle and destroy most of the Eastern suburbs.
I think Jindal’s point is why is it in a stimulus package.
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