United States Tsunami Readiness Weakened By Proposed Republican Budget Cuts

 Tsunami

When the budget ax swings on anything that can be made to sound frivolous there are times when reality snaps everyone back to reality. The earthquake and tsunami that struck Japan managed to shine a spotlight on proposed Republican budget cuts that could reduce the effectiveness of the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center in Hawaii.

An article titled “Proposed GOP budget cuts target tsunami warning centers” by Lucy Madison March 11, 2011 and posted on the CBS News website goes into the particulars of the budget cuts that are proposed. This follows a pattern as budget cuts proposed thus far nibble around the edges of the real problem. If the usual pattern was followed this cut for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Agency and the National Weather Service would be characterized as cutting nonessential and frivolous spending, until the disaster in Japan occurs.

Imagine the finger pointing is a similar sized tsunami that devastated Japan  were to hit an area in the United States without adequate warning and it was traced back to a budget cut that could have been avoided. There is no way to know where a tsunami is headed without the proper technology such as monitoring buoys etc.

There are always items that can be cut from a budget that sound frivolous to someone in Kansas, but are critical to the coasts and the reverse is true as well. One thing that should not be on the frivolous chopping block is protection from severe, although rare, events like hurricanes, earthquakes and tsunamis. We have New Orleans, Indonesia and Japan as proof of the need for as much warning as possible.

Fewer Cops, Firemen, Teachers, Schools & Bad Roads - Broke America

We slide slowly into the abyss when it comes to the government services that we have taken for granted for years and it is a result of basic math ruled by the deep recession. We have to realize that the landslide that was the economy going over the cliff began in full force during September, October and November of 2008 before the election of President Barack Obama. That means that we have been mired in this situation for 2 years and 5 months.

While private industry tends to feel the effects of an economic downturn immediately, government entities tend to lag behind in feeling the pain because their revenue sources are affected later and over time. Businesses runs on more of a real time basis on monthly and quarterly revenue changes. Dips in revenue for a company will be met with changes on the cost side in the form of employee layoffs or other actions if the declines are lasting. Government revenues will dip later if an economic downturn lasts long enough.

Most state, local and national governments can weather small or short dips in tax income by dipping into special funds or floating a bond to accomplish special projects. When a downturn lasts as long as this one and then is compounded by the real estate collapse, then it is a 1 2 punch. Drops in consumer spending is killing state and local sales tax income. The housing crisis, falling property values and foreclosures severely dented property tax revenue that cities, counties and schools depend on. After two years the buffer is gone and there is simply not enough tax money coming in to meet past spending requirements.

The revenue shortfall means less of everything that we took for granted. Fewer policemen, firemen and teachers, but we may have more potholes in the streets. As an example the Dallas Independent School District is looking at possibly laying off 3,100 teachers, 800 support personnel and other cutbacks. Some cities are reducing police officers and fire fighters. On the other side of the coin is less to spend on things like street maintenance and repair. Many cities are already in the hole due to extra costs from dealing with cleanups after huge winter snow and ice storms.

So what does a country feel like with no local public pools open, as some cities have gone to,and fewer public library branches. When will the first news story come up where service cutbacks are blamed for some crime taking place because of reduced police presence or a home burns down because the closest fire station was closed due to budget cuts. The response will be sobering as we realize that there is a new reality at hand in the United States.