Fri, May 08, 2009
$17 Billion Cut... But Trillions More Spent Elsewhere
The Obama Administration, in the process of spending trillions
of dollars for all manner of programs and projects, is trumpeted
the 17 Billion dollars it is trying to cut from the Federal Budget.
Rather than try to digest them all en masse, we'll look at each of
them one at a time and allow you to make up YOUR mind as to the
rationale and wisdom for the decisions included below. Herewith;
another of the programs on the chopping block that has an aviation
or aerospace connotation.
From the 'Terminations, Reductions, and Savings' document
published this week by the OMB, as part of the FY 2010 US
Budget:
Proposal: The Administration is proposing to
terminate the terrestrial-based, long-range radionavigation system
(Loran-C) operated by the U.S. Coast Guard because it is obsolete
technology. Accounting for inflation, this will achieve a savings
of $36 million in 2010 and $190 million over five years.
Justification: Loran-C is a federally-provided
radionavigation system for civil marine use in U.S. coastal areas.
The Nation no longer needs this system because the
federally-supported civilian Global Positioning System (GPS) has
replaced it with superior capabilities. As a result, Loran-C,
including recent limited technological enhancements, serves only
the remaining small group of long-time users. It no longer serves
any governmental function and it is not capable as a backup for
GPS.
Several Federal agencies, including the Departments of Defense,
Transportation, and Homeland Security, already have backup systems
for their critical GPS applications and the termination of Loran-C
does not foreclose future development of a national back-up system.
It merely stops the outflow of taxpayer dollars to sustain a system
that does not now and will not, in its current state, serve as a
backup to GPS.
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