[jfim]

> If an idea is only supported by 5% of the population, we generally do NOT want that 5% of the population driving the legislative agenda.

It depends. The other 95% of the population might be agnostic or unaware of the idea, or the other 95% of the population might be opposed to the idea.

If Congress were to pass a law mandating funding for WWVB radio until 2050, for example, would even 5% of the population have an opinion on it either way?

[turbinerneiter]

Probably, if you used words they know instead of acronyms they don't.

"Do you want the radio signal that allows clocks to sync to keep running? Here is a list of devices you might know and use that rely on them: ..."

[olyjohn]

I guarantee nobody would care. Even when you tell people the impact it might have on them... they may only have to replace one clock, or not any at all. Their cell phone clock works just fine.

[turbinerneiter]

Well if it has no impact on them then maybe it's not so important.

[_djo_]

There's a difference between them perceiving it to have no impact, and it having no impact.

It also may be important enough to keep funding with 0.0001% of the budget or whatever it costs, but not important enough for a higher level of funding. Still requires advocacy.