Break out the Big Bird and Elmo props again — Sens. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.) and Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) introduced a bill Friday that would eliminate federal funds for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, the latest shot in a long-running GOP effort to kill PBS funding.
Their legislation would stop all taxpayer subsidies to CPB and its entities, including National Public Radio and Public Broadcasting Service, which the GOP pair argues can survive financially without taxpayer dollars.
“NPR boasts that it only gets 2 percent of its funding from taxpayers and PBS gets about 15 percent, so these programs should be able to find a way to stand on their own,” said DeMint in a statement about the bill.
Coburn chimed in that the “federal government has no business picking winners and losers in today’s highly competitive media environment.”
It sounds like DeMint and Coburn want more Faux News and less neutral programming. This yearly threat to PBS and NPR has been going on for years. It has nothing to do with our budget crisis. That is a ruse. This is all about conservative control.
Earlier last week we discussed the threats to defund NPR and PBS in the Ken Burns thread. Now the threat is real. What shows do we like and watch and what do these shows give us that are uniquely American? What can be done to stop these people from ripping away what many of us consider our culture? When will they decide to defund the national parks and monuments?
This is motivated solely by politics, particularly conservative and Republican politics. The budget is the excuse, but the real reason is to denude any entity of its ability to help (i.e. vote for) Democrats. The conservatives are absolutely beside themselves in anger over the Democrats taking the Congress and White House in 2008 and have now declared total war on all things Democrat. Being emboldened by the mid-term elections, they will stop at nothing. I shudder to think about redistricting. If you are anything other than an older conservative white male, watch out!
And here I thought this was all because they thought Bert and Ernie were gay!!!
Maybe it was because it was recommended by the bipartisan debt commission convened by President Obama? No, that couldn’t be it.
I heard that the Koch Brothers were bidding for the rights to Big Bird and intend to make him the face of a new “drill here, drill now” campaign. They saw his demo tape and decided they had to have him: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FOUL7KIMZJ4
So, the US economy is going to be much more improved and on its way to a lovely recovery by cutting pay and benefits of the working class and elminating PBS. While $1.3BILLION continues to flow to Egypt. I get it now. And to think I wasted all that time in college on economics….
Silly you, Juturna.
You also forgot about the war money flowing out of the country and the people making in excess of $500,00 who just had tax cuts extended.
Kill the bird! Kill the Bird. Save our country!
I still think it is because Bert and Ernie are perceived as gay. Also, I am not so sure about Oscar. The Count is part of the occult. Too much diversity!
Or, here’s a thought….if PBS is worthy, it should be able to survive on it’s own!
I’m sure it will. Then they could elminate the ‘special’ programming for the masses and crank it up a notch or two.
Actually, part of the point of public TV is to reach those who might otherwise not be able to afford it. Those who can donate regularly.
Commercial-free TV coming across the airwaves rather than cable isn’t such a bad idea.
I am curious whether those who strongly support PBS watch while those who oppose it never or rarely watch it.
@Moon-howler
Somehow I jsut don’t think that is the case–and I bet they listen to NPR also. Sort of closet listeners.
Ever think that the wining coming from NPR and PBS is because those at the top really love the current gravy train their on? The president of NPR makes well over $1,000,000.00 a year for crying out loud. If I were getting well over a million bucks a year on the backs of tax payers I would raise a stink if they tried to take it away as well.
Why doesn’t George Soros just buy some additional ‘journalists’ for them, he has more than enough money to support yet another front group for his message.
Only 15% of the money that goes into PBS is from government support. Perhaps you might want to educate yourself before wining [sic] about the treasure trove PBS is sitting on.
Don’t you want little Hello to enjoy Bert and Ernie or would you prefer to have him grow up watching Bart Simpson?
You lie -I think there are many people making a million or more on the backs of the taxpayers……
For all the quality programming, we also have to deal with people like the ones that fired Juan Williams and then disregarded any complaints and said that NPR didn’t need federal funding.
Even Ron Schiller says that NPR might be better off without federal funding. He said this while sucking up to two men posing as Muslim Brotherhood members that offered to donate $5 million. He criticized the GOP, “The current Republican Party, particularly the Tea Party, is fanatically involved in people’s personal lives and very fundamental Christian – I wouldn’t even call it Christian. It’s this weird evangelical kind of move…” to two men supposedly part of a group that wants to spread Sharia! You know, the religious/POLITICAL system that is fanatically involved in people’s personal lives and very fundamental.
Followers of Sharia make the most fundamental Christian busybody look like a San Francisco libertine.
The irony! The stupidity! It burns!
http://gatewaypundit.rightnetwork.com/2011/03/62542/