It’s a good thing NPR CEO Vivian Schiller thinks the taxpayer funding is insignificant…
The GOP is pushing to cut public funding for liberal outfits NPR and PBS.
ABC reported:

As the House prepares for debate today on the budget, Republicans are trying to cut off public funding for NPR and the Public Broadcasting Service, which run such iconic programs as “Sesame Street” and “Morning Edition.”

The House Republicans’ budget would rescind any funding for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting — which partially supports these two organizations — for the remainder of the year, and zero out millions in funds after that.

This is not the first attempt by Congress to cut funding for what many Republicans see as liberal-leaning broadcast operations.

House Republicans made a proposal in November to strip federal funding for NPR after the radio station fired controversial commentator Juan Williams for comments he made about Muslims.

That bill didn’t pass, but this time, Republicans are in the majority in the House, and many say the cuts are needed to balance the burgeoning U.S. deficit.

“I think they are dead serious. There’s a real concern about budget among lots of people and they’re looking for ways to cut,” said Christopher Sterling, a professor of media and public affairs and public policy at George Washington University.

Also this week Republican Congressman Tom Price (GA) introduced an amendment to completely defund the union-controlled NLRB through the end of FY 2011.

UPDATE: A coalition of conservative groups and Republican lawmakers led by freshman Wisconsin Rep. Sean Duffy is trying to defund what’s left of the Obama-Pelosi stimulus bill.

 

ADVERTISEMENT

  1. #1 February 16, 2011 at 6:57 pm

    wodun commented:

    Something tells me that Sesame Street is strong enough to survive without government funding of PBS. There are many many examples of kid programs that do just fine without the government.

    The Republicans want to kill Big Bird attack is more than a little over the top. This must be the new civility.

  2. #2 February 16, 2011 at 7:07 pm

    Granny commented:

    Something tell me that just about any television channel in the world would be more than happy to pick up Sesame Street at the very drop of a pin. And pay for it to boot.

    Back in the day Public Television definitely did lead the way in children’s programming, educational programming and cooking shows. These days, though, they are far and away behind the times when it comes to most of that . . .

  3. #3 February 16, 2011 at 7:08 pm

    xqqme commented:

    Perhaps folks like Bill Moyer will turn over all the profits they made from this taxpayer funded enterprise to fill any budgetary gaps. LOL

  4. #4 February 16, 2011 at 7:10 pm

    Granny commented:

    JIM – the link in the UPDATE you posted above is broken.

    5. ADVERTISEMENT

  5. #5 February 16, 2011 at 7:12 pm

    tarpon commented:

    Sounds to me anybody with a brain would bid to pick up the few successful shows on these networks and use them to replace Current TV useless waste of spectrum.

  7. #7 February 16, 2011 at 7:14 pm

    Granny commented:

    #5 Tarpon –

    At least some of those successful shows that start out on PBS move to the networks pretty quickly. One of my favorites, Daisy Cooks, started out on PBS. Now she’s on the Foodnetwork Channel.

  9. #10 February 16, 2011 at 7:39 pm

    Mikey commented:

    This is good news! I shouldn’t have to pay for all the liberal drivel that is spewed via NPR and PBS. The government shouldn’t be in the entertainment business. They shouldn’t be in the automobile business either, but with Socialist Zero at the helm nothing is off limits.

    I hope they stand firm on this and abortion issues, as well. It’s time to take our country back from the commies.

  10. #11 February 16, 2011 at 7:53 pm

    DINORight commented:

    A very funny and appropriate amendment: cut the funding for The One’s Teleprompter!! TOTUS should be RIFed:

    http://nation.foxnews.com/barack-obama/2011/02/15/republican-proposes-cut-funding-obama-s-teleprompter

    Too bad he pulled it. The One can’t really speak well off the cuff, unless he is doing radical activist Alinsky-speak, that is.

  11. #12 February 16, 2011 at 8:11 pm

    iconoclast commented:

    After watching Obamacare get continuing funding from the RINO’s on the Rules Committee, I will wait to see if this is just more happy talk intended for the proles back home before I celebrate.

  12. #13 February 16, 2011 at 8:29 pm

    Faye commented:

    Why in the dickens are we still supporting these leeches? This was never the responsibility of the Federal government and we should get the hell out of this entertainment businesses. I don’t care what political propaganda they support, the federal government should have never been in this business.
    Too bad the politicians in DC have not got the balls to get us out of it completely.
    Just love the socialist talking points of taking tax money to do what the states and local government should do and flake off National security like sealing our borders.

  14. #15 February 16, 2011 at 8:50 pm

    rampart ranger commented:

    With all the $$$$ brought in by the sale and licensing of Sesame Street characters, if they can’t make a go of it with all that cash inflow, maybe Issa should investigate who has their hands in the till at Sesame Street.

  15. #16 February 16, 2011 at 9:30 pm

    P. Aaron commented:

    I’m all for defunding all this non-essential crap!

  16. #17 February 16, 2011 at 10:12 pm

    olm commented:

    I CANT wait until they defund this.
    I’ll donate or buy more Sesame Street stuff if they defund. I swear I will. This and Planned Parenthood need to be defunded now.

  17. #18 February 16, 2011 at 10:18 pm

    gus commented:

    Why? Why do we support an organization that sh!ts on us??

  18. #19 February 16, 2011 at 10:23 pm

    Big L commented:

    What a minute. There is no plan to kill PBS or the other two twaddle-purveyors. It is public payments that arebeing stopped. The folks that watch these shows or companies can PAY for it themselves. They can do pledge breaks and bake sales and the rest. The Donks and lefites are setting the argument…Don’t let them get away with it.
    Also check out http://www.npr.org and look at the tax return. There are salaries for $300,000.00 per year listed, and a number of $180,000.ones. Also looks like NPR sold a radio station for $115 million. NPR is not impoverished. These folks like the scam of having other pay for it.

  19. #20 February 16, 2011 at 10:59 pm

    olm commented:

    That’s absolutely correct. Don’t let them frame the debate. This will not end pbs/npr or planned parenthood, they will just have to operate as a business.
    They are desparately trying to frame the debate. Look at the hot troll mess on the muslim gang rape thread. We can not allow the left to frame these debates.
    We literally don’t have the money.

  20. #21 February 16, 2011 at 11:03 pm

    AuntieMadder commented:

    What Mikey and Faye said.

  21. #22 February 16, 2011 at 11:11 pm

    Elly commented:

    Cut the public spending for these orgs NOW.

  22. #25 February 17, 2011 at 3:21 am

    ogee commented:

    Defund ACORN, CODE PINK, UNIONS, NPR and send pink slips to the non elected czars.
    Cut Medicare fraud. Cut Bribes for votes. Cut projects to nowhere. Cut the the most selfish congress in the history of this country’s perks and waste. Cut their staff size in half. Cut oval office perks like ‘vacation trips’ and cut the secret service in half. Cut perks and entitlements to illegal aliens. Cut the homeland insecurity size in half. Cut obamadeathscarecare. Cut the crap and don’t mess with social security or necessary saftey nets but cut the fraud in them….not now….now is not the time to cut the safety nets…Defund Mosques construction and support. There are so many obvious things to cut. If I only had the budget in hard copy I’d show them where to slash it. Cut phoney war funding.
    Attacking the paid into gov insurance program like Social Security is not going to get it. Open your freaking eyes. Stop playing around. Cut congress’s pay in half. Half a million dollars paid per congresscreep for a year of part time work is abominable! I’d love to have a hard copy of the budget. Would I have obvious fun! The list would reveal the obvious. The old solutions of cutting saftey nets are a joke. That’s not a viable solution. Defund the weekly WH parties. Man I’d love to have the budget and make them all tighten THEIR belts and stop attacking the people’s funds who are hurting in this depression. They all can stand to lose a few pound and and have less. Most of them are on drugs anyway. They can’t think their way out of a paper bag. Both Parties are in the tank and owned by the big bankers…Rockefellers… Cut and slash or we’ll slash and burn. Stop whining. Balance the budget now. It cost approx $300MM a year just in congressional pay alone not including their staff…cut the crap. Don’t cut the poor people’s stuff. Stupids.

  23. #28 February 17, 2011 at 12:59 pm

    aprilnovember811 commented:

    Senator Jim DeMints response about PBS
    DeMint said in this brilliant press release:

    The Muppets are in town. No, not for a show. They are in Washington to do business.

    Inside the Beltway, Sesame Street turns into K Street and Elmo is a lobbyist…

    Make no mistake, public broadcasting’s furry friends are political animals.

    Elmo has been particularly busy. Elmo has testified before Congress about the need for more funding for the arts and participated in other press conferences to increase spending on public broadcasting. Elmo even went on the lecture circuit last year with Federal Communications Chairman Julius Genochowski to promote government-funded broadband Internet.

    At this rate, Americans can expect Big Bird to start filming commercials to hype ObamaCare. If the FCC can borrow Elmo from PBS to build support for their plans, what’s to stop the Department of Health and Human Services from feeding Big Bird some lines?

    It’s time to draw a clear distinction between the government and entertainment. Democrats shouldn’t cast our children’s most beloved creatures as characters for their big-government, big-spending causes…

    Shows like Sesame Street are multi-million dollar enterprises capable of thriving in the private market. According to the 990 tax form all nonprofits are required to file, Sesame Workshop President and CEO Gary Knell received $956,513 — nearly a million dollars — in compensation in 2008. And, from 2003 to 2006, “Sesame Street” made more than $211 million from toy and consumer product sales.

    When taxpayer funding for public broadcasting ends, rest assured, Cookie Monster will still be fed.

    Saving the country from crushing debt and taxes is going to require hard choices. Telling the Muppet lobby “no” shouldn’t be one of them.

  24. #29 February 17, 2011 at 3:52 pm

    Valerie commented:

    I think the Dems are protecting a slush fund, here.

    http://www.thewrap.com/media/column-post/democrats-tap-big-bird-help-save-public-broadcasting-funding-24767
    http://store.sesamestreet.org/

    I am a channel hopper, and I listen to NPR from time to time. During the last election, I heard stories aired on NPR that were funded by grant money and pushed a specific political point of view. This is inappropriate.

  25. #30 February 18, 2011 at 1:30 pm

    Rob commented:

    Why the label “liberal outfits”? And if we are cutting these guys off, can we PLEASE cut off corporate America? Can anyone say ehanol subsidies? That cost more than $6 billion last year, and that is just one corporate giveaway. So stop trying to nickle-and-dime your way out of debt. Get serious, and start with the Pentagon and Corporate Welfare. For those that oppose those as starting points, you are not truly serious, or educated on the subject.

  26. #32 February 21, 2011 at 8:56 am

    Danelle commented:

    Was watching a program on the dangers of fracking on PBS last night…I find it very interesting that the increased educational programs PBS has been airing on hydrofracking coincides with the recent Republican proposal to slash funding to PBS and NPR. Hmmmm…..

    It’s not just about “Sesame Street”…there are hundreds (http://www.pbs.org/programs/)of very important educational programs on PBS. I know I don’t want to lose PBS after everything they’ve done…their passion and dedication to quality programs like Nova, The National Parks and Scientific American Frontiers. Saying “oh some channel will pick up Sesame Street” is so complacent and ignorant as only lazy Americans can put it. PBS if YOURS so rather than bend over and take it, the right thing to do would be to fight for NPR and PBS. Before you know it, you’ll be slumped over your recliner with 500 channels of right wing agenda to watch saying “ah, we didn’t need all that freedom anyway…we had too much”.

    In regards to Valerie’s comment…”I am a channel hopper, and I listen to NPR from time to time. During the last election, I heard stories aired on NPR that were funded by grant money and pushed a specific political point of view. This is inappropriate.”

    Seriously, you think THIS is inappropriate. How about shutting down FOX NEWS then???!!! All they DO is deliver the right’s opinions to the ignorant masses…you’re not outraged about that? At least NPR delivers ACTUAL NEWS and not their SPIN on news. Seriously…wake up!

© Copyright 2012, TheGatewayPundit.com. All rights reserved.
Privacy Policy | Terms and Conditions | Web Development By Arlington Kirk