The House of Representatives has finally acted on a desire that Republicans (most loudly if not solely) have held for a long time now. A subcommittee voted to sharply cut the amount of taxpayer dollars going to the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, purveyors of such filth as Sesame Street and Arthur. While the budget cuts are far from final and could be scaled back when the bill goes to the full Congress it does come amidst more and more weapons being aimed at public broadcasting, both on TV and on the radio, and the perceived "liberal bias" (read: not bending over to conservative groups) that exists there. PBS budget to be cut
The House of Representatives has finally acted on a desire that Republicans (most loudly if not solely) have held for a long time now. A subcommittee voted to sharply cut the amount of taxpayer dollars going to the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, purveyors of such filth as Sesame Street and Arthur. While the budget cuts are far from final and could be scaled back when the bill goes to the full Congress it does come amidst more and more weapons being aimed at public broadcasting, both on TV and on the radio, and the perceived "liberal bias" (read: not bending over to conservative groups) that exists there. 
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
6-16-2005 @ 4:20PM
Vince said...
Don't you go calling Arthur filth it is THE best kids' show. I'm so addicted to it, I'm actually watching it right now.
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6-16-2005 @ 4:20PM
e said...
Vince, I think that was sarcasm. This news is bad, and the CPB honestly didn't need any more of this crap. I've received more than a few newsletters from FAIR (http://www.fair.org) about the conservatives and the CPB. It isn't looking good for the network. With the multitude of channels to choose from now, is PBS still needed? I think so, but I've been watching since infancy, practically.
And I have an Arthur CD. Kick-ass!
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6-16-2005 @ 4:20PM
Vince said...
Where did you get the cd?
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6-16-2005 @ 4:20PM
hdtv forum said...
If it's not Fox News propaganda, it's gotta go! PBS loses tax money, yet Bush didn't have a problem using taxpayer dollars to pay Armstrong Williams $240,000 to promote controversial No Child Left Behind legislation on a nationally syndicated television show. The hypocrisy is unreal.
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6-16-2005 @ 4:20PM
Chris McCaw said...
I think sarcasm is implied when calling Arthur' "filth". I say they privatize PBS. PBS Kids is trying to immitate Nick Jr. or Playhouse Disney. They should go back to I.T. (instructional television) programming mornings and afternoons for schools to tape and use.
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6-16-2005 @ 4:20PM
Chris McCaw said...
I think sarcasm is implied when calling Arthur' "filth". I say they privatize PBS. PBS Kids is trying to immitate Nick Jr. or Playhouse Disney. They should go back to I.T. (instructional television) programming mornings and afternoons for schools to tape and use.
Reply
6-16-2005 @ 4:20PM
scazza said...
I just wanted to mention that CPB and PBS are different entities. Just b/c CPB's budget will be cut does not necessarilly mean that PBS will cut their budget. There's fundraising and some very big donors who can make up the difference. Your title is misleading.
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6-16-2005 @ 4:20PM
Taylor Foster said...
It's good to know that PBS won't necessarily lose funding due to this. Being an US ex-pat living in Australia the only real US news I get is from a delayed broadcast of the Lehrer report (and if I remember correctly that is a PBS show). Who knows how much it is edited before it gets here, but it still does.
So I thank all the US taxpayers for this avenue to get real news (Australian freetoair and cable tv news is completely anti-world sports-based useless babble in a 30min shrinkwrapped for utterly sweet goodness).
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6-16-2005 @ 4:20PM
scazza said...
Also, I was listening to the NPR story about this (http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4698411) and they point out that this going on in the House right now and that the Senate is generally more supportive of CPB. What this really is is an intimidation tactic, politics. When this has happened in the past, they eventually get their full budget.
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6-16-2005 @ 4:20PM
Steven said...
Also realize that something around less than 10% of PBS funding comes from any government source, the other 90+% comes from private donations (like you and I) and corporate donations.
before people start throwing shit-fits do some research.
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6-16-2005 @ 4:20PM
WF said...
Sesame Street and all of the other non-offensive children's programs are just the smiley-faced fronts for the prime-time leftist agenda of PBS.
It's not Sesame Street that liberals are worried about funding (it makes millions in royalties from marketing its videos, CDs, toys etc.) it's Frontline, Bill Moyers and the leftist agenda that would die if they hadn't leeched on to the taxpayers' wallets.
Fox News, Rush Limbaugh, etc. may lean right, but they pay their own way. Liberals can't get anybody to buy their crap so they have to loot money that could be going to Head Start, child nutrition, drug rehab, etc.
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6-16-2005 @ 4:20PM
Brian said...
PBS is unwatchable crap. There's plenty of that on TV without government backing.
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