The clock is ticking on our tax dollars going to National Public Radio (NPR) and the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS). They aren’t risking closing, unfortunately, but they are on the verge of facing the exact same pressures as every other television network out there: the ability to pay their own bills by attracting an audience and advertiser or donor dollars. The President’s rescissions package is awaiting passage by Congress to cut a modest $9.4 billion from the federal budget, with most of the funds coming from USAID and the remainder from PBS and NPR. The catch is, it has to pass by Friday.
A rescission letter only requires a majority vote for passage, meaning there is no filibuster in the Senate. But they come with an expiration date: 45 days after being submitted. That ends Friday. If they don’t pass, they die, and the money they were attempting to claw back will have to be spent.
If it sounds stupid, that’s only because it is, but this is how government works.
With Republicans in charge of the House and Senate, cutting those programs (and that small amount of money) shouldn’t be an issue, but it is. Why? Because many Republicans suck. It really is that simple.
The story we’re hearing is that some rural Republicans are worried about their constituents losing their only source for news. Unless they live under a rock, that is either impossible or a choice. If you live in the middle of nowhere and do not have Internet or satellite/cable television, you have chosen that lifestyle. I get that not everyone is swimming in money, and these things cost some money, but at some point, you made a choice.
Living rurally is a choice. You have a more relaxed lifestyle, no traffic, etc., but the trade off for that is movies come later and you have slower Internet because it’s too expensive to run fiberoptics out to the middle of nowhere. That’s the deal. Taxpayers shouldn’t be on the hook so you can get off it. If you want “news” from PBS, donate to them or get some television service.
But some Republicans aren’t willing to speak that truth, they’d rather keep funding our opponents with our tax dollars because some people – people who likely don’t exist or exist in such small numbers as to not matter – won’t be mad at them.
Who cares?
The people of Maine have voted for Susan Collins for longer than the shelf life of a Twinkie, is having one or two more pledge drives per year on PBS going to be the straw that breaks the camel’s back on whether or not they’ll vote for her yet again? If so, so what? It’s worth it, as principles matter. Or at least they should.
How important is PBS and NPR to the left? It is their free, and possibly loudest, megaphone. The Bernie Sanders group “Our Revolution” knows this – they’re evil, not stupid – so they’re informing supporters that if the bill “does not pass by July 18, the funding request dies. And with key Republican Senators expressing concern, our team is in an all out sprint this week to OVERWHELM the Senate with public pressure. Republicans can only lose four votes, and with your urgent help, Our Revolution can ramp up lobbying efforts and deliver more than 70,000 powerful voices directly to key Senators who will decide the fate of PBS and NPR.”
The left is ready, they’re mobilized, because we provide them with around a billion dollars a year in taxpayer-funded propaganda, and they do not want to lose it.
They need to lose it. Not only because it is the right and smart thing to do, but because if we can’t eliminate this small amount of money at a time when we are fast approaching $40 trillion in debt and the interest on that debt is becoming the biggest part of the budget, we are screwed. And if Republicans won’t cut this amount, we deserve to be screwed.
So, if you know your Member of Congress, call them, and call your Senators (the switchboard number is (202) 224-3121). Democrats won’t care, but call anyway to register your opinion. We have until Friday, then we either have a chance by embracing the concept, or we’re screwed.
Derek Hunter is the host of the Derek Hunter Show on WMAL in Washington, DC, and has a free daily podcast (subscribe!) and author of the book, Outrage, INC., which exposes how liberals use fear and hatred to manipulate the masses, and host of the weekly “Week in F*cking Review” podcast where the news is spoken about the way it deserves to be. Follow him on Twitter at @DerekAHunter.