Posted on 02/16/2011 10:10:58 AM PST by SeekAndFind
House Democrats made their case for continuing taxpayer funding of public media outlets such as NPR and PBS with a little help from Arthur the PBS cartoon character, who visited the Capitol Wednesday morning.
The friendly but silent aardvark joined Democratic Reps. Edward Markey of Massachusetts, Earl Blumenauer of Oregon and others to hit back against Republicans who have pledged to cut the funding from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting in the next budget.
“We need your help today,” Markey said as a person dressed as the character walked toward the Capitol building. “We can’t leave Arthur and all of his pals in the lurch.”
The members stood behind dolls of Sesame Street’s Big Bird, Grover and Elmo. Behind them, House aides held up signs showing Bert and Ernie being handed a letter that reads, “GOPink Slip: You are fired,” and another that showed cartoon characters being tossed away from a scale weighed down by “Big Oil.”
“We’re here to create jobs, not lay off Bert and Ernie,” said Rep. Nita Lowey of New York.
The members warned that ending government funding to public broadcasting would eliminate the programs, and that the market could not be trusted to provide quality broadcasting for children or news content for adults.
Reverting to only free-market, consumer-driven broadcasting would be “like treating the Library of Congress as an amusement park rather than as a seat of knowledge,” said Rep. Paul Tonko of New York.
Democrats are offering an amendment to the Republican budget bill that would keep funds flowing to public broadcasting outlets. Republicans released their plan to cut more than $60 billion from the federal budget last week.
The campaign to deny funding for the media outlets was reignited last year when National Public Radio fired veteran news analyst Juan Williams when he said that he gets “nervous” when he sees people at airports wearing “Muslim garb” who identify “themselves first and foremost as Muslims.” Williams now works full-time at Fox News.
The liberal activist group MoveOn.org has also launched a campaign to keep taxpayer funds flowing to public media, with a petition drive to “save” NPR.
“Congress must save NPR and PBS once and for all. Congress should guarantee permanent funding and independence from partisan meddling,” the petition read.
The House is set to vote on a final version of the budget plan this week.
Everybody on PBS should go cable - live by the bundle. Maybe they can be part of the MTV & BET packages.
Funny how every time PBS and NPR do pledge drives they constantly tell us that “federal funds make up only a small portion of our budget”, but scream bloody murder if anyone talks about cutting said funds.
An aardvark makes a FINE meal...
Gah - this stuff drives me nuts. Fund PBS or Ernie and Bert get it!!!
How much clearer can the bias of public media be if the people going most crazy are far-left Democrats and the likes of MoveOn? Why should my tax dollars pay a penny of this? If these people love PBS so much, they can support it with THEIR money, not money taken from me by a threat to my liberty if I fail to cough up my taxes.
Honestly: With the success of Jim Henson's creations broadcast by PBS, why does PBS even need one thin dime of taxpayer's money?
And another thing about these characters, their shows run at our expense, but all the licensing goodies are owned by the evil free market. How come we pay to make these Toons superstars, but get nothing in return?
>>Honestly: With the success of Jim Henson’s creations broadcast by PBS, why does PBS even need one thin dime of taxpayer’s money? <
That is the million dollar question.
Oh, thank Dave.
I thought for a second that Cerebus the Aardvark had come out for socialism. That would be far too simplistic for an Earth-Pig-Born.
Hmm, the aardvark (perpetual loser, always threatening the ant) is blue...
the ant (always casually outsmarts the aardvark) is red :)
Always loved the Jackie Mason-like voice of the aardvark, though.
Ummm, errr, Nita.... Bert and Ernie are cartoon characters.
They... are... not... real. And because they are make-believe, they don't have "jobs" to be laid off from.
That's right, Nita: except for being cartoons, Bert and Ernie are very much like many of your constituents: they live in a fantasy world and have never worked a day.
Ummm, errr, Nita.... Bert and Ernie are cartoon characters.
They... are... not... real. And because they are make-believe, they don't have "jobs" to be laid off from.
That's right, Nita: except for being cartoons, Bert and Ernie are very much like many of your constituents: they live in a fantasy world and have never worked a day.
Yep - whoever did the voice must've based it on an impression of Jackie Mason. No way that was a coincidence.
I wonder how much Arthur and Sesame Street make in royalties.
POLL FOR FREEPING:
Take Our Poll
Should Congress zero-fund public TV and radio?
Yes
No
A Republican congressman has submitted a bill to remove all federal funds for public radio and television. Tell us what you think.
Should Congress zero-fund public TV and radio?
http://heraldnews.suntimes.com/3859320-417/poll-fed-money-for-pbs.html
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.