Free Republic

Barack Obama has gone to Congress asking for more money to spend. The President, in a rambling and tedious exercise mixing blame with demands, made quite a few dubious statements in laying out the case for Congress to vote for the plan which as yet does not exist. Much like Obamacare, Congress must ultimately vote for the bill to know what is in it. At one point Mr. Obama made a major gaffe; he identified Abraham Lincoln as the founder of the Republican Party. Lincoln did not join the Republicans until 1856, over two years after the party was founded....

President Obama may have lost a direct hand in the debt-limit negotiations, but some of his liberal base is still seething at the concessions he was willing to make to Republicans — especially Social Security and Medicare cuts that may yet be in the offing. When a few hundred liberal activists protested outside the Capitol on Thursday, they vented most of their frustrations at Republican lawmakers — especially the Tea Party caucus — who called for deep cuts to safety net programs in exchange for raising the debt ceiling. But they also blamed Obama for agreeing to put entitlement programs...

RICHMOND – Gov. Bob McDonnell is clipping Big Bird's wings. McDonnell has used his line-item veto authority to cut state funding for public broadcasting, calling it “a smart, practical budgeting decision to make Virginia government smaller and more efficient and save taxpayer dollars.” McDonnell’s veto will reduce the funding that lawmakers had approved for educational programming and radio reading services by $424,000, or about 16 percent, in the fiscal year that begins July 1.

Tell me something I don’t know…. Today former NPR CEO Vivian Schiller admitted that the liberal establishment is terrified of being exposed for their blatant corruption and far left bias. Fired and failed lib NPR CEO Vivian Schiller spoke Tuesday at the Paley Center for Media in New York and lashed out at the videographers who exposed the bigotry in her organization, calling the undercover sting an “abomination.” She admitted the rest of the establishment is “terrified” of being the next NPR, Planned Parenthood or ACORN…and speculated that the goal of these stings is to instill fear. “It’s terrifying,” Schiller...

..Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), who had come to the floor to congratulate athletes currently competing in the Iditarod Dog Race in Alaska, prompted the majority leader to speak on the topic. After listening to Murkowski and asking a couple of questions, Reid explained that he had heard a piece about dog racing on NPR. “They had a really, really good piece on public radio before the start of the race,” explained Reid. "I hesitate saying this because I know I will probably get in trouble, but this is a good reason why the House vote was bad today to defund...

The House on Thursday passed a bill to defund NPR, a measure strongly opposed by the White House but one Republicans say will save taxpayer money. The GOP-backed measure, which will be sent to the Senate, passed 228-192. One Republican voted present, and seven voted against the bill. No Democrats supported it. Thursday's vote delivers another blow to NPR, which has suffered a wave of bad press in recent weeks. NPR fundraiser Ron Schiller was placed on administrative leave last week, following the release of video footage that showed him criticizing the Tea Party and claiming NPR could survive without...

The House just voted 236-181 to remove federal funding for National Public Radio via the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.

NPR Hosts: Employees Here Are 'Overwhelmingly Liberal' - But We're Not Biased By Noel Sheppard Created 03/12/2011 - 2:50pm By Noel Sheppard | March 12, 2011 | 14:50 Noel Sheppard's picture In response to this week's shameful exposure of bias at NPR, a couple of its hosts on Friday had an on air discussion about whether or not the radio network does indeed have a political leaning. Shortly after "On the Media" host Bob Garfield said, "If you were to somehow poll the political orientation of everybody in the NPR news organization and all of the member stations, you would...

The flagship of public television, WGBH — which claims taxpayer money accounts for just a small fraction of its budget — has in fact scored more than $80 million in obscure federal handouts over the past half-dozen years, a Herald review found. The public broadcasting titan has pulled in more than $50 million in federal funding over the past six years from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting — including $11.5 million this year, or about 8 percent of its 2011 operating budget. However, WGBH honchos acknowledged yesterday they have received another $80 million in federal money for various programming. including:...

Who’s Not Biased? NPR Admits to Obama Birther Coverup Because Only Conservatives Were Talking About It A top officer for National Public Radio has confirmed that many Americans still question whether Barack Obama is eligible to be president, but that the tax-supported organization just isn’t reporting on it. It was Betsy Liley, NPR’s senior director of institutional giving, who was meeting with another NPR executive, senior Vice President Ron Schiller, when an undercover recorder was running. Be sure watch the video below the excerpts for the whole account and context. Here are a few of the important statements to note:...

If NPR is trying demonstrate in the wake of the video scandal that it embraces a diversity of viewpoints and is not the left-wing outlet it has been portrayed to be, its first move after the resignation of president and CEO Vivian Schiller isn’t a particularly good start. After Schiller announced her resignation on Wednesday, the NPR Board of Directors promptly named Joyce Slocum as NPR’s interim CEO. According to a statement from NPR, Slocum’s appointment was part of a CEO succession plan adopted by the Board in 2009. Slocum, however, appears to be just another Democrat. According to data...

(CNSNews.com) - When asked today whether he thought the resignation of National Public Radio CEO Vivian Schiller was a good move, House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) responded that House Republicans will “proceed” with defunding NPR. “The statements were that NPR realizes it doesn’t need taxpayer funding. That's what the statement was about," Cantor said at a news availability following a meeting of the House Republican Conference. "So perhaps the truth finally came out and we are going to proceed along those lines because that’s what was said and indicated by that organization. "As far as individual statements that he...

NPR executive Ron Schiller already accepted another job and was expected to leave the network in May. But Schiller's incendiary comments caught on a hidden camera, and released Tuesday morning, will speed up that departure. [See update] Update: Ron Schiller will not be joining the Aspen Institute as planned, according to a spokesman for the organization. "Ron Schiller has informed us that, in light of the controversy surrounding his recent statements, he does not feel that it's in the best interests of the Aspen Institute for him to come work here," the spokesman said in a statement to The Cutline.

WASHINGTON – National Public Radio President and CEO Vivian Schiller is not saying whether she offered to quit or was forced out by the organization's board of directions. Schiller told The Associated Press on Wednesday that she resigned after a discussion with the board. She stepped down a day after a conservative activist posted a video showing an NPR executive calling tea party Republicans xenophobic and racist.

The fallout from the video conservative filmmaker James O’Keefe released Tuesday morning has been devastating for NPR. However, Juan Williams, a former NPR analyst who was fired unjustly even according to NPR President Vivian Schiller, finally had his turn to sound off about the video, which apparently showed an NPR senior executive, Ron Schiller, making some disparaging remarks about the Tea Party, the Jewish people and Williams himself.

That, from the new statement from NPR's Dana Rehm, is the shoe that took all day to drop. The entire statement, which also clarifies that Schiller decided to leave before the sting occurred:The comments contained in the video released today are contrary to everything we stand for, and we completely disavow the views expressed. NPR is fair and open minded about the people we cover. Our reporting reflects those values every single day – in the civility of our programming, the range of opinions we reflect and the diversity of stories we tell. The assertion that NPR and public radio...

NPR was jolted Tuesday by the release of a videotape that showed one of the organization’s fund-raising executives repeatedly criticizing Republicans and Tea Party supporters. The executive, Ronald Schiller, was recorded secretly by the Republican filmmaker and mischief-maker James O’Keefe. On the videotape, Mr. Schiller tells people posing as Muslim philanthropists that the Republican party has been “hijacked” by the Tea Party and that Tea Party supporters are “seriously racist, racist people.” Mr. Schiller indicates that he is sharing his personal point of view, not NPR’s.

Calling it "an easy decision," South Carolina Sen. Jim DeMint along with Oklahoma Sen. Tom Coburn have introduced a bill to officially remove all government funding from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, and thus National Public Radio. Citing the issues of high salaries for their leadership and the growing national debt, the two conservative Republican Senators believe the time has come to end the government practice of supporting public broadcasting. DeMint says, "Our nation is on the edge of bankruptcy and Congress must make some tough choices to rein in spending, but ending taxpayer subsidies of public broadcasting should be...

National Public Radio listeners are being inundated with warnings that they soon may have to drive to work every morning without the sonorous intonations of Morning Edition’s Corey Flintoff, Steve Inskeep, and Renée Montagne, and may be forced to drive home without the narrative drone of All Things Considered’s Robert Siegel, Michele Norris, and Melissa Block. Just this morning, I received a panicked e-mail from the director of broadcasting at an NPR affiliate in my home state, Michigan. You know, one of those state-based public-radio operations that just last October received a portion of George Soros’s $1.8 million Open Society...

House Republicans on Friday rolled out what they called historic cuts in federal spending after conservatives in the party’s new majority demanded that the leadership follow through on a pledge to carve $100 billion from the current year’s budget. The spending bill, put forward by the Appropriations Committee for consideration on the floor next week, proposes slashing a wide portfolio of domestic programs and foreign aid. It blocks the spending of about $2 billion in unused economic stimulus money and seeks to prevent the Internal Revenue Service from enforcing the new health care law. The measure also cuts financing directly...

The brewing controversy over Planned Parenthood officials being caught on video trying to help cover up potential sex crimes is being tamped down by one Stuart Schear, their vice president for communications. On CNN, he kept denouncing pro-lifers for being "very extreme" and opposing "health care" for women. It may surprise no one, but Schear is a veteran of the liberal media, having spent five years as a producer for Jim Lehrer at the PBS NewsHour and a year at NBC News. He also spent a year on the Bill Clinton White House staff. From the Planned Parenthood press release last...

The newly elected members of the 112th Congress are working from a conservative ideological playbook and talking a big game where budget-cutting is concerned. Inevitably they will be tempted by a proverbial piece of low-hanging fruit, the $420 million annual appropriation for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. “This is the most serious threat to federal funding that public broadcasting has ever faced,’’ says Mike Riksen, National Public Radio vice president for policy and representation. Does he expect the CPB budget to be reduced, or eliminated entirely? “A reasonable person would plan for the latter,’’ he said. “That’s what we are...

NPR Launches Offensive Against Congressman Trying to Cut Its Public Funding published January 13, 2011 | FoxNews.com National Public Radio is accusing Rep. Doug Lamborn, R-Colo., who is leading a Republican charge to cut public funding to the broadcaster, of trying to stifle free speech, a move that puts the embattled network on the offense as it fights fallout from its decision to fire Fox News contributor Juan Williams. Lamborn immediately fired back, saying the whole point of not funding NPR is to enhance competition and viewpoints. The tit-for-tat comes just a week after the NPR news editor who fired...

Washington Post media reporter Paul Farhi was complete enough in his reporting on the internal NPR review of the Juan Williams firing on Saturday that he included financial numbers that NPR released on the bonuses of NPR CEO Vivian Schiller. The decision to cancel her bonus over that Fox-loathing fiasco was a six-figure decision:According to tax records released by NPR on Friday, Schiller received a bonus of $112,500 in May 2010, about 17 months after she was hired by the Washington-based organization. This was in addition to a base salary of $450,000.

You can add another Republican name to the growing list of those who want to either slash or completely cut out government funding for National Public Radio. The Friday edition of the Daily Caller says Doug Lamborn has introduced two bills into the House that would completely eliminate NPR funding. H.R. 68 calls for the end of all funding to NPR's parent, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, while H.R. 69 would eliminate any government funding for NPR only, by 2013. Lamborn says "NPR claims that less than 2 percent of its total annual budget comes from the federal government. But...

An NPR investigation of the firing of news analyst Juan Williams has determined that the dismissal was “in accordance with the terms” of Williams’ NPR contract, which allowed Williams or NPR to end the agreement for any reason with thirty days’ notice. Still, the NPR Board has adopted a series of recommendations and policy changes, and accepted the resignation of SVP of News Ellen Weiss. -snip- The independent review–a committee reporting to the NPR board and working with outside legal counsel–did express “concern” over NPR CEO Vivian Schiller’s role in the affair, determining that Schiller will not be awarded a...

Since I was a young boy, I hated NPR. They’ve had a lifelong history of dumbing down content. If they were reporting a war, you heard incessant gun fire in the background. The noises alone drove me away. It just struck me that they thought the average listener was too stupid to know what war was, so they tossed in sound effects to help. The content never enticed me to stay. Once CNN, Fox, MSNBC, XM, Cable, radio, the internet, and a host of other outlets arose to fill their void, I forgot they even existed. They served no function...

Everyone is talking about the situation that commentator Juan Williams found himself in when National Public Radio fired him over comments he made on Fox News about Muslims. And whether you think Williams’s situation was properly handled or not, a second discussion has been raised in conjunction with it: the propriety of federal funding of NPR and PBS. On the funding issue, no more convoluted argument about the necessity of federal money being spent on NPR can be found than an article that appeared in the New York Daily News penned by the executive director of the New York Civil...

It appears Juan Williams’ firing is just what the public needed to realize their tax dollars are being poorly handled through subsidies from the federal government given to the Corporation for Public Broadcasting to prop up National Public Radio. However, “Red Eye” host Greg Gutfeld makes the most reasonable case not to deprive NPR of its taxpayer subsidies. On the Oct. 23 broadcast of his program, Gutfeld explains to his viewers his case for not defunding the radio organization, but not without taking some jabs their decision to fire his Fox News colleague. “So, many people are calling for the...

FOX News: "I don't understand the inconsistency here," Dr. Charles Krauthammer said on PBS's "Inside Washington" Friday night. Another guest on the panel was NPR's Nina Totenberg, whom Krauthammer targeted for her consistent liberal bias. "Why is it okay for Nina to express opinions as she has tartly, sharply, unashamedly and openly? And she's an honored correspondent there; in fact, they mention your status here on ["Inside Washington"] in your biography at NPR. And Juan, because he expresses his opinions, he gets canned from NPR," Dr. Krauthammer said. Totenberg said she's been put in an "awkward position" with the uproar...

Trying to downplay calls--in reaction to the Juan Williams firing fiasco--for the federal defunding of NPR as mere right-wing electoral politics and "cable catnip," Norah O'Donnell has grossly understated the proportion of its budget that NPR obtains from the feds. Aided and abetted by Chuck Todd, Norah offered her misleading math on today's Daily Rundown on MSNBC. O'Donnell claimed that only 1-3% of NPR's budget is derived from federal funding. But as you'll see, the real number is at least double that. View video here.

In the wake of National Public Radio firing Juan Williams for comments he made about Muslims on “The O’Reilly Factor,” Sarah Palin took to her Facebook page Thursday afternoon to call for NPR’s defunding. “National Public Radio is a public institution that directly or indirectly exists because the taxpayers fund it,” she wrote. “And what do we, the taxpayers, get for this? We get to witness Juan Williams being fired from NPR for merely speaking frankly about the very real threat this country faces from radical Islam.” Palin acknowledged Williams’ past criticism of her, but asserted her devotion to free...

The elimination of useless, wasteful bureaucracy needs to start somewhere.

This morning, The Daily Caller posted a story about an email message radio publicist Sarah Spitz reportedly sent to Journolist, a now-defunct listserv. "If you were in the presence of a man having a heart attack, how would you respond?" The Daily Caller article began. "As he clutched his chest in desperation and pain, would you call 911? Would you try to save him from dying? Of course you would." --snip-- I made poorly considered remarks about Rush Limbaugh to what I believed was a private email discussion group from my personal email account. As a publicist, I realize more...

Words matter. They speak volumes about issues. So when individuals or groups try to change the words associated with a heated political issue, take note and take care. The folks at National Public Radio understand the power of words. Managing Editor David Sweeney announced yesterday that the station would no longer refer to people in the abortion debate as "pro-choice" and "pro-life." Instead, the station will say "abortion rights advocates" and "abortion rights opponents," according to a memo circulated to NPR staff. In making this change, NPR is shifting the terms of the debate to make it more friendly to...

For nearly two months, the animated political cartoon sat on npr.org virtually unnoticed. And then someone discovered it, was disgusted and launched it into the blogosphere -- making it a raucous rallying point for conservatives. The conservative tom-tom was extremely impressive. When the "Learn to Speak Tea Bag" cartoon making fun of "Tea Party" activists was published on Nov.12, there were 5 comments. By 6 p.m. this past Monday, there were 258. By Wednesday night, over 1,100 people had commented and it was still the most-recommended link on NPR's web site. On Monday and Tuesday, calls came in every 10...

Have a look at this piece of cartoon "humour" appearing today at npr's site. A disgraceful taxpayer-funded attack on patriotic Americans engaged in their civil right to speak freely.The liberal parasites at npr mock us. Register in comment and join the avalanche of commenters who call npr what it is- ugly and rotten.Privatize npr in 2011!

NPR Teaches You How to Speak "Tea Bag" Why am I linking? Because you paid for this -- you might as well enjoy the fruits of your labor. You ponied up good hard cash, that could have gone to your retirement, or a kid's braces, or a new plasma tv, so that NPR could insult you as stupid and crazy. And a "teabagger." NPR -- time for them to go. Definitely click -- you are paying for their servers, after all. Thanks to EdwardR. and others.

As you start to read all this, you'll laugh at how incestuous it all gets. Let's start with the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, which as I've noted in the past is tied in with the Soros foundation. Together, the two worked on something called The Project on Death in America.(PDIA) http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/2341083/posts And speaking of Mr Soros, he himself(his foundations) have given directly to NPR. Compared to some of the other numbers I'm seeing, it's a small amount of $250,000. But it doesn't matter. Soros money is soros money in my book. http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/2396058/posts Additional information about RWJF can be found here....

This probably won't surprise anybody. I only took time to search for this because I was asked by someone if GS has his hands in public radio and I couldn't find a direct answer. Well, I found it. I'm not surprised Soros has given money to NPR, what does surprise me is that I didn't see any conservative blogs with this. I'm also surprised that I could find it directly on NPR's site, though it's not often mentioned. http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5476317 -----Mr. Soros, thanks so much for being with us. Mr. GEORGE SOROS (Financier, Soros Fund Management): It's my pleasure. SIMON(speaking to...

It's pretty unremarkable to describe the Obama White House's growing enemies list -- the insurance companies, Chamber of Commerce, Fox News -- as "Nixonian." But there's one place where, if you venture such an opinion, you'd better be prepared to apologize -- quickly and profusely. On National Public Radio's "Talk of the Nation" Wednesday, NPR political editor Ken Rudin said the White House campaign against Fox News is a bad idea. "It's not only aggressive, it's almost Nixonesque," Rudin said. "I mean, you think of what Nixon and Agnew did with their enemies list and their attacks on the media;...

Despite his having been feted in liberal bastions such as Columbia University and the UN -- over the objections of American conservatives -- when it comes time to analogize today's Iranian Presidential Elections, NPR's reporters claim that the "conservative" voting blocs supporting hard-line President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad are akin to Republican Evangelicals.

The eight a.m. NPR news update today included word of the fatal shooting of one soldier and the wounding of another outside an army recruiting station in Arkansas. The news reader, Nora Raum, outlined the incident and stated that the shooting appeared to have "religious motivations." She did not name the suspect, Abdulhakim Mujahid Muhammad, or tell NPR listeners what those religious motivations might be. In other words, it could have been a radical Unitarian who gunned down the soldiers, or possibly a violent Presbyterian. Why the shyness? Why not tell people what is actually happening in the world? We...

A shocking decision has been handed down by the National Public Radio board. In 1985, National Public Radio (NPR) adopted a policy stating that member stations had to provide "nonsectarian, non-political, noncommercial" educational programming. But in February 2009, the wording was changed to say: "NPR Member Stations shall provide ONLY [emphasis added] nonsectarian, non-political, noncommercial educational content on all broadcast channel(s) and related media distribution platforms such as member partners that use the NPR member brands." The rule, which takes effect May 1, means that any NPR stations carrying religious programming must cease and desist that programming as of that...

Not profitable radioBy J.J. Jacksonweb posted January 19, 2009So it finally has come down to the brass tacks; the government asking itself for a bailout.  There is nowhere else to run.  There is nowhere else to hide.  We are stuck staring the truth straight in the face as the news is that National Public Radio, a government sponsored entity which does not make enough money to stay afloat without millions of tax payer dollars, is asking for a bailout (i.e. more taxpayer money) in order to fund all sorts of pet projects and big dreams.  PBS is also sticking their...

Those Soft-Voiced Anchors at NPR Make the Big Bucks By Tim Graham | December 12, 2008 - 12:01 Josh Gerstein, a former reporter for ABC News and the New York Sun, blogged about how National Public Radio -- now laying off 64 employees and shutting down two programs -- has some perhaps surprising salary figures for a somewhat public media outlet: NPR reported its five highest paid employees were: 1. Managing Editor Barbara Rehm, $383,139 2. All Things Considered host Robert Siegel [pictured], $350,288 3. Morning Edition host Renee Montagne, $332,160 4. Morning Edition host Steve Inskeep, $331,242 5. NPR...

Wednesday, Dec 10 NPR Layoffs Looming? Related: "NPR's Trimmed Sails and the Future: The Staff Announcement" Related: "NPR Layoffs: The Press Release" More from Paul Farhi... Lots of folks at NPR are nervous today, as the rumor mill speaks of layoffs. One engineer in NY has already been laid off, we hear. >UPDATE: Also, an editor/producer and a reporter in L.A. >UPDATE: 34 people laid off in the News division alone...Linda Wertheimer and Noah Adams among them (update: They're safe). On-Air Fund Raising & Promotion is getting cuts An engineering supervisor is gone, too. >UPDATE: They've been calling people in...

NPR.org, October 22, 2008 · The ferociously conservative Christian right may be an unfashionable bunch this political season, but when it comes to the notion of a need for change, there are no truer or more fervently motivated believers. In fact, the recently founded Patrick Henry College is churning out these family-values crusaders in force.Inspired by journalist Hanna Rosin's 2005 New Yorker article about Purcellville, Va.'s so-called "Harvard For Homeschoolers" (subsequently expanded in the book God's Harvard), photographer Jona Frank put aside her own lefty leanings and set out — with Right: Portraits from the Evangelical Ivy League — to...

In the final lap of the U.S. presidential race some believe Sen. John McCain's (R-AZ) attacks against Sen. Barack Obama's (D-IL) character have gone too far and, for some, are even racist. McCain was sharply criticized after the debate between the two candidates at Belmont University in Nashville, Tenn., for referring to Obama as "that one" — a reference that many interpreted as racially loaded. Our weekly Political Chat takes on this issue as well as apparent attempts by the McCain campaign to de-Americanize Obama. McCain surrogates have taken to drawing attention to Obama's middle name, Hussein – a tactic...

As some of you may know, a man named Jim David Adkisson, an unemployed truck driver went berserk and shot up a Unitarian Universalist church in Knoxville Tennessee. He murdered 2 people and injured about 5 others while they were performing a musical called Little orphan Annie. Adkisson claimed he did it because he was angered by liberalism and in particular, homosexuality. According to a sworn affidavit by one of the officers; "During the interview Adkisson stated that he had targeted the church because of its liberal teachings and his belief that all liberals should be killed because they were...