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De-fund NPR and PBS

Defund NPR and PBS!

  • I agree!

    Votes: 41 47.7%

  • I disagree.

    Votes: 45 52.3%
  • Total voters
    86
Badmutha said:
Well considering Democrats have already raised objections to cutting Cowboy Poetry Contests.........

............I think its safe to say there are no easy targets in The Republicans that bailed out banks, started two wars and gave tax cuts to the super rich which Obama is continuing to do Budget to bankruptcy
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Corrected for accuracy
 
Mr. Invisible said:
Corrected for accuracy
I think its safe to say there are no easy targets in The Republicans that bailed out banks, started two wars and gave tax cuts to the super rich which Obama is continuing to do Budget to bankruptcy
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TARP--supported by Senator Obama--passed by a majority of Democrats

Iraq and Afghanastan Wars---backed by a majority of Democrats.....Funded by a majority of Democrats ever since

Bush Tax Cuts--extended by HusSame and a majority of Democrats
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.......and above all else.....approaching a $4,000,000,000,000.00 budget.....to fund government programs.....the majority of which were started by Democrats.
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Meowenstein: "Try telling that to the majority of Americans who support having a public option or the majority who support the DREAM Act."

That's hilarious. A majority of Americans. That's wonderful.
 
You can present some sortof evidence to the contrary then maybe your comment wouldnt seem so empty.
 
TacticalEvilDan said:
My argument is that NPR and PBS provide a variety of valuable programming that have nothing to do with political bias whatsoever, and that programming is what make NPR and PBS valuable public investments.
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Lots of stations provide valuable programming - they shouldn't get funding either.
 
Badmutha said:
TARP--supported by Senator Obama--passed by a majority of Democrats
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Supported by both Presidential candidates and President Bush and just enough Republicans that the rest of the party and some of the Democrats could cast a vote against it.

In other words, the brand names supported it, and the rank-and-file split the baby for the sake of political expediency.

Badmutha said:
Iraq and Afghanastan Wars---backed by a majority of Democrats.....Funded by a majority of Democrats ever since

Bush Tax Cuts--extended by HusSame and a majority of Democrats
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Political expediency, not unique to the Democrats.

Badmutha said:
.......and above all else.....approaching a $4,000,000,000,000.00 budget.....to fund government programs.....the majority of which were started by Democrats.
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Republicans have done their fair share of deficit spending.
 
Ockham said:
Lots of stations provide valuable programming - they shouldn't get funding either.
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The NPR and PBS we have today come from a series of efforts to create educational television programming, and they continue to provide this valuable service. Public television was a game-changer in the efforts to use television to provide educational programming, and it still does.
 
TacticalEvilDan said:
I hear top-of-the-hour news updates on my local NPR affiliate, and when I checked the schedule for my local PBS affiliate I saw all of 3 hours of news programming schedule for today. Across 4 digital channels. Most of the content offered is children's programming (12 hours a day), DIY programming, documentaries and classical stuff.


I have no idea where you're getting your information, but as someone who actually consumes what is being discussed I question it.
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Three hours a day isn't significant? I am well aware of NPR's other programming.

TacticalEvilDan said:
You can find bias in each and every human endeavor. That doesn't mean we shouldn't fund them.
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So you wouldn't mind giving Fox News some of your tax dollars? Yes, bias is inevitable in any action, but we rely on the media to get as balanced a picture of the world as possible.
 
TacticalEvilDan said:
The NPR and PBS we have today come from a series of efforts to create educational television programming, and they continue to provide this valuable service. Public television was a game-changer in the efforts to use television to provide educational programming, and it still does.
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If that was all they did, I'd have no problem continuing to fund them. However, they are using some, if not much of their time promoting partisan political views. That should not be funded by taxpayer dollars. Go back to being 100% educational, fine. Otherwise, screw 'em. I'll fund their educational activities only.
 
Cephus said:
If that was all they did, I'd have no problem continuing to fund them. However, they are using some, if not much of their time promoting partisan political views. That should not be funded by taxpayer dollars. Go back to being 100% educational, fine. Otherwise, screw 'em. I'll fund their educational activities only.
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Three things. First, define "partisan political views" because for all I know, you mean everything that isn't conservative is "partisan." Second, clear-cut example? Third, NPR is a hell of a lot better than anything else we've got, except maybe foreign news services commenting on our politics.
 
DrunkenAsparagus said:
Three hours a day isn't significant? I am well aware of NPR's other programming.
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Compared to what my local affiliate does with the other hours of the day on its four digital channels, and especially compared to the volume of genuinely educational programming -- no, it's not significant.

DrunkenAsparagus said:
So you wouldn't mind giving Fox News some of your tax dollars? Yes, bias is inevitable in any action, but we rely on the media to get as balanced a picture of the world as possible.
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If Fox broadcasted a similar volume of educational material, I'd seriously consider it -- I'm not into public broadcasting for the politics.
 
Cephus said:
If that was all they did, I'd have no problem continuing to fund them. However, they are using some, if not much of their time promoting partisan political views.
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I've already demonstrated that "much" isn't a word that accurately describes what you're talking about.

Cephus said:
That should not be funded by taxpayer dollars. Go back to being 100% educational, fine. Otherwise, screw 'em. I'll fund their educational activities only.
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Paying only for what we explicitly like isn't how government works. Just saying.
 
Sgt Meowenstein said:
First, NPR is gov't propaganda and it's not socialist media. What a ridiculous assertion. Do you even know what socialist means? Second, lots of things aren't authorized by the Constitution - like the DOD, Dept of Ed, FDA, EPA. Should they be abolished because they're not in the Constitution?
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Let's see....it's funded by the government. It's propaganda. So, yeah, actually it is government propaganda.

Yes, socialist means stealing property from the people capable of creating it and throwing it at the people who couldn't earn it.

Actually, the Department of War, now known as the DoD, IS authorized by the Constitution. The Departments of Mr. Ed, Cheech and Chong, and Smokey Bear, are not, as you pointed out, Constitutional.

So you're arguing that because the Constitution was violated create those departments that the Constituton was not violated? But yes, they should be abolished and those few functions they perform that may be authorized by the Constitution should be transferred to the Constitutionally authorized departments already existing.

The federal government is forbidden to fund education, hence there's no overlapping with the Dept of Mr. Ed. Eliminate it, return to the states those taxes presently collected for those purposes and cease the federal collection of taxes allocated to education funding. Welcome to the principles of federalism upon which this nation was founded.

Try telling that to the majority of Americans who support having a public option or the majority who support the DREAM Act.
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What, you in a coma in 2010? The majority of Americans handed the people who forced that abomination health care act down our throats their asses and told them to hit the road.

The majority of Americans oppose the Pipe Dream Act. The majority of Americans want the criminal alien invaders to get the **** out and go back where they came from. In case you noticed, the United States is suffering something like 15% unemployment, and every single one of those unemployed is aware that criminal aliens in this nation are taking jobs an American needs while simultaneously consuming services an American is paying for to provide to Americans.
 
It struck me that maybe the Cons just don't want people to be able to read.

Critical thinking does prevent one from becoming a tea partier.
 
Badmutha said:
Well considering Democrats have already raised objections to cutting Cowboy Poetry Contests.........

............I think its safe to say there are no easy targets in The Democrat Budget to Bankruptcy.
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Damn! How wrong can you get?

The MILITARY is the Left's easiest target.

Repelling the Invasion from Mexico is their second easiest target.

The proper teaching of ENGLISH, mathematics, science, and history to American students is their third target.

The Left has plenty of easy targets they wish to cut from the national budget. If you can identify something that's both constitutional (the education example was not) and beneficial to Americans in a way that increases personal independence and self-reliance, they want to cut it.
 
deltabtry said:
Your comparing apples to oranges.
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No, not really. My point is that things which are funded by the taxpayer should do what they were designed to do -- not address the taxpayer's whim.

I haven't seen anyone in this thread make a good solid argument that public broadcasting isn't doing what it was designed to do.
 
hazlnut said:
It struck me that maybe the Cons just don't want people to be able to read.

Critical thinking does prevent one from becoming a tea partier.
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Funny people in this country where taught to read, write and even do math for that matter long before private or public radio or T.V. As a matter of fact when I went to school NPR had zero influence on our curriculum. Then again there are those who wish to be brainwashed and then claim they are critical thinkers;)
 
Barbbtx said:
FOX has liberals on it's payroll. NPR doesn't have conservative on it's payroll. Also, if George Soros thought it wasn't liberal, would he be one of their top donors? He only donates to the left.
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Utterly false:
Tony Blankley is on at least once a week.
David Brooks is on several times per week.
Here's Lisa Davis complimenting NPRs coverage of the Dallas Tea Party: Instapundit » Blog Archive » PRAISE FOR NPR: Lisa Davis of the Dallas Tea Party writes: Robert Siegel, host of NPR’s “All Thi…
Michael Medved is on record calling their news reporting among the most fair around.

So, untrue. Sorry.
 
Mayor Snorkum said:
Damn! How wrong can you get?
The MILITARY is the Left's easiest target.
Repelling the Invasion from Mexico is their second easiest target.
The proper teaching of ENGLISH, mathematics, science, and history to American students is their third target.
The Left has plenty of easy targets they wish to cut from the national budget. If you can identify something that's both constitutional (the education example was not) and beneficial to Americans in a way that increases personal independence and self-reliance, they want to cut it.
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For the most part, you're confusing the left with the right. :doh

And the rest, you want to prove any of that? Don't worry, you can just make some baseless statement, I know there isn't any proof, or fact behind pretty much anything you said.
 
repeter said:
Yes, the Tea Party is the best of the Republican Party coming together in their collective hatred of the Socialist Muslim in office, Barack Obama :lol:
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Hey if you dont want to stand with the Most Intelligent and Successful people in this country......

......the Democrat Party will gladly have you.
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Redress said:
I would argue that NPR/PBS serves their communities well and for the tiny cost there is no reason not to continue with some funding. As this thread shows though, it has nothing to do with cutting the budget(since for all intents and purposes, this does not affect the budget), and is all about scoring points.
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For some of us it's about cutting the budget. I support eliminating the NPR/PBS and its strictly for fiscal reasons. I also recognize that just cutting public broadcasting would do nothing to solve our deficit. But as I said before I'll support any cuts to non-essential spending over the status quo. That said, most politicians harping on it are doing so to score points with their respective bases. They rather wring their hands over a program that accounts for a fraction of a percent of the budget than talk about cutting the real poblem ... entitlements and defense.

One other thing though, I can see people honestly opposing it for non-fiscal reasons if they believe there is a liberal slant, even a slight one. The government funds should not be used to advance one political agenda over another. Now I personally have no idea if the NPR is biased or not and if so, how biased it is. I've never listened to it, and I'm not going to take someone else's word for it. But I do think it's VERY difficult to give any kind of in depth analysis of political issues and events without letting one's own political bias creep in. And if one bias is consistently presented over the other with federal tax dollars, then I would call that that as a problem.
 
Psychoclown said:
For some of us it's about cutting the budget. I support eliminating the NPR/PBS and its strictly for fiscal reasons. I also recognize that just cutting public broadcasting would do nothing to solve our deficit. But as I said before I'll support any cuts to non-essential spending over the status quo. That said, most politicians harping on it are doing so to score points with their respective bases. They rather wring their hands over a program that accounts for a fraction of a percent of the budget than talk about cutting the real poblem ... entitlements and defense.

One other thing though, I can see people honestly opposing it for non-fiscal reasons if they believe there is a liberal slant, even a slight one. The government funds should not be used to advance one political agenda over another. Now I personally have no idea if the NPR is biased or not and if so, how biased it is. I've never listened to it, and I'm not going to take someone else's word for it. But I do think it's VERY difficult to give any kind of in depth analysis of political issues and events without letting one's own political bias creep in. And if one bias is consistently presented over the other with federal tax dollars, then I would call that that as a problem.
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You make some excellent points in your statement, and for the most part your probably correct in regards to politicians and their motives. My problem with NPR is fiscal, constitutional and our government supporting entities that have no right to be fiscally supported. This is probably the foremost reason we are in the mess we are in, including the massive defense budget, entitlements and foreign investments and aide. Now NPR being biased in my opinion just makes it much easier to see this operation defunded as it should be.
 
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