Evil Corporate Pigs Won’t Leave The Government Trough
Protect the High Brows from commercials!
When presidents of government-funded broadcasting are making more than the president of the United States, it’s time to get the government out of public broadcasting.
While executives at the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) and National Public Radio (NPR) are raking in massive salaries, the organizations are participating in an aggressive lobbying effort to prevent Congress from saving hundreds of millions of dollars each year by cutting their subsidies. The so-called commercial free public airwaves have been filled with pleas for taxpayer cash. The Association of Public Television Stations has hired lobbyists to fight the cuts. Hundreds of taxpayer-supported TV, radio and Web outlets have partnered with an advocacy campaign to facilitate emails and phone calls to Capitol Hill for the purpose of telling members of Congress, “Public broadcasting funding is too important to eliminate!”
PBS President Paula Kerger even recorded a personal television appeal that told viewers exactly how to contact members of Congress in order to “let your representative know how you feel about the elimination of funding for public broadcasting.” But if PBS can pay Ms. Kerger $632,233 in annual compensation—as reported on the 990 tax forms all nonprofits are required to file—surely it can operate without tax dollars.
…Meanwhile, highly successful, brand-name public programs like Sesame Street make millions on their own. “Sesame Street,” for example, made more than $211 million from toy and consumer product sales from 2003-2006. Sesame Workshop President and CEO Gary Knell received $956,513 in compensation in 2008. With earnings like that, Big Bird doesn’t need the taxpayers to help him compete against the Nickleodeon cable channel’s Dora the Explorer.
Fun, Nanny State, Politics | Mr. Bingley | 
March 4, 2011 7:20 am
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First off, the have commercials. Lots of ’em. Secondly, cutting funds means shutting off a prime Dem mouthpiece. Count how many lefty/righty programs and see why the reactionary left wants to keep your money.
I have a masters degree in healthcare…..and I took a seven percent paycut!!!! My children are raised and I still must pay school taxes….I am 65 and work full time….damn the teachers and government workers whining all the time…walk in my shoes if you can.
“Too important to eliminate”?
Tell that to people’s great-great-grandchildren, living in a world where you need a wheelbarrow of dollars to buy a loaf of bread.
Look, there are a lot of things that arguably might be “nice,” or even “important,” but which will have to go on the chopping block now.
I admit it: I like some of the cooking shows, some stuff like Antiques Roadshow…but if it has to be defunded to prevent a financial meltdown, so be it. (For that matter: defunding PBS wouldn’t necessarily kill it; people would just have to decide themselves whether to support it financially, rather than having their tax dollars go to it. Which is probably how it should have been all along)
please, more free enterprise and less government. In reference to health care, lets see what the ceo’s of bluecross, ameriaheath and aetna are raking in!!!!!
PBS is another effin’ entitlement. Kick the bastards loose, and let them fend on their own.
PBS has moved away from politics and seems to be more of a New Age pseudo-religion network.Dupak-the Indian pseudo-religion guy and that bald -headed feel good New Age guy,are on all the time where I live.
People eat that crap up.
It’s logic I learned in Kindergarten.