(Wall Street Journal) During last night’s presidential debate, GOP candidate Mitt Romney said he would move to end subsidies to PBS, and now the television network is responding.
Mitt Romney - AFP - Getty Images
During the debate with President Barack Obama, Romney said to moderator Jim Lehrer (a PBS newsman) that: “I’m going to stop the subsidy to PBS. I’m going to stop other things. I like PBS. I love Big Bird. I actually like you too. But I’m not going to keep on spending money on things to borrow money from China to pay for things we don’t need.”
In a statement issued today, PBS said “We are very disappointed that PBS became a political target in the Presidential debate last night. Governor Romney does not understand the value the American people place on public broadcasting and the outstanding return on investment the system delivers to our nation. We think it is important to set the record straight and let the facts speak for themselves.”
Other excerpts from the PBS statement:
–”The federal investment in public broadcasting equals about one one-hundredth of one percent of the federal budget. Elimination of funding would have virtually no impact on the nation’s debt. Yet the loss to the American public would be devastating.”
–”As a stated supporter of education, Governor Romney should be a champion of public broadcasting, yet he is willing to wipe out services that reach the vast majority of Americans, including underserved audiences, such as children who cannot attend preschool and citizens living in rural areas.”
–”For more than 40 years Big Bird, has embodied the public broadcasting mission – harnessing the power of media for the good of every citizen, regardless of where they live or their ability to pay. Our system serves as a universally accessible resource for education, history, science, arts and civil discourse.”
–”Each day, the American public receives an enduring and daily return on investment that is heard, seen, read and experienced in public media broadcasts, apps, podcasts and online – all for the cost of about $1.35 per person per year.”
News Source:
Wall Street Journal
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I’m not worried about Big Bird, he can just fly somewhere else. It’s Mr. Snuffleupagus that will probably be put down. I can see Romney with a giant Snuffleupagus head mounted on his wall trying to up his hunting cred with all of the redneck states.
Romney did win the debate last night from a standpoint of who looked more polished. Not sure where Obama was. However the issue regarding PBS is not simply the funding. PBS will do fine on its own. It is more about putting together the thoughts of Romney. What Romney said repeatedly last night was with my plan the wealthy will not pay even $1 more in taxes. He did not explain his plan other than he would cut funding to programs like PBS who have been providing educational services to children for years, and that he would get rid of 10% of Government jobs which would include teachers, fire fighters, police, garbage collectors etc (all low to middle income citizens). Only in America does someone win a debate where they tell the entire country they are going to screw over everyone but the wealthy. Oh, he also mentioned that he is in favor of the “Choice School System” which allows students to go to anywhere in their county vs. being districted. This has proven to cause massive issues with school desegregation, and bus transportation. Hopefully America wakes up and pays attention to what was said, and not how it was said. Congrats on your win Romney..glad you were able to get your points across.
I have a 3 year old and I have cable. Yet I choose the programs for my daughter to watch strictly from PBS, have you watched any of those programs in cable? First they’re not age targeted and the ones that are, they’re simply stupid. PBS has the early morning shows for younger kids, my daughter loves Kid The Science Kid, and yes they teach science, she knows the word EXPLORE and HYPOTHESIS from Dinosaur Train. Not only cable has shows that are not adapt for younger kids they have tons of commercials (mostly from fast food / sugary beverages companies HELLO CHILDHOOD OBESITY) that are not meant to be there in the first place. Why target kids?
Romney doesn’t care about the education of our children, PBS can’t go, he has to.
No offense to Big Bird and PBS…
But what part of “This is a tuff Economy. We all have to make Sacrifices.” do you people not understand? Get over it.
Two thoughts about PBS & Big Bird, one, the program can stand on its own merits. Two, as PBS says, the contribution to their budget from the government is ‘miniscule.’ The Foundations plus the viewer support, plus commerce can raise a miniscule bit more to support PBS and it can stand on its own feet—with help from its friends. Absolutely no reason there is, for government to spend tax dollars on it—especially as they are borrowed.