And now for some facts:
MoveOn.org said:
The House is threatening to eliminate all public funding for NPR and PBS
This has been a remote possibility (not a threat) since it was first discussed in the 1980's. Currently, the
proposed cut is $100 million, or 25% of the current budget for the
Corporation of Public Broadcasting (not all the funding, as they would have you believe). Please reread the previous sentence. Notice the 25% budget cut is for the CPB. This government-created entity is essentially the firewall between government influence and the public broadcasting it provides support for. It is not NPR or PBS, though it does provide funding for those organizations. Another problem with this statement is that it doesn't address the full process by which this budget is developed. Currently, it is in the House Appropriations
SubCommittee. Their draft budget is then given to the House Appropriations Committee for approval. The same process is being followed in the Senate (we have a bicameral legislation, in case you forgot). So, you see, this is far from done.
MoveOn.org said:
starting with "Sesame Street," "Reading Rainbow" and other commercial-free children's shows.
This line is so pathetic its comical. Congress has absolutely zero control over which shows are affected by any budget.
So, we've established that there is a budget cut proposal on the table. We've also established that the link you posted is pathetically inaccurate and misleading.
In case you have started thinking about taking to the streets over a
proposed travesty...let's look a little further into the subject. (should I even bring up how many budget revisions my business goes through each year?)
Taken from: [Invalid or Expired Link Removed]
NPR said:
The only direct government funding NPR receives is through competitive grants from government agencies for specific projects. Such grants are awarded by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, the National Science Foundation, and the National Endowments for the Arts and the Humanities, and typically represent only 2% of total revenues.
Wow. A whole 2%. I had other sources that put it at 1%, but I wanted this to be fair.
In summary: A proposed budget that is several crucial steps away from even being approved has the potential impact of reducing NPR's buget by 2%, at most. Wow. That's not nearly as alarming as the link would indicate, but then, that's the point, isn't it?
Mike
