i'da thunk i'd see several diaries on the topic but unless the search engine here is really bad...
We all know the cinch is drawn tight round the collective scrota (and ovaries) of PBS but it's still only NPR's radio frequency voice that i can get AND bear on a nationwide basis.
despite the already-evident squeeze, it's only going to worsen as the CONs prepare to yank the garrot and finish the job. Please deny them. Call, email, sign petitions, tell those with still a functional brain that it's time to MOVE YOUR ASS!
Dear MoveOn member,
In less than a day, we've blown past our goal--more than 300,000 of us have signed the petition to save NPR and PBS from losing public funding. This is huge, but we need your help.
Tomorrow, the House Appropriations Committee will decide whether to approve these severe cuts to NPR and PBS. We can stop the cuts--and save public TV and radio--with a strong show of public outrage. We'll report to the committee members on our petition before they vote.
more below...
Can you help us reach 400,000 signers by the end of the day?
http://www.moveon.org/publicbroadcasting/
Once you've signed the petition, please pass it along to friends, family and neighbors who count on NPR and PBS. You can use the note below.
Thank you for all you do,
-Noah, Joan, Rosalyn, and the MoveOn.org Team
Wednesday, June 15th, 2005
P.S. Here's a note to send your friends:
Hi,
You know that email petition that keeps circulating about how Congress is slashing funding for NPR and PBS? Well, now it's actually true. (Really. Check at the bottom if you don't believe me.)
Sign the petition telling Congress to save NPR and PBS:
http://www.moveon.org/publicbroadcasting/?t=2
A House panel has voted to eliminate all public funding for NPR and PBS, starting with "Sesame Street," "Reading Rainbow," and other commercial-free children's shows. If approved, this would be the most severe cut in the history of public broadcasting, threatening to pull the plug on Big Bird, Cookie Monster, and Oscar the Grouch.
The cuts would slash 25% of the federal funding this year--$100 million--and end funding altogether within two years. The loss could kill beloved children's shows like "Clifford the Big Red Dog," "Arthur," and "Postcards from Buster." Rural stations and those serving low-income communities might not survive. Other stations would have to increase corporate sponsorships.
The next vote on the cuts will take place tomorrow (Thursday). Help us reach 400,000 signatures to be delivered to the committee members.
http://www.moveon.org/publicbroadcasting/?t=3
Thanks!
P.S. Read the Washington Post report on the threat to NPR and PBS at:
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=745
and, please, if this has already been posted, forgive my caffeine-insufficiency.
but MOVE anyhow!
Update [2005-6-15 15:57:15 by luaptifer]::
Public Broadcasting Targeted By House
Panel Seeks to End CPB's Funding Within 2 Years
By Paul Farhi
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, June 10, 2005; A01
A House subcommittee voted yesterday to sharply reduce the federal government's financial support for public broadcasting, including eliminating taxpayer funds that help underwrite such popular children's educational programs as "Sesame Street," "Reading Rainbow," "Arthur" and "Postcards From Buster."
In addition, the subcommittee acted to eliminate within two years all federal money for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting -- which passes federal funds to public broadcasters -- starting with a 25 percent reduction in CPB's budget for next year, from $400 million to $300 million.
In all, the cuts would represent the most drastic cutback of public broadcasting since Congress created the nonprofit CPB in 1967. The CPB funds are particularly important for small TV and radio stations and account for about 15 percent of the public broadcasting industry's total revenue...
{snip}
remember how small the margin was in 2004, losing that 15% at the edge of the RED STATE ZONE could be what's most critical
can we afford this?!?
Update [2005-6-15 18:33:0 by luaptifer]:: a followon-diary that doesn't seem to have done much for this one -
The Law of NATURE: LEFTISM Must DIE!...unless we don't let it...
WTF?!?!