Campaign Action
President Trump unveiled his predictably awful budget proposal and it turns out that giving tax cuts to people who don’t need tax cuts, while not investing in anything or anyone else, means you need to figure out how to save money. Republicans, and Trump’s handlers, know this. Where should those cuts come from? By getting rid of waste like the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB). MSN reports that the proposed budget would do away with funding to the CPB—which provides NPR and PBS with federal funding—over the next two years.
CPB grants represent a small share of the total funding for the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) and National Public Radio (NPR), which primarily rely on private donations to fund their operations," it continues.
"To conduct an orderly transition away from Federal funding, the Budget requests 15.5 million in 2019 and $15 million in 2020, which would include funding for personnel costs of $16.2 million, rental costs of $8.9 million; and other costs totaling $5.4 million."
Public shmublic is probably the extent to which Trump thinks about it. Whoever is pulling his strings on this however, they want to do away with anything they cannot own for themselves. PBS’s CEO Paula Kerger knew this was coming, as Trump and friends tried this same brand of fascism last year, and released a statement.
“Public broadcasting has earned bipartisan Congressional support over the years thanks to the value we provide to taxpayers. PBS, our 350 member stations and our legions of local supporters will continue to remind leaders in Washington of the significant benefits the public receives in return for federal funding, a modest investment of about $1.35 per citizen per year, which include school readiness for kids 2-8, support for teachers and homeschoolers, public safety communications and lifelong learning. PBS is focused on providing high-quality content and universal public service to the American people, which is why we enjoy strong support in every region of the country, in both rural and urban areas, and across the political spectrum.”
Also today, PBS released the results of a nationwide survey that found for the 15th year in a row, Americans named PBS and member stations #1 in public trust among nationally known institutions. The same survey revealed that Americans rank PBS and member stations second only to the country’s military defense in terms of value for taxpayer dollars.
Once again, a message to Republicans.