Congress Defunds NPR

[Mark Giardina]

http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/npr-...s-npr-defunding-bill/story?id=13157489&page=1

I watched the debate on C-Span. Amazing how many so-called educated people repeat themselves.

 

[Silkie]

NPR said they don't need taxpayer money, so they should not get any.

 

[TheBigA]

Keep in mind that it's not Congress, but the House of Representatives. They're so out of control over there, the Speaker doesn't know what to do. He knows how to get a compromise with the Senate, but his own party is against him. So this is just a way to keep the troops happy for a couple weeks. They passed this in an emerigency session, allowing only an hour for debate, because they wanted to get it done quickly and with limited discussion. This is how we do democracy now. We base our laws on secret YouTube video, edited to say what they want, and then everyone believes it. Just like the idea that Obama isn't a citizen.

 

[TheBigA]

Amazing how many so-called educated people repeat themselves.

That's a funny thought. For years we've heard how bad the American education system is. Now we can see it in action. These are the students who hated civics and history, who got low test scores, and now they're adults in Congress. This is what the founding fathers were afraid of.

 

[heydaybegone]

BLing (N) blang (B) blung (C)

I chime in...sorry for the intrusion

Now we can see it in action. These are the students who hated civics and history, who got low test scores, and now they're adults in Congress. This is what the founding fathers were afraid of.

The Big makes a point. So I'll second it...and it's getting worse. Just food for thought.

 

[Bob1370]

Far from decided. The Senate, including the entire Democratic majority plus a number of Republicans, are on record planning to reject the cuts.

 

[TheBigA]

Far from decided. The Senate, including the entire Democratic majority plus a number of Republicans, are on record planning to reject the cuts.

Exactly. This is one of those little games where the new guys at the poker table are getting a chance to win.

 

[Mike Sheridan]

No radio network does the news, the arts and education like NPR. It's a shame people are too ignorant to appreciate the great job NPR does. I'm convinced our country has gone mad.

 

[Lee Rust]

This is just political theatrics designed to provide 2012 talking points after the bill gets dumped in the Senate or, even better, gets vetoed by Obama. The tiny allotment of federal money that goes to support public radio is not the real target here. The idea is to make 'NPR funding' the next 'gay marriage' hot-button issue.

 

[TheBigA]

So the reason for defunding NPR, according to the bill's sponsor, is that the US gov't can't afford $5 million any more.

When did Farid get elected to Congress? We now have a group of representatives who think just like big corporate owners, and don't want to spend money except on things they like. How is this good for the American people?

 

[fybush]

Far from decided. The Senate, including the entire Democratic majority plus a number of Republicans, are on record planning to reject the cuts.

Exactly. This is one of those little games where the new guys at the poker table are getting a chance to win.

I prefer to think of it as letting my two-year-old cry himself out and pound the walls a little before picking him up and putting him down for a nap.

 

[Lee Rust]

In 2008, the total Federal budget allocation for CPB was $422 million. Of this, $94 million went to fund the operation of NPR in various ways.

A recent study published by the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments established that the current cost of supporting a typical American soldier in Afghanistan for one year was $1.2 million, of which $200 thousand to $350 thousand goes simply for the cost of fuel.

So it's either one more year for NPR or it's one more year for 78 soldiers in Afghanistan.

You choose.

 

[TheBigA]

So it's either one more year for NPR or it's one more year for 78 soldiers in Afghanistan.

OK...78 soldiers vs. 9,000 radio employees. You choose.

 

[Goat Rodeo Cowboy]

NPR said they don't need taxpayer money, so they should not get any.

Point of Order! or Point of Accuracy if you please.

Did NPR say they don't need any taxpayer money or did Mr. Schiller say that as a personal opinion?

Did Mr. Schiller say that was his opinion, or did the "punksters" edit the tape to make it look like he said that?

Curious minds want to know. :-\

 

[W2JUV_AL]

Its 30 years too late but Congress finally got it right.

 

[Goat Rodeo Cowboy]

Its 30 years too late but Congress finally got it right.

Actually, CONGRESS has done NOTHING. Yet.

The HOUSE has gone along with the freshman class, significantly populated by Tea Party folks, as they do the voodoo mating ritual dance to impress the people back home.

If they were serious about the issue of Federal Dollars going into Public Broadcasting, they would have included TV and the LOCAL part of public radio that is NOT NPR programming in the cut-off of funds.

When the SENATE votes the same bill, and when the PRESIDENT signs the bill, then those of us who think congress got it right 30 and 40 years ago will stand on the curb and watch the voodoo mating ritual dance parade down the street.

I don't expect the parade in Buffalo, Niagara Falls and Rochester to be quite as sensational as it would be in some other areas of the country.

 

[listener-in]

The saying goes "if you think education is too expensive, try ignorance", and it doesn't apply only to formal education. Whatever faux rationale the opponents of public broadcasting employ, they dare not mention the contribution it makes to educating us Americans about events and ideas in the wider world outside our town or county or state or country. It should be an embarrassment to the broadcasting industry that so many of you who who post on these boards are apparently willing to consider ignorance as an option - and that's exactly what you are doing, however else you try to dress it up.

Of course you aren't alone, you are heavily represented in our federal and state legislatures, so maybe we are embarking on a great national experiment in ignorance.

 

[Silkie]

On the education thing, eight grades in the little red schoolhouse turned out better educated people than the high ticket junk we're paying for in too many public schools today.

But then NPR has nothing to do with education, frankly.

 

[Goat Rodeo Cowboy]

On the education thing, eight grades in the little red schoolhouse turned out better educated people than the high ticket junk we're paying for in too many public schools today.

The little red schoolhouse educated people in 1918 who were prepared to live in the world of 1918.
The little red schoolhouse educated people in 1928 who were prepared to live in the world of 1928.
(I could keep this going line after line, but you get the pattern.)

My father only had the benefit of SIX years in the little red schoolhouse and he navigated his way through the world of his era.... but with some difficulty and limitations. I have often said that if he had been able to continue through school all the way to maybe a law degree, Ralph Nader would have had to find a whole new route to fame.

To suggest that eight years in a little red school house would be adequate for people in the generation of my grand children probably misses the mark just a little bit.

But then NPR has nothing to do with education, frankly.

If you are talking about the process of educating our youth... as a substitute for the little red school house or even as an auxiliary to the school house, you are right.

What NPR does is offer EDUCATION to adults. Listening to Morning Edition or All Things Considered during a commute to and from work can be the equivalent of sitting in a college class room. How many college class rooms actually bring you the voices of political leaders, business leaders, philanthropic leaders and others on a daily basis?

But beyond that, it is highly instructive to listen as intelligent interviewers have a civil and peaceful conversation with people while asking hostile questions. That, too, is a an education that a lot of adults never received whether they attended a little red school house where education ended with the eighth grade, or they have advanced degrees from universities but still can't converse with people from a different background.

Some of the people who need the kind of "adult education" that comes rolling out of the speaker when NPR is on are those who somehow get elected to congress, but demonstrate through their speeches and their votes that they are not well acquainted with the dreams and aspirations of the American people.

 

[TheBigA]

Some of the people who need the kind of "adult education" that comes rolling out of the speaker when NPR is on are those who somehow get elected to congress, but demonstrate through their speeches and their votes that they are not well acquainted with the dreams and aspirations of the American people.

Two additions to that:

They demonstrate they are not well acquainted with American history, and the job they've been elected to do. That's a real problem when you have Congressmen learning on the job.

AND they demonstrate they're not well acquaited with NPR itself. They see an edited video and believe it, or hear people they agree with who talk about biased news coverage and believe them, rather than listening for themselves, or calling for a Congressional investigation.