But in the case of Big Bird, I don’t see that this is one of those times.
I swear I’ll never understand you lefties. Tax cuts for the rich are anathema. Tax-funded subsidies for TV for the rich are fine.
Regards,
Shodan
And sometimes, when our representatives do stuff we don’t like, we get pissed off. Circle of life.
Try to visualize what it would be like to have a soul, and to care about people other than your self. Extrapolate from there.
Yeah, too bad there isn’t a forum for just griping about shit. 
Oooh. Below the belt. But very, very funny!!!
Shodan and John Mace,
Funny that you both jumped to that conclusion so quickly. As it happens, I think losing what little government funding they still get will be the best thing that ever happened to the CPB.
My problem is with the holier-than-thou “would that we could choose” on this subject, when choice is not a priority of the current Republican Party.
The Republican Party loves choice when it disagrees with the current policy, so that people can opt out (Abortion is a States Rights issue!). However, when the tendency is for people to opt out of a policy that the Party supports, choice is bad (Marijuana is a National Threat and Must Be Stopped, No Matter What Those Kooky Californicators Think!). It’s hypocritical, it’s dishonest, and it’s antithetical to the principles on which this country was founded.
Would that we could all choose whether to support Camp X-Ray.
Would that we could all choose whether to support abstinence-only sex education. Would that we could all choose whether to support marijuana law enforcement.
Would that we could all choose whether to support No Child Left Behind.
Well, it just wouldn’t be a lazy Friday afternoon without at least one unprovoked cockpunch.
Yeah, because po’ folk are all too stupid to appreciate quality programming. Just give 'em American Idol and Joey and they’ll be happy.
OTOH, if this means the local PBS stations can no longer afford unutterable crap like Are You Being Served? I’m all for it, but I suspect some of the appeal of the Britcoms is that they are cheap. Extremely cheap.
I come from a fairly well to do liberal family (my husband and I don’t have any money, but my parents do)–and the folks on Sesame Street look nothing like rich folks to me. I didn’t grow up watching SS–I was taken to symphonies and the theater–in fact, we didn’t have a TV until I was about 8. As a kid, I did enjoy Monty Python and other offerings on PBS–it was unique in that it was offering programs dealing with other lands and cultures.
Do you seriously think that Reading Rainbow is designed and marketed for kids from upper income brackets? How about Arthur? Dragon Tales (blech, but still).
Electric company et al were targeted for lower income kids (and designed for all kids) as an OPTION to commmercial television which remains what it was then: a homogenous cultural wasteland for the most part. About the only Yuppie-kid complaint could be made about Zoom–and that is no longer on the air.
I work in a blue collar community–white flight happened around my hospital about 25 years ago. The people here often do NOT have cable–and the parents choose channel 11 (PBS) as a good thing. And for the most part, it is. It may all be relative, but I would argue that kids gets exposed to more appropriate language and social skills on SS than by watching RugRats.
But this doesn’t match your vision of America in some way, so it should go. Because then the GOP can claim “fiscal responsibilty” or some other BS.
I can’t even wrap my head around this kind of thinking.
I pretty much agree with that. This is shamelss politics for the Republicans, but it’s a policy result that I support. Even a blind squirrel finds a nut once in awhile.
Would that we could, although the Camp XRAY analogy isn’t a good one. A country cannot operate on a system where people opt out of supporting a war or not. That’s one function of a federal government that few people would disagree with. The other issues really are policy choices about which a legitimate debate can be had over whether or not federalization is the best route.
Wait, PBS is paying someone else to be able to air Are You Being Served??
I’m never giving them money again. This is unconscionable.
Wouldn’t somebody who cared about people other than himself stop harassing them to pay for his plans?
Would that we could! Or the entire Department of Education for that matter, or federal funds for education! Oh…wait.
You choose whether to support an issue or not by who you vote for. If the majority of your fellow citizens disagree…well, better luck next time, ehe? Unless you are all for allowing ‘the other side’ to disagree with your side and its policies (assuming you are ever on top again) on a case by case basis?
I guess I fail to understand why folks get so emotional about this issue. Why exactly SHOULD the government fund PBS and NPR? If there is such a market for it out there, privatize it and let it go to town. If there is no real market for it, or maybe just a niche market…well, let it sink or swim on its merrits.
As for poor folks vs rich folks watching it mostly, anyone have any proof one way or the other? My own anacedotes don’t exactly work…we didn’t have a TV until I was out of high school. My own kids never watched SS or anything else on PBC, though I occationally watched Nova. Even if the poor DO watch PBS exclusively, why should it be federally funded (even if its partial funding)? There are other broadcast TV stations out there after all. If there is a market for good educational TV then someone will fill the niche. And if not…not. You can’t FORCE folks to watch TV because you think its best for them.
BTW, doesn’t the SS franchise (big bird, grouch, etc) make a ton of money on toys and other products? Why isn’t that money funneled back into the station directly instead of using federal subsidies?
-XT
You have it backwards. PBS doesn’t get any money from licensing those characters. The owners of the shows do. PBS pays the show’s owners for the right to broadcast the shows, just like commercial channels do.
I did quite a bit of googling, but this was the best I could come up with.
YES! Lets talk about Libertarian politics. I can’t fucking wait to get your take on them.
Oh, god, I’m sorry. I should have let you speak your peace without expressing an opinion of my own.
Somebody who genuinely cared for others might even decide that in the common interest it was advisable to provide services like this one.
Hundreds of billions for invading Iraq and bombing its populace, but nothing for teaching kids how to count and read? Republican priorities at work.
I support continued funding for PBS.
This would probably make no one happy, but I suggest continued subsidies for cultural programming and an eventual cutoff in funds for news and commentary.
Supporters could contribute towards the news slant they want and the Right could applaud a thorn being removed from its paw.
The only downside is that the whiny fundraising appeals would get even more desperate.
You are just cracking me up today, 'drone. Thanks for not biting that hook!!