President Trump is proposing to defund The Corporation for Public Broadcasting and heads are popping in blue states from coast to coast.

The CPB funnels your tax money to National Public Radio (NPR) and Public Broadcast Stations (PBS). The CPB accounts for roughly 15-percent of the funding that is received by public broadcasting. The rest comes from endowments, charitable foundations, sponsorships and of course you the viewer.

CPB President and CEO Patricia Harrison is not pleased:

"Americans place great value on having universal access to public media's educational and informational programming and services, provided commercial free and free of charge."

Harrison went so far as to suggest that people might die if government aid was discontinued:

"The elimination of federal funding to CPB would at first devastate, and then ultimately destroy public media's ability to provide early childhood content, life-saving emergency alerts, and public affairs programs."

Mitt Romey proposed defunding CPB as a candidate for President in 2012 and was accused of wanting to kill Big Bird!

The Trump Administration says private fundraising has;

"proven durable, negating the need for continued federal subsidies."

Last time I checked, most people had TV's and were "hooked up" somehow to receive a broad range of offerings of all types. A Nielsen study for 2017-2018 indicates the following:

"The percentage of total U.S. homes with televisions receiving traditional TV signals via broadcast, cable, DBS or Telco, or via a broadband Internet connection connected to a TV set is currently at 96.5%, an increase of 0.5 percentage points from last year’s estimate."

Access to NPR is provided by cellphones, computers, radios and other gadgets and is free.

In other words, there are plenty of options for all to chose from out there. Government funding of what has essentially become a left-wing propaganda machine is no longer necessary.

Remember, we have a $20 Trillion debt. Let Ernie and Bert sell ads if need be.

Editor's Note: Barry Richard is the afternoon host on 1420 WBSM New Bedford. He can be heard weekdays from Noon-3 p.m. The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of the author.

 

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