Cuts in PBS Funding Sheer Spite?
It’s time to turn the Cookie Monster, Miss Piggy — and Miss Marple — loose on the Republican-dominated Congress. The monster could run rampant through the hallowed halls of the Capitol, shaking some common sense into members. Miss Piggy could give them the classic “what for” and the little gems of mischief Miss Marple would certainly come up with would make headlines — and get time on the Jim Lehrer News Hour. In a spiteful action intended to cripple public broadcasting for not swallowing the GOP party line, a House appropriations subcommittee last week took an ideologic ax to funding for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, cutting funds for public radio and TV stations including our own WITF-FM and WITF-TV. The cuts of $100 million in direct funding, $23.4 million from public broadcasting’s “Ready to Learn” program, $49 million to replace aging technology and another $39 million to help stations convert to digital programming are part of a Republican move to completely elminat
