Romney: I'll Put Ads On Big Bird

[Lakhota]

By Max Rosenthal

WASHINGTON -- Mitt Romney pledged to cut spending for public television while campaigning in Iowa on Wednesday, saying that Big Bird should be supported by advertisements and that the arts will need to get more private donations to stay afloat.

"We're not going to kill Big Bird," Romney said on Wednesday afternoon during a campaign stop in Clinton, Iowa. The former Massachusetts governor made the promise while touting his plans to drastically cut federal spending, under which he would slash $500 billion dollars a year from the budget by the end of his first term.

But while America's favorite seven-foot-tall bird would survive under Romney, he'll probably acquire some baggage. Romney stressed the need to cut even popular programs and singled out the National Endowment for the Arts and the Public Broadcasting Corporation as entities that would have to seek private funding in a Romney administration.

"Big Bird is going to have advertisements, all right?" said Romney. "And we're going to have endowments for the arts and humanities, but they're going to be paid for by private charity, not by taxpayers."

Romney justified his call for spending cuts in terms of stark realpolitik: "My test is, is a program so critical that it's worth borrowing money from China to pay for it?" But despite this new reasoning, his proposal is just the latest attempt in the long-running GOP drive to defund public broadcasting.

Public broadcasting and the arts have been in Republicans' crosshairs for decades. In March, Republican senators proposed legislation to cut all federal funds for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, which is the parent organization of the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) and National Public Radio (NPR).

This followed a GOP attempt in the House in February to slash the CPB's funding in the continuing resolution.

"The GOP should be less preoccupied with silencing cookie monster and more focused on reviving the economy," replied Rep. Nita Lowey (D-N.Y.) at the time. In 1995, she invited popular "Sesame Street" characters Bert and Ernie to testify on Capitol Hill when Republicans, under then-House Speaker Newt Gingrich, tried to eliminate funding for public broadcasting.

The public broadcasting funds represent a minuscule portion of the federal budget. The Congressional Budget Office said this year that eliminating NPR's $5 million in federal funds from the budget would have "no effect."

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dR7iA_cQvWk&feature=player_embedded]Romney: Big Bird's going to have advertisements - YouTube[/ame]

Mitt Romney: I'll Put Ads On Big Bird

 

[tinydancer]

By Max Rosenthal

WASHINGTON -- Mitt Romney pledged to cut spending for public television while campaigning in Iowa on Wednesday, saying that Big Bird should be supported by advertisements and that the arts will need to get more private donations to stay afloat.

"We're not going to kill Big Bird," Romney said on Wednesday afternoon during a campaign stop in Clinton, Iowa. The former Massachusetts governor made the promise while touting his plans to drastically cut federal spending, under which he would slash $500 billion dollars a year from the budget by the end of his first term.

But while America's favorite seven-foot-tall bird would survive under Romney, he'll probably acquire some baggage. Romney stressed the need to cut even popular programs and singled out the National Endowment for the Arts and the Public Broadcasting Corporation as entities that would have to seek private funding in a Romney administration.

"Big Bird is going to have advertisements, all right?" said Romney. "And we're going to have endowments for the arts and humanities, but they're going to be paid for by private charity, not by taxpayers."

Romney justified his call for spending cuts in terms of stark realpolitik: "My test is, is a program so critical that it's worth borrowing money from China to pay for it?" But despite this new reasoning, his proposal is just the latest attempt in the long-running GOP drive to defund public broadcasting.

Public broadcasting and the arts have been in Republicans' crosshairs for decades. In March, Republican senators proposed legislation to cut all federal funds for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, which is the parent organization of the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) and National Public Radio (NPR).

This followed a GOP attempt in the House in February to slash the CPB's funding in the continuing resolution.

"The GOP should be less preoccupied with silencing cookie monster and more focused on reviving the economy," replied Rep. Nita Lowey (D-N.Y.) at the time. In 1995, she invited popular "Sesame Street" characters Bert and Ernie to testify on Capitol Hill when Republicans, under then-House Speaker Newt Gingrich, tried to eliminate funding for public broadcasting.

The public broadcasting funds represent a minuscule portion of the federal budget. The Congressional Budget Office said this year that eliminating NPR's $5 million in federal funds from the budget would have "no effect."

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dR7iA_cQvWk&feature=player_embedded]Romney: Big Bird's going to have advertisements - YouTube[/ame]

Mitt Romney: I'll Put Ads On Big Bird

I beleive in public broadcasting. I would never have seen Monty Python (I'm talking tv series) nor would I have absolutely been able to adore Fawlty Towers. I used to get this PBS station out of Buffalo and it was awesome.

what a lot of people don't know is that pbs does public drives. It's not just tax payer dollars.

Damn I hate lying politicians who don't have a clue what they are talking about.

ETA: I would like everyone to be accountable though for monies received. But PBS (from what I remember because I live in lower Slobbovia now keeeding I'm just in Manitoba) was amazing.

 

[Clementine]

As long as he doesn't have ACORN register Bid Bird to vote, then who cares?

 

[Mr. H.]

Pubic Broadcasting already has commercials, and tons of sponsorship tags.
My company has even sponsored local programming in the past.

Maybe Romney just wants to put some stars upon thars...

 

[Sarah G]

By Max Rosenthal

WASHINGTON -- Mitt Romney pledged to cut spending for public television while campaigning in Iowa on Wednesday, saying that Big Bird should be supported by advertisements and that the arts will need to get more private donations to stay afloat.

"We're not going to kill Big Bird," Romney said on Wednesday afternoon during a campaign stop in Clinton, Iowa. The former Massachusetts governor made the promise while touting his plans to drastically cut federal spending, under which he would slash $500 billion dollars a year from the budget by the end of his first term.

But while America's favorite seven-foot-tall bird would survive under Romney, he'll probably acquire some baggage. Romney stressed the need to cut even popular programs and singled out the National Endowment for the Arts and the Public Broadcasting Corporation as entities that would have to seek private funding in a Romney administration.

"Big Bird is going to have advertisements, all right?" said Romney. "And we're going to have endowments for the arts and humanities, but they're going to be paid for by private charity, not by taxpayers."

Romney justified his call for spending cuts in terms of stark realpolitik: "My test is, is a program so critical that it's worth borrowing money from China to pay for it?" But despite this new reasoning, his proposal is just the latest attempt in the long-running GOP drive to defund public broadcasting.

Public broadcasting and the arts have been in Republicans' crosshairs for decades. In March, Republican senators proposed legislation to cut all federal funds for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, which is the parent organization of the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) and National Public Radio (NPR).

This followed a GOP attempt in the House in February to slash the CPB's funding in the continuing resolution.

"The GOP should be less preoccupied with silencing cookie monster and more focused on reviving the economy," replied Rep. Nita Lowey (D-N.Y.) at the time. In 1995, she invited popular "Sesame Street" characters Bert and Ernie to testify on Capitol Hill when Republicans, under then-House Speaker Newt Gingrich, tried to eliminate funding for public broadcasting.

The public broadcasting funds represent a minuscule portion of the federal budget. The Congressional Budget Office said this year that eliminating NPR's $5 million in federal funds from the budget would have "no effect."

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dR7iA_cQvWk&feature=player_embedded]Romney: Big Bird's going to have advertisements - YouTube[/ame]

Mitt Romney: I'll Put Ads On Big Bird

He's such a nutbar.

 

[tinydancer]

Pubic Broadcasting already has commercials, and tons of sponsorship tags.
My company has even sponsored local programming in the past.

Maybe Romney just wants to put some stars upon thars...

Manuel sets kitchen on fire

it's the OMG kitchen moment that makes others understand why we need public broadcasting.


Because no sane company would put this on the air.

Oh and in the links I think there is this awesome moment when he's doing the germans.

Manuel sets the kitchen on fire fawlty towers - Google Search

 

[tinydancer]

Disclaimer:

Despite watching PBS out of Buffalo I swear I am a conservative.

Honestly though folks they've got good programming and they really do programming drives.

I gave money to Red Green. Have mercy. I had my husbands credit card.

 

[JoeB131]

I think everyone here knows how I feel about Reversable Mittens. Don't like a thing about the man.

But I don't have a real problem with this. PBS pretends it's a public service and not a business, but this is bullshit. Go to any Toy Store, and you'll find the Big Bird and Elmo toys right next to the Power Ranger toys.

And it's not like the private sector hasn't sponsored the same kind of programming, really. You have Cable Channels dedicated to doing the same thing PBS does, with better production values.

Now, PBS is a "nice to do", but it's not a "need to do". And when you are looking at 1.5 TRILLION dollar deficits and downgraded credit ratings, the "nice to do" things are the things you cut.

 

[Conservative]

I think everyone here knows how I feel about Reversable Mittens. Don't like a thing about the man.

But I don't have a real problem with this. PBS pretends it's a public service and not a business, but this is bullshit. Go to any Toy Store, and you'll find the Big Bird and Elmo toys right next to the Power Ranger toys.

And it's not like the private sector hasn't sponsored the same kind of programming, really. You have Cable Channels dedicated to doing the same thing PBS does, with better production values.

Now, PBS is a "nice to do", but it's not a "need to do". And when you are looking at 1.5 TRILLION dollar deficits and downgraded credit ratings, the "nice to do" things are the things you cut.

this.