OT: Thoughts on the elimination of PBS and NPR in the new budget
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I agree with Trump on this one. Government run organizations are usually sub par. They don’t have bust it, so they get lazy and incompetent.
Does this mean I no longer get to watch that goofy bastard, Rick Steves, roam around Europe on a bicycle? Damn you, Trump
U Tube is fantastic also and I don’t pay a penny in federal funds for all of the content
Does this mean I no longer get to watch that goofy bastard, Rick Steves, roam around Europe on a bicycle? Damn you, Trump
I love that show.
If Mr. Rogers and Big Bird are valuable they will certainly pay for themselves. You don't have to worry.
I listen some....it's a great way to open your mind up to left wing indoctrination.
What is your definition of "a lot of people". What, close to 400 million in US today? I would say "a lot" would be tens of million, at a minimum. That many people affected by NPR or PBS?
I can honestly say that in my 50 years on earth I have one run across exactly one person who ever admitted listening to either. And she was a grungy teaching assistant at Clemson back in the 80s.
Honestly can't imagine that if both of those disappeared, many would even notice.
Agreed. Let's get the federal government out of our pocket.
I think user fees to cover the cost is a more equitable solution for everyone:
- Advertising/sponsorships should cover PBS/ETV.
- Bus and train tickets should cover all cost of operation.
- Hunting/fishing/boating licenses should cover all wildlife management/land management costs.
- Tolls (cars,trucks, bicycles) should cover all highway access costs.
- Access fees should cover cost of national parks, lakes and federal lands.
- Plane tickets should cover the cost of operating, maintaining and building new airports and FAA operational cost.
- Disaster relief should be contingent on paying full cost premiums flood/earthquake/fire/tornado insurance.
- Grazing rights should include market based return on livestock final value.
- Mining and drilling rights on federal property should be market based commensuRate with private rights and include cost of future restoration.
- Offshore drilling rights should include insurance cost of clean-up of major spill.
- Stock market regulation and enforcement costs should be borne by investors or all regulation stopped.
- Pharmaceutical regulation should be done by the manufacturers.
- All civil court costs should be paid in advance by the plaintiff with potential reimbursement by defendant if they lose.
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They both may be outdated. Back in the day when you only had CBS, NBC and ABC, PBS offered programming not found on network TV. But, I have to agree that PBS (and maybe NPR, which I don't listen to) may be anachronisms. Geez, you can get 200 to 450 channels now. And doesn't even count streaming channels. Both PBS and NPR are probably not needed today. All the popular programs that are on PBS and NPR could easily be picked up privately.
Out of all media outlets out there, NPR and PBS newshour are some of the best. I realize they're liberal, but going in with that knowledge helps you interpret things better. More people could benefit if they listened once in a while. Unfortunately no other radio outlet for classical music which is also a much needed thing for people to listen to compared to some of the trash on the radio these days.
Well, I don't listen to NPR and I never gave a crap about Elmo and Big Bird either. Still, there's probably some value there and I don't mind the government supporting the arts a bit here and there.
It's simply a question of priorities... I've never seen a thread on here about all the money we waste supplementing the fossil fuel industry. It baffles me why we give millions in subsidies to Exxon and those companies that have made literally billions in profits over the last decade. And don't get me started on military aid to foreign powers. Millions and millions to Packistan, Egypt, and Saudi Arabia (and they don't even LIKE us). I wish someone would explain how it's OK for the taxpayers here to support Saudi Arabia... They are freaking super rich.
Personally, I'd rather listen to NPR and watch big bird than to see us blowing money on any of the above. And we spend MUCH MUCH MUCH more on the above boondoggles.
It's simply a question of priorities... I've never seen a thread on here about all the money we waste supplementing the fossil fuel industry. It baffles me why we give millions in subsidies to Exxon and those companies that have made literally billions in profits over the last decade. And don't get me started on military aid to foreign powers. Millions and millions to Packistan, Egypt, and Saudi Arabia (and they don't even LIKE us). I wish someone would explain how it's OK for the taxpayers here to support Saudi Arabia... They are freaking super rich.
Personally, I'd rather listen to NPR and watch big bird than to see us blowing money on any of the above. And we spend MUCH MUCH MUCH more on the above boondoggles.
^Gandalf the White gets it. Economically I understand cutting PBS/NPR microscopically, but that is like fixing a nail hole in the drywall while there is a car sized hole in your roof and it is pouring rain. Yeah you need to fix the nail hole eventually but there are much bigger problems.
Why not have trump quit ripping off tax payers for trips to his properties and use that money to fund something that a lot of Americans use daily?
I find it funny that so many people from SC bitch about spending in the federal govt. SC benefits tremendously from that spending while giving just about nothing back. If it wasn’t for the revenue generated for the federal govt by states like NY and CA, your state taxes would be significantly higher.
Here with go with this. I am not even going to waste my time explaining your terrible logic.
Without the largess of the federal govt and their wealthier neighbors, they still wouldn't have electricity in the vast majority of SC. The free market certainly wouldn't have provided it.
These same people probably think libraries are a waste of taxpayer money, because you can get most stuff on your kindle and save the drive.
I am not sure about the standards for advertising on PBS. However, the idea was to keep advertising from influencing programming or to support programming that advertising normally would not. We obviously cannot depend on Discovery or National Geographic, unless you want to watch stuff about aliens, megladons and cats.
Some things we might lose out on...
This Old House Hour
Ken Burns
Austin City Limits
Jacques Pepin
American Masters
American Experience
Frontline
Americas Test Kitchen
NOVA
Finding your Roots
New Yankee Workshop
Downton Abbey (I am sure there are a few fans on here.)
Antiques Roadshow (meh)
Masterpiece Theatre
Sherlock
Foyles War
Charlie Rose (Who knew?)
Obviously there are other way to get some of this content. However, would the content have been available without PBS to broadcast it? Maybe now with streaming Americans could buy directly from the app. Yes there is a PBS app. Maybe, new times require new thinking. However, I am sure there are bigger problems in the American Budget than PBS.
Oh and here are some things NPR has given us.
A Prairie Home Companion
Fresh Air
Wait, Wait don't tell me.
Morning Edition
Car Talk (back in the day)
All things Considered
Tech Talk
Tavis Smiley
many others others.
Some things we might lose out on...
This Old House Hour
Ken Burns
Austin City Limits
Jacques Pepin
American Masters
American Experience
Frontline
Americas Test Kitchen
NOVA
Finding your Roots
New Yankee Workshop
Downton Abbey (I am sure there are a few fans on here.)
Antiques Roadshow (meh)
Masterpiece Theatre
Sherlock
Foyles War
Charlie Rose (Who knew?)
Obviously there are other way to get some of this content. However, would the content have been available without PBS to broadcast it? Maybe now with streaming Americans could buy directly from the app. Yes there is a PBS app. Maybe, new times require new thinking. However, I am sure there are bigger problems in the American Budget than PBS.
Oh and here are some things NPR has given us.
A Prairie Home Companion
Fresh Air
Wait, Wait don't tell me.
Morning Edition
Car Talk (back in the day)
All things Considered
Tech Talk
Tavis Smiley
many others others.
There is no need for a government to support "the arts". Governments only function is/was to support the rule of law, i.e. the Constitution. We all see how well that has gone, especially the last 100 years or so.
Also, there is no such thing as "fossil fuels", since it is a carbon based compound (very similar to carbon gases such as methane) literally found on other bodies within our solar system such as moons. Moons obviously didn't have plants and animals roaming around on them. "Fossil fuel" was a term used by lobbyists via large oil "tycoons" of the 20th century, such as Standard oil and none other than John D. Rockefeller. We subsidize "large" oil the same way we subsidize any other large institution that creates our modern laws, regulations, etc., such as, big pharma, food, oil, energy, etc., its all the same.
Also, military foreign aid to foreign powers is a requirement to acquire their natural resources or export dollars for the large aforementioned institutions, without it, the people within those countries would revolt against their governments. For the time being we are somewhat appeasing the governments, so they can then appease their citizens. Per history, this never lasts too long.
Also, taxpayers don't support Saudi Arabia. The only "commodity" the US exports to the Saudi's is dollars because of the aforementioned institutions, plus (a big plus) the sale of our military weapons. Saudi Arabia is by far NOT "super rich", they are one of the most backward, third world country there is. We don't hear about this on the news because they are one of the few "allies" the US has in the middle east, even though they are the most repressive against their people.
Also, government "experiments" like NPR should have never existed to begin with.
Cut 'em. Constitution gives the federal government NO authority to do that.
Cut all foreign aid, ESPECIALLY to nations whose citizens stand in the streets and yell "Death to America".
END the Dept of Education, the Dept of Energy, the Dept of Agriculture, HUD, and AMTRAK. The Constitution does not give the federal government to be involved in those areas.
Seriously cut the IRS (with the simplifed tax code, they seriously should), the EPA (15,000 employees??? Are you SERIOUS?), and many others.
Cut ALL welfare to illegal aliens. Immediately. Those programs should experience huge cuts because we are approaching zero unemployment anyway.
Slowly raise the retirement age on entitlements, since people are living longer.
A balanced budget isn't hard to do at all. Just follow the Constitution.
Cut all foreign aid, ESPECIALLY to nations whose citizens stand in the streets and yell "Death to America".
END the Dept of Education, the Dept of Energy, the Dept of Agriculture, HUD, and AMTRAK. The Constitution does not give the federal government to be involved in those areas.
Seriously cut the IRS (with the simplifed tax code, they seriously should), the EPA (15,000 employees??? Are you SERIOUS?), and many others.
Cut ALL welfare to illegal aliens. Immediately. Those programs should experience huge cuts because we are approaching zero unemployment anyway.
Slowly raise the retirement age on entitlements, since people are living longer.
A balanced budget isn't hard to do at all. Just follow the Constitution.
Please do. I, unlike many on this board, appreciate hearing the other side of an argument and am open to learning (and admitting if I am wrong).
You are EXACTLY who I was talking about here, with bitching about NPR and giving a pass to the large institutions. And they DON'T create our laws or regulations, congress does (although I do agree that Big Pharma, food, oil, energy, etc are all the same in this respect.. My point is that an argument was made above that NPR and Public Broadcasting should be self sustaining... yet we subsidize all these big institutions that already make profits (and big ones at that). I could see it if they were non profit (like NPR or Public Broadcast), but they aren't. Big oil leases drilling rights from the US, produces and refines the oil and then sells it on the free market to the highest bidder (that may or may not be the US). Why do we pay them for that when they are already making money?
And I throw BS on your statement that we HAVE to give foreign governments aid to gain access to their oil. Are you seriously saying that Saudi wouldn't pump oil and sell it on the open market if we didn't offer them aid? They sell to China and Russia and whomever has the coin to pay. If our aid somehow made them NOT sell to our enemies, there'd be value there, but it doesn't. While the people of Saudi are indeed poor, the royal family (which controls the oil and are the government) is not. And I fail to see why tax dollars should go to propping up these governments. Let them fall. Then buy oil (or whatever we need) from whomever wins the civil war. See China for an example. You don't see them sending troops all over the world, yet they manage to buy whatever they need.
And those military bases we have in and around Saudi that keep Iraq and Iran away. They aren't free. Those are taxpayer dollars flying out the window and the Saudis don't have to maintain much more than a defense force, because WE are their army.
So why are we doing this? Again, China is able to buy whatever they need without doing any of this. NPR and public broadcasting are a drop in the bucket compared to any of the above examples.
I'd have cut NPR out a long time ago.
PBS' main programs will get picked up elsewhere, I'm fine with cutting it. It'll be sad if Sesame Street and Nova go away, but we'll survive.
PBS' main programs will get picked up elsewhere, I'm fine with cutting it. It'll be sad if Sesame Street and Nova go away, but we'll survive.
While I agree with you to a certain extent, much of that content is a) either rebroadcast from BBC network programming (all masterpiece programming, Sherlock, Downtown Abbey, etc.) or b) good enough original content the rights to which will simply be purchased by someone else and in some cases given a broader more accessible platform (Ken Burns’ work, America’s test kitchen, Austin City Limits, Sesame Street, Charlie Rose, American experience, etc.).
I personally really enjoy a lot of the programming on PBS. With Sirius and Amazon Music, I rarely listen to NPR outside of the This American Life which I will catch on the podcast more often than on the radio. So, I think there is value in what both provide, especially PBS. That said, the government’s role in supporting them is questionable when the national debt is galactic in size and ever-expanding. I also understand the argument that of all the items to directly address regarding the ballooning debt, public broadcasting is an infinitesimal piece of that. But, it’s a piece nonetheless. The free market will govern the survival of the worthy programming. It will find a home somewhere on an outlet that will give it a broader platform and do so more cost-effectively. It kind of sucks to see it go in many ways, but it is value add in multiple ways. And, it won’t mean the end of certain shows or the accessibility of certain shows.
"You are EXACTLY who I was talking about here, with bitching about NPR and giving a pass to the large institutions"
What? How did I confuse you, because I said NPR shouldn't even exist, that's not "bitching", its simply making a statement. And, I don't give a "pass" to large institutions. Again, I am simply making the statement that our quasi corporate government funds them.
Yes, they do create our modern (big emphasis on "modern") laws/regulations. Who do you think creates energy regulations, food regulations, medical/health regulations, etc. You believe it is our legislative branch listening to me and you? Yeah, I don't think so.
"Why do we pay them for that when they are already making money?"
Because we have an orgy of fascism and corporatism running the show. The goal becomes very simple, which is to privatize profits while simultaneously socializing the risk, i.e. We fund (taxes + debt/borrowing) the projects while they enjoy the bounty. If it all goes amok we simply bail them out, sounds familiar?
"And I throw BS on your statement that we HAVE to give foreign governments aid to gain access to their oil"
All I have to say to this is, PETRO DOLLAR. Discover how that term came into existence and what I said will no longer be BS.
Again, our tax dollars do not go to foreign countries as the media likes to parrot every evening on TV. On the contrary, we send them dollars, either in physical form or digital (majority of time) form. Currently, we export more dollars than anything else by far. Using the Saudi's as an example, we send them dollars not just for their oil, but to control OPEC. You are right, they can sell their oil to China and whoever else, but guess what, China MUST have dollars to buy oil. Think about that for a second, how does China get dollars to buy oil from the Saudi's? They get dollars either from buying our treasuries (they own over a trillion dollars worth) or from selling us a bunch of Walmart crap, either way works, just so they can then buy oil. Also, as we type, China, Russia, etc. is working on payment systems to bypass the petro dollar, when this goes into full swing, we will go to war because all our deficit spending goes away overnight. Bet on it.
Cannot disagree with your points. Just sad I guess. PBS might be a great idea past its time. Back in the day, we wouldn't have had access to those shows with out PBS. Thanks to PBS, I was introduced to Monty Python and Dr. Who as a young kid. Also, developed a liking for Justin Wilson and Julia Child. Maybe I am scared what the free market will give us. Do we need another Dancing with the Stars or Bachelor?
Brought to you by PBS
I need my BBC News hour, Science Friday, PHC, Car Talk reruns, World Cafe, and Wait Wait.
If you like news stations that coddle your Blue or Red balls, knock yourself out. I'll take the closest to middle of the road as it gets.
If you like news stations that coddle your Blue or Red balls, knock yourself out. I'll take the closest to middle of the road as it gets.
