Posted on 02/18/2017 9:42:14 PM PST by SeekAndFind
The New York Times reported yesterday that the White House budget office has prepared a list of programs that could be eliminated in Trump’s first budget proposal. Among those programs are the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, the National Endowment for the Arts and Humanities and AmeriCorps. From the NY Times:
Work on the first Trump administration budget has been delayed as the budget office awaited Senate confirmation of former Representative Mick Mulvaney, a spending hard-liner, as budget director. Now that he is in place, his office is ready to move ahead with a list of nine programs to eliminate, an opening salvo in the Trump administration’s effort to reorder the government and increase spending on defense and infrastructure…
Many of those programs have been attacked by conservatives since the Republican “revolution” of 1994. Led by then-Speaker Newt Gingrich, the House of Representatives at the time repeatedly went after funding for the National Endowment for the Arts, the National Endowment for the Humanities and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, whose supporters dragged Big Bird and Kermit the Frog to Capitol Hill to make their case…
Other agencies on the budget office’s list of cuts include the Overseas Private Investment Corporation and the Corporation for National and Community Service, which finances programs run by AmeriCorps and SeniorCorps. The memo also proposed reducing funding for the Neighborhood Reinvestment Corporation, a nonprofit organization focused on urban development.
You probably don’t have to guess where this is going. Every time someone threatens to cut PBS funding, progressives roll out Big Bird. In fact, Obama for America did this in 2012 after Mitt Romney said he would cut PBS funding. Here’s an ad they created which has been viewed more than 3 1/2 million times:
The real problem with zeroing out these programs isn’t that it will kill Big Bird. Sesame Street could make it in the free market without the $500 million a year CPB gets in taxpayer funds. The real problem is that these cuts, which together amount to $2.5 billion a year, won’t put a real dent in our growing debt.
As the debt clock approaches $20 trillion dollars, it’s important to remember that government spending is overwhelmingly dedicated to two big entitlement programs: Medicare and Social Security. We spend nearly $900 billion dollars a year on Social Security and over $900 billion a year on Medicare and associated programs (Medicaid, CHIP, etc). Since that is where the real money is, addressing our debt without touching these big programs is impossible.
But back when he was a candidate, Trump said a number of times that he would not be cutting Social Security or Medicare. This clip shows about four instances where he publicly promised no cuts to these programs.
Cutting funds to CPB and the NEA could be a symbolic victory for conservatives who have long argued these programs are wasteful. I get that. But unless this is just a first step, one which leads us to eventually addressing the real drivers of our debt, these cuts aren’t going to make much of a difference.
Right.
Defund ALL.
A talk show host in my home town refers to NPR as National Panhandler Radio.
I've yet to hear one positive piece on Trump. They are totally in for the oposition so we need to cut them off the public dole. Let the Democratic national fund them.
YAY!
Do you mean NRA?
Hahahaaaa. I’m not tired of winning!
Yes! Washington is a giant money-laundering operation to fund the Left.
Also called "National Palestinian Radio" because of all the anti-Semitic propaganda.
I finally managed to get NPR, and I was appalled that crap was actually taxpayer funded.
It's mindless babbling of liberal talking points.
One interview was about how Iran wasn't really that bad.
Where do these silly ideas about about Social Security come from? It's never ever been a pension program. It's always been and was designed as an old age welfare program. The money you paid in over the years was never earmarked for your benefit, it went to pay the old age welfare payments your parents received. There never was an account with your name on it... It's always been a transfer payment from the young to the old.
Where do these silly ideas about about Social Security come from? It's never ever been a pension program. It's always been and was designed as an old age welfare program. The money you paid in over the years was never earmarked for your benefit, it went to pay the old age welfare payments your parents received. There never was an account with your name on it... It's always been a transfer payment from the young to the old.
Bout time.
Before touching SS let’s get rid of ALL means-tested federal programs like TANF, section 8, etc. The various means-tested programs are scattered and hidden among multiple budgets (for example, food stamps in Sept of agriculture). First, let’s consolidate them all into one dept so it’s easier for people to see it all, then cut them.
First measure: vigorous elimination of illegal aliens from welfare.
Maybe just maybe these entities should have concentrated on what they were intended to be and left politics alone.
If all of the welfare cheats were weeded out of Social Security and Medicare people would be surprised at the savings I suggest.
Its really liberal hate speech. They encourage the most far left spokespersons unchallenged assertions of leftist demagoguery.
GREAT start!! The libs and all women will go CRAZY!!
So very tired of having to pay for PBS liberal agenda push.
About every 7th segment is support for the homosexual agenda.
Pull the federal slush funding, if they can make it on their own, fine. If not, let PBS sink.
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