Get ready.
In a razor-thin 214-212 vote on June 12, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a “rescissions” bill to begin the process of nixing the $1.1 billion in tax cash that might otherwise be showered on the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) and its sub-parasites, PBS and NPR.
The vote was the first half of what is necessary to end the cash flow, and now, the Senate looms as the next battleground, with a July 18 deadline to either affirm this move or let the funds flow back to these constitution-insulting entities.
It is a crucial “do or die” moment approaching, one that will give the Senators a chance to uphold their oaths to the US Constitution and will allow us to stay focused on their votes.
In the CPB, we see a government-funded media apparatus that funnels $535 million annually to outlets like NPR and PBS, a media apparatus that stands as a direct violation of the principle that the state should have no hand in shaping the press.
The Constitution grants no enumerated power to Congress to fund media, public or otherwise. And a federal institution that not only takes our money, but also directs that money into a politically operated propaganda machine runs contrary to our natural right to NOT speak, to NOT support ideas we find repugnant to our principles.
Created in 1967 under the false guise of public service, CPB mocks the Founders’ intent to keep government out of the Fourth Estate. NPR claims only 1% of its budget comes directly from federal grants, but this obscures the truth. Member stations, which rely on CPB funds for 8-10% of their budgets, use that cash to purchase NPR programming, indirectly funneling taxpayer dollars to the network. PBS, too, leans on CPB for 15% of its revenue.
And then there is the political bias...
In a July 3 report, Newsbusters exposed recent examples of PBS/NPR bias:
PBS:
- 42 references to “far right” vs only 1 reference to “far left”
- 6 times as many liberal political guests as conservative guests
NPR:
- Banned coverage of the Hunter Biden laptop story, claiming it was a “mere diversion”
- Bans diversity of thought on climate-change issues
And let's stress the "less than one percent" canard. The same NewsBusters report states:
False Premise #7: Less than 1% of their operating funds come directly from taxpayers
- Fact: NPR/PBS refuse to provide data showing how much they collect in tax revenues (federal and state). However, they operate a legalized “kick-back” scheme, taking federal and state tax dollars from local affiliates for programming.
Some supporters of this multi-headed, tax-fed, beast claim that the public broadcasting scheme is essential for people to get news, but the internet offers us millions of new streamers who report on myriad issues, allowing us to compare, in a market-driven system by which we can show our satisfaction and help the trustworthy broadcasters thrive.
Related: PBS 'Republican' Asks Liberal GOP Senator: 'Hope for Those Who Support Public Media?'
And even if there were zero local or specialized broadcasters or streamers, that does not make it any more ethical for politicians to take our money in order to fund what we, as individuals, already indicated we did not want to buy. We have the right to make our own, individual, choices, and that goes all the way to choosing NOT to buy news or watch it.
Obviously, people want news, and this is reflected in the market. One does not need threats and mandates from a political machine to inspire us to fund what we prefer.
What is needed is freedom, and if the Senate passes this end to CBP funding, we will be a little freer, that is certain.