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Even if NPR changes, a broke federal government shouldn’t be subsidizing public radio

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Given that the Constitution stipulates that spending bills originate in the House of Representatives and Republicans now control that chamber, it’s no wonder that government-subsidized radio has started to clean house:

The NPR executive who sparked a public outrcy in October by firing journalist Juan Williams is resigning from her job, the organization announced Thursday.

Ellen Weiss resigned as senior vice president for news on the same day that NPR’s board of directors completed its independent review of the dismissal of Williams. The directors recommended new internal procedures for personnel decisions and disciplinary action.

It’s all well and good that they have adopted new procedures, but given the size of federal deficits, methinks Congress should adopt new procedures and stop subsidizing NPR.

I’m with U.S. Rep. Doug Lamborn (R-CO) who

. . . reintroduced two bills that would slash taxpayer funding from NPR to zero. Lamborn said that while he likes “much of NPR’s programming, the fact is, it is luxury we cannot afford to subsidize.”

“Congressional Republicans must show the American people that we are serious about cutting spending and reducing the size and scope of the federal government,” Lamborn said in a statement. “We simply cannot afford to subsidize NPR, or any other organization that is not doing an essential government service. The government must learn to live within its means.”

Via American Glob via Instapundit.

Comments

  1. What they (both Blatt and Lamborn) said. The original excuse for transfering public funds to NPR, back when there were only three non-print networks or other sources for news and editorials (that this would support a necessary additional outlet for viewpoints), even assuming it to have been valid then, no longer obtains.

    Pull the plug. Put the money, chump change that it is, toward the national debt.

    Eric Hines

  3. Lamborn said that while he likes “much of NPR’s programming, the fact is, it is luxury we cannot afford to subsidize.”

    Love this quote. I really enjoy most of what I hear on public radio, but as I’ve said before that doesn’t mean there is not a legitimate case to be made that the government should not be funding it (even if I personally disagree).

    I heard about her firing – “resignation”, my a$$ – this morning (while listening to NPR) and the first thought I had was “Good, now it’s time for Vivian Schiller (sp?) to go too.”

  4. We can’t defund it!!! The constitution mandates that we forcibly collect funds from our neighbors to support government TV and radio.

    -or maybe not

    I cannot undertake to lay my finger on that article of the Constitution which granted a right to Congress of expending, on objects of benevolence, the money of their constituents. – James Madison

  5. National Political Radio

    I don’t know, I might go with National Socialist Radio.

    I don’t doubt that NPR will now undertake a bit of window-dressing in the direction of greater “diversity” of thought… which will amount to nothing. Eliminating the worst exemplar of their culture will not be enough to change their culture.

  6. Ever notice that anything the government deems as “public” means that it is going to be dirty or corrupt? Think about it – what exactly is a “public” bathroom?

    I rest my case.

    Regards,
    Peter H.

  7. Peter, I think it’s partly the tragedy of the commons, partly Hayek’s observation that the worst rise to the top of any “public” or governmental endeavor, and partly Mao’s observation that political power comes from the barrel of a gun.

    Government is a gun. It is the power to force others to do something, e.g. to fund a bathroom, or the type of political radio that you like. It attracts the type of people who are fascinated by such power and/or who hope to live off of it; in other words, the uncaring and the incompetent.

  8. Ever notice that anything the government deems as “public” means that it is going to be dirty or corrupt?

    Yup… Public Restroom, Public School, Public Housing, Public Transportation…

    Intelligent people cannot help but notice a pattern here.

  9. Just think, if NPR didn’t receive public funds then it wouldn’t need to worry so much about who controlled Congress (“Fairness Doctrine” aside)… and they would be free to hire and fire as management sees fit – as it should be.

  10. Why does the NPR website say it receives NO direct Federal funding, and less than 2% from competitive grants from orgs like CPB, NEA, and Natl Science Foundation? Could someone point me to the funding Rep. Lamborn is talking about? NPR is about 60% supported by member stations’ program fees, sponsorships, and contributions (I’m looking at the annual reports for two stations I support). Perhaps he means the Corp for Public Broadcasting which gives that tiny portion of public grants. Some funding also comes from colleges and universities. Now individual member stations get some funding from government grants, but even those funds comprise perhaps 15% of their budgets.

    Besides NPR’s revenues last year were about $160MM. What’s that? a couple of days for the 30,000 troops we put in Afghanistan in 2010? Even if all of NPR’s funds were from the taxpayer, I’m happier keeping the soldiers safe at home for those two days.

    At least Joan Kroc was most generous to NPR with her testamentary gift of over $200MM. But not Lamborn for whom the wasteful war in Afghanistan is clearly “a luxury we [can] afford to subsidize”.

  11. I will correct my comments above since I found elsewhere the full text of Rep. Doug Lamborn’s comments. I do not know who Juan Williams is since I don’t listen to NPR News or much of the political commentary. If NPR loses CPB funding, no problem. If that is the first example of luxury cutting, may Rep. Lamborn continue with my compliments (a bit of sarcasm). The amount of $30MM or so is hardly a large amount of money, and can be made up partly with investment proceeds from Mrs. Kroc’s legacy (up to perhaps half of the amount with prudent Endowment watching). And supporters and sponsorships. Actually Pres. Nixon was inclined to phase out funding for CPB anyway- and his Administration did the most to set forth the Corporation’s path.

    It will be the local stations, of course, that suffer since they receive public funds to assist with progamming costs. And that’s too bad. I enjoy the music and cultural shows on my favorite local stations, but I expect some of them to disappear. As an example, no SoCal public radio station runs The Thistle and Shamrock anymore (it’s an hour of Celtic music). I have to stream it, or download, neither of which is convenient. And part of the charm of Radio is tuning in every day or week to hear the same program. Well, I can increase my own support.

    Nonetheless…my other comments stand. I won’t expect any defense cuts from Rep. Lamborn since he sits on Armed Service committies. Maybe he’ll redirect those funds to Veterans, who rarely get much from Congress for their service, especially in healthcare.

  13. The discussion of Federal Funding for NPR should take place right AFTER all of those religious TV stations pay market rates for their TV licenses. They engage in politics too. And they have an implied subsidy that is likely much larger than NPR or PBS.

  14. V the K…do you or someone you know well use Tricare (formerly CHAMPUS)? If you do, you will understand my comment. If you do not, look into it. The quality of healthcare at the VA’s is disreputable, not to mention dental care. From your posts I would have thought you would recognize that merely increasing funds does not necessarily address a problem. Isn’t that what Democrats do?

  15. If we’re going to talk about the VA, I have it on good authority (as in a family member that works there) that the biggest problem with the VA isn’t funding – it’s the fact that it’s staffed by gubmint workers.

    While there are plenty of VA staffers that work hard and try to provide good care for vets, they have more than a few worker who do little to nothing because they can’t get disciplined or fired (and that number includes physicians and nurses).

    And, as is usual in any government entitlement program, there are a fair number of “clients” just gaming the system.

  17. I’ve said it before. When we have ‘Pawn Stars’ on History, “American Pickers” on History, “Auctions Kings” on Discover, do we really need a network to show Antiques Roadshow?

    When we have Huboom, DisneyXD, Cartoon Network, NickJr and their ilk, do we really need a channel for Sesame street?

  18. All we need is to set up a cable network where geriatric liberals read Democrat Talking Points news in soft tones of voice for other geriatric liberals and the role of PBS/NPR will have been supplanted entirely.