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Politics : Sharks in the Septic Tank -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: YlangYlangBreeze who wrote (4237)	1/31/2001 11:28:52 PM
From: Dayuhan	Read Replies (4) \| Respond to of 82486

This was the header on a petition that I just received by e-mail: On NPR's Morning Edition last week, Nina Tottenberg said that if the Supreme Court supports Congress, it is in effect the end of the National Public Radio (NPR), NEA and the Public Broadcasting System (PBS). PBS, NPR and the arts are facing major cutbacks in funding. In spite of the efforts of each station to reduce spending costs and streamline their services, some government officials believe that the funding currently going to these programs is too large a portion of funding for something which is seen as not worthwhile. Currently, taxes from the general public for PBS equal $1.12 per person per year, and the National Endowment or the Arts equals $0.64 per year. A January 1995 CNN/USA TODAY/ Gallup Poll indicated that 76% of Americans wish to keep funding for PBS, third only to national defense and law enforcement as the most valuable programs for federal funding. The only way that our representatives can be aware of the base of support for PBS and funding for these types of programs is by making our voices heard. Please (if you believe) add your name to this list and forward it to friends who believe in what this stands for. This list will be forwarded to the President and the Vice President of the United States. This petition is being passed around the Internet. Please add your name to it so that funding can be maintained for the NEA, NPR and PBS. Wouldn't be surprised if this is the first salvo in a high-profile attempt to slash some visible and controversial but financially irrelevant programs. I'll be curious to see if they stop with the fluff or if they start cutting things with real bulk, and real constituencies. I'll also be curious to see what sort of an increase in defense spending is proposed. I remember PBS as being something really useful, though I suppose it could be argued that in an age of nearly unlimited cable options (no Discovery Channel or National Geographic when I was a kid), it is less relevant. I'm a bit far away to have an opinion on these; wondering what others think. I certainly don't think the petition will do any good: the signers will be dismissed as parts of the raving pinko subversive demolib majority that voted for Gore, and deleted. So it goes.