CPB & PBS under Bushism Rules: Extreme Patronage Positions .:. grubbykid.com

CPB & PBS under Bushism Rules: Extreme Patronage Positions

Best Buddies, originally uploaded by Beezy.

There has been a criticism of this site that we do not post enough "positive" news. So to rectify that, I was all set to praise the House today that they beat back the drive to kill Big Bird in H.R.3010 (Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2006) and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting's funding was restored. But nothing is what it seems wit this Congress.

The House voted 284 to 140 to add back $100 million to the Corporation for Public Broadcasting's fiscal 2006 budget that had been cut in a committee, and to reverse a committee decision to eliminate all funding for the CPB within two years. The vote, which drew the support of 87 Republicans, followed a public relations blitz by public radio and TV stations, which fomented a widespread protest campaign by broadcasting ads that urged viewers and listeners to call their congressional offices.

But in fact, the broadly popular broadcasting service has still been cut:

But Elmo and Big Bird remain at risk. The House did not restore all of the public broadcasting funding cuts proposed for 2006. Although yesterday's amendment -- sponsored by Reps. David R. Obey (D-Wis.), Nita M. Lowey (D-N.Y.) and Jim Leach (R-Iowa) -- would bump CPB's general budget back to $400 million, the 2005 funding level, an additional $102.4 million that had been shorn from separate public broadcasting programs was not restored. That money underwrites the production of such PBS children's programs as "Sesame Street," "Arthur" and "Postcards From Buster." [...]The House funding is lower than the president's proposed budget of $410 million and down from last year's total of $400 million, plus $102.4 million in related programs.

But that isn't the worst news. Remember when we posted about Corporation for Public Broadcasting stooge Tomlinson's consultation with the White House? Let us all remember that the CPB was set up precisely so that politics wouldn't interfere with Public Broadcasting. So what does Tomlinson do? He hires a former Republican Party chairman to run PBS:

The Corporation for Public Broadcasting, whose chairman is under fire for complaining about what he considered liberal bias at PBS, chose a former Republican Party co-chairman Thursday as its president and chief executive.

Patricia S. Harrison, the assistant secretary of state for educational and cultural affairs, was selected after three days of closed meetings by the corporation’s board of directors. She was co-chair of the Republican National Committee from 1997 to 2001.

Is anyone else outraged about the patronage factory the Bush Administration has turned the government into? From stacking the CPA with Republican campaign operatives (more here), to the use of "contractor employees" in government, to giving $20,000 cash bonuses to political appointees, to creating a revolving door between government and lobbyists" - which has brought the American people such hits as the Medicare Prescription Drug bill (which the total cost was concealed), the bankruptcy bill and the pending Energy Bill - and that is just off the top of our heads. The level of graft and pure patronage seen in this administration is astounding.

You would think that people sent to administer a fragile country (Iraq) would at least know Arabic (They didn't). You would think that having lobbyists directly write bills would be bad. You would think that the head of public television would be someone who is nonpartisan and actually has experience in television.

But not in the Bush Administration. If you have the (R) after your name, and if you are part of the Party, you're in.

I thought party litmus tests were only found in the Soviet Union. I thought wrong.

CPB & PBS under Bushism Rules: Extreme Patronage Positions

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