JOHN BERTHOUD [1] in the Miami Herald this morning:
“For years, the government-owned Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) and its affiliates, National Public Radio (NPR) and the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS), have been the recipients of large public handouts.
Tax dollars from wealthy, middle-income and lower-income Americans have gone to subsidize programming whose audience is disproportionately upper-income. The dollars flow to CPB and then to PBS and NPR and their member stations in the form of direct handouts as well as tax deductions for contributions made by individual viewers. In 2003, CPB received a $363 million federal appropriation.
That’s an incredible 45 percent increase in just four years!
The time has come to end the gravy train of taxpayer dollars.”
Quite right. I’ve been saying this for 20 years, now.