House Republicans vote to kill NPR

  On 3/18/2011 at 6:18 PM, The Overlook said:

  On 3/18/2011 at 6:01 PM, scones to die for said:

The vote's not likely to pass through the senate innit.

Of course not. It's Teabaglican tilting at windmills politics as usual: Give dumbass Americans an endless supply of phantom enemies and they'll hardly notice when they're being fleeced economically by the same fuckheads they elect to office.

i listen to npr a lot and i don't even care lolol

  On 3/18/2011 at 6:26 PM, theSun said:

  On 3/18/2011 at 6:18 PM, The Overlook said:

  On 3/18/2011 at 6:01 PM, scones to die for said:

The vote's not likely to pass through the senate innit.

Of course not. It's Teabaglican tilting at windmills politics as usual: Give dumbass Americans an endless supply of phantom enemies and they'll hardly notice when they're being fleeced economically by the same fuckheads they elect to office.

 

i listen to npr a lot and i don't even care lolol

Don't care about what, exactly?

  On 3/18/2011 at 6:23 PM, Al5x said:

  On 3/18/2011 at 5:18 PM, disparaissant said:

  On 3/18/2011 at 1:20 AM, fox said:

why, exactly, do you need my tax dollars to subsidize your biased news and garrison keillor? if you like it so much, pay for it yourself.

ahaha that's funny because i was just reading an article that pointed out that npr is centrist at best. the only thing is, they don't report on things that have no basis in fact. like the WAHR BIRTH CERT OABAM WHAR crowd or the tea party conspiracy theories that the cable networks jump all over for ratings. so, in short, shut the fuck up.

Perhaps the only important part of his post was the part about tax dollars, and you skirted that point completely.

 

Whenever I mention this I get a thousand "Well what about that other thing that costs tax dollars and that other thing and the other things!" (a breed of nonsensical response which you can actually find in this thread)

 

Duh.

 

But that's not what we're talking about now is it?

 

It's my opinion that taxes should not fund a radio station or a television station no matter how good you think it is. I havn't heard any real defenses for it other than "Dude NPR is great though, blah blah blah PBS educational programming." Don't care. There's documentaries on the internet which are just as good that I can have my kids watch when I can get a lady to pop 'em out for me, if I'm so concerned.

first of all

second of all

i don't want my tax dollars going to iraq or afghanistan, i don't want my tax dollars sending weapons to israel, i don't want my tax dollars subsidizing corporate interests. all of these things happen, all of these things cost significantly more than the drop in the bucket ocean that is npr. the point here is that this is simply a revenge move on the part of the GOP. it has very little to do with the deficit, they're just using the deficit as an excuse to axe anything they might have a grudge against.

I agree with what you're saying, I know the republicans are just being douchy about it, but I stand by my point. Just a case of the right thing done for the wrong reasons.

  On 3/18/2011 at 6:27 PM, The Overlook said:

  On 3/18/2011 at 6:26 PM, theSun said:

  On 3/18/2011 at 6:18 PM, The Overlook said:

  On 3/18/2011 at 6:01 PM, scones to die for said:

The vote's not likely to pass through the senate innit.

Of course not. It's Teabaglican tilting at windmills politics as usual: Give dumbass Americans an endless supply of phantom enemies and they'll hardly notice when they're being fleeced economically by the same fuckheads they elect to office.

 

i listen to npr a lot and i don't even care lolol

Don't care about what, exactly?

House Republicans vote to kill NPR

(even though that isn't what it is)

  Quote

How much federal subsidy does News Corp (fox News parent company) get?

 

Income (loss) before income tax expense $3,323,000­,000

Income tax (expense) benefit ($679,000,­000)

http://www­.newscorp.­com/Report­2010/AR201­0.pdf

 

So at a corporate tax rate of 35% New Corp should have paid $1,163,050­,000 in federal income tax, however they paid NEGATIVE $679,000,0­00 in taxes, So the Federal government subsidized them through the federal tax code (written by corporate lobbyists) to the tune of $1,842,050­,000.

  On 3/18/2011 at 6:34 PM, Al5x said:

I agree with what you're saying, I know the republicans are just being douchy about it, but I stand by my point. Just a case of the right thing done for the wrong reasons.

i don't really think you can even say that, npr is the only corporation targeted by this bill.

on the plus side that pretty much means it can be ruled a bill of attainder in court, and struck down. pretty easily.

frankly though i'm more worried about planned parenthood.

  On 3/18/2011 at 6:38 PM, disparaissant said:

i don't really think you can even say that, npr is the only corporation targeted by this bill.

Ok, you got me there .

  On 3/18/2011 at 6:32 PM, disparaissant said:

second of all

i don't want my tax dollars going to iraq or afghanistan, i don't want my tax dollars sending weapons to israel, i don't want my tax dollars subsidizing corporate interests. all of these things happen, all of these things cost significantly more than the drop in the bucket ocean that is npr. the point here is that this is simply a revenge move on the part of the GOP. it has very little to do with the deficit, they're just using the deficit as an excuse to axe anything they might have a grudge against.

Amen brother, amen. I'm right in the middle of doing our 2010 taxes and it looks like Mrs. Dob and I actually owe the gov't money. Fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu

So much of this is due also to the average american's ignorance of our actual federal budget, like that after military and social security (two entities that can't be touched), there's only about 20% of the national budget pie left to dice up (Pretty sure the number is less than 20% but I don't want to overstate my case).

Also, what percentage of american taxpayers do you think know how many millions there are in a trillion? My guess is 20%, probably less.

the republicans are great at framing the debate or even better actually rewriting history.

they somehow get away with on a regular basis labeling middle of the road democratic party style centrism as 'radical leftist' ideologies

when the Iraq war first started i was a big listener of NPR, i honestly couldn't handle it for much longer i swear the radio station switched to some sort of Star Trek TOS mirror verse, I called my older hippy friend to shoot the shit and i asked him 'hey have you been listening to npr lately?' his response was 'you mean National Pentagon Radio' and that's all he needed to say. I haven't listened to it since except for the occasional car talk

i don't really have an opinion on funding NPR

  On 3/18/2011 at 9:40 PM, Awepittance said:

the republicans are great at framing the debate or even better actually rewriting history.

 

they somehow get away with on a regular basis labeling middle of the road democratic party style centrism as 'radical leftist' ideologies

 

when the Iraq war first started i was a big listener of NPR, i honestly couldn't handle it for much longer i swear the radio station switched to some sort of Star Trek TOS mirror verse, I called my older hippy friend to shoot the shit and i asked him 'hey have you been listening to npr lately?' his response was 'you mean National Pentagon Radio' and that's all he needed to say. I haven't listened to it since except for the occasional car talk

 

i don't really have an opinion on funding NPR

Yeah, I remember NPR being quite moderate, arguably center right, back in 2003. Granted much of the information they reported on was indeed bullshit, it was quite naive reporting really, but they questioned it as the war went on. Today, they're easily the most informative news source about combat operations: in depth stories, actual interviews with combatants and foreign policy experts. They don't air opinion pieces, in fact, the only time it leans left is during interviews on Diane Rehm and Fresh Air, and the former isn't even directly funded or aired, it's just distributed to many local stations by choice.

NPR is arguably the only moderate and informative U.S. news program that isn't print or online only. It's the only radio station I can tune into where, for example, a story about Charlie Sheen would be followed up by acknowledged listener complaints, and not some 30 minute segment with a bunch of raging, moronic talking heads ranting about some bullshit they don't understand.

The argument about not funding a news agency with taxpayer dollars is logical in theory, but irrelevant in reality, because news agencies are funded by major corporations: it's contracted propaganda.

the perception i had of them in 2003 to me just means that when major wars happen or jinogism is in full swing they are beholden to the war machine to a certain extent, no different than CNN or Fox News (only in this regard). I remember back then like after 11pm they would have opinion pieces on the war, sometimes anti war ones but they were rare. It was pretty much a sin to question the Iraqi invasion publicly at that time. Phil Donahue for example lost his show on MSNBC for mentioning his issues with the iraq war nightly

  Quote

NPR receives about $90 million in federal funding annually, but the Congressional Budget Office calculated that the net savings from defunding the network would be zero.

http://washingtonexaminer.com/politics/congress/2011/03/house-votes-cut-npr-funding

In my opinion, NPR is the only legit news media source in the USA.

Where else can you hear Ron Paul talk at length about his opinions on the conflict in Libya, expert opinions from scientists, Christopher Walken talking at length about his history as a song-and-dance man, and Click and Clack telling you what is wrong with your car?

I contribute about $60/yr. I listen to it every day. I love it.

I'm sorry, but republicans are all fucking assholes. They just are.

(once again, I'm not saying all democrats are good. I'm just saying all republicans are fucking assholes)

your viewpoint is sound, as long as you can accept that all Democrats are over-idealistic hippies.

  On 3/23/2011 at 9:02 AM, jefferoo said:

In my opinion, NPR is the only legit news media source in the USA.Where else can you hear Ron Paul talk at length about his opinions on the conflict in Libya, expert opinions from scientists, Christopher Walken talking at length about his history as a song-and-dance man, and Click and Clack telling you what is wrong with your car?I contribute about $60/yr. I listen to it every day. I love it.

It really is unreal that the only decent news outlet in the US is being targeted.

  On 3/23/2011 at 3:45 PM, Smettingham Rutherford IV said:

your viewpoint is sound, as long as you can accept that all Democrats are over-idealistic hippies.

unreal?

id say more logical.

on a similar note, I turned on the TV for the first time in a while (other than to play some viddy games), and the Learning Channel had a reality show about cakemakers.

The Learning Channel.

  On 3/23/2011 at 9:02 AM, jefferoo said:

I'm sorry, but republicans are all fucking assholes. They just are.

  On 3/23/2011 at 3:45 PM, Smettingham Rutherford IV said:

your viewpoint is sound, as long as you can accept that all Democrats are over-idealistic hippies.

At least they have ideals.. other than making as much money off of others as possible.

  On 3/23/2011 at 4:28 PM, Al5x said:

  On 3/23/2011 at 9:02 AM, jefferoo said:

I'm sorry, but republicans are all fucking assholes. They just are.

and that would be that inner asshole coming out. way to go.

  On 3/23/2011 at 4:34 PM, mafted said:

and that would be that inner asshole coming out. way to go.

  On 3/23/2011 at 3:45 PM, Smettingham Rutherford IV said:

your viewpoint is sound, as long as you can accept that all Democrats are over-idealistic hippies.

ex-hippies! the kind that your friend's mom was. Nerve-wracked, naive, full of self-righteousness, etc.

  On 3/23/2011 at 4:34 PM, mafted said:

  On 3/23/2011 at 3:45 PM, Smettingham Rutherford IV said:

your viewpoint is sound, as long as you can accept that all Democrats are over-idealistic hippies.

 

 

At least they have ideals.. other than making as much money off of others as possible.

 

  On 3/23/2011 at 4:28 PM, Al5x said:

  On 3/23/2011 at 9:02 AM, jefferoo said:

I'm sorry, but republicans are all fucking assholes. They just are.

 

and that would be that inner asshole coming out. way to go.

isn't making as much money off of others an ideal?

don't republicans have ideals of reinstating religion as the prime focus of morality? how is that not an ideal? sure, money is king in their world; is that not true? definitive proof that money does not run the world? what the fuck is everyone bitching about the rich for then?

i guess i took the bait earlier, but ill try harder not to in the future

Republicans are all evil and interested in money. Democrats actually have good people that want to help their fellow man. This is evidenced by the fact that we have all obviously benefited from such people in power.

The two party system works. huzzah.

I love NPR and PBS. Im so fucking confused over this shit. NPR isnt biased. Its just informative.

  On 3/23/2011 at 5:22 PM, marf said:

I love NPR and PBS. Im so fucking confused over this shit. NPR isnt biased. Its just informative.

most of the time it is, anyway, their ratio of real news to bullshit is far higher than most networks.

i gotta admit, I have warmed up to the occasional broadcast of Prairie Home Companion now and then.

personally this is gross. lot of gross things going on in America 24/7

whatever!

Call the Senate: Don't pull the plug on PBS and NPR

We nee to create a firewall in the Senate to prevent House Republicans from defunding public media. Call your senators today. Tell them not to pull the plug on NPR and PBS.

numbers

http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm

First dial the number. Please be respectful toward the person who answers. (Ranting won't help the cause.) Here's a suggested script:

Hi, my name is))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))) and I'm a constituent living in ))))))))))))))))))))))).

I'm calling to ask the senator to fully fund NPR, PBS and public media.

Public broadcasting is remarkably cost effective. It provides local news and information free of charge to millions of Americans, while only receiving a tiny amount of the federal budget.

The politically motivated attacks on NPR and PBS are troubling and shortsighted. Democrats and Republicans alike enjoy and benefit from public broadcasting. I hope the senator does everything possible to take it off the chopping block.

Close the call:

Thank you for your time!

Tips for your call:

- Be friendly and nice.

- Try again if the phone is busy or no answer

my ignorant take on this:

1. NPR is not biased. they report facts.

no reason to dismantle because of bias

2. BREAKING: NPR, TEACHERS, FIREFIGHTERS MASTERMINDS BEHIND ECONOMIC CRISIS!!!!!

[read a headline like that in a local satire paper and thought it summed up the whole thing brilliantly. this is sick shit going on, they're pushing to take the last remaining walls ''orsomething'']