Editorial, Opinion

STAFF EDIT: Riot over radio

In a bold move against public broadcasting, the House of Representatives voted Thursday to eliminate government funding to National Public Radio on the premise that doing so would help balance the budget and eliminate taxpayer contributions. Some representatives have vocalized their outrage, arguing that NPR’s progressive slant has mobilized Republicans to wage this political battle.

Rep. Louise Slaughter, D-N.Y., is one of these representatives. She proposed a question to The New York Times: “Why [is Congress] wasting valuable floor time on an ideological battle?” Indeed, it seems fishy: the U.S. Treasury allots $22 million to stations that broadcast NPR programming, a mere fraction of the $14.2 trillion federal deficit. Under the proposal sponsored by Rep. Doug Labor, R-Colo., NPR stations would be prevented from collecting money from the government for content purposes. Instead, they would only be allowed to use public funds for “operating expenses.”

While the attack on NPR does point to a subjective, conservative ideology, it’s very possible that the company could stand on its own two feet and should even try to do so in the wake of the House vote. NPR has stated that it receives close to 2 percent of total funding from taxpayers bug receives most of its money through personal donations. With the momentum that will indubitably shift in its favor, it should be easy for NPR to capitalize on the grassroots campaigns of outraged liberals in response to this attack by the GOP controlled House.

Other organizations such as Planned Parenthood, however, don’t necessarily have such a financially sound support base and are helpless victims to the House agenda. While eliminating funding to certain programs is an efficient way to reduce national debt, simply targeting progressive organizations doesn’t grasp the meat of the issue. The amount of money going to fringe programs is minimal in comparison to federal funding of other programs. It’s essentially like watching a house burn down and complaining that the living room drapes are on fire.

If the GOP truly wanted to help reduce the federal deficit, it could try tackling the huge expenditures on Social Security and the military. Both have budgets that at more than $700 billion apiece, far outpace any other government program. Congress could probably eliminate more unnecessary spending from both of those budgets than all of the funds spent in NPR’s budget alone. But unfortunately, it seems that political pandering is what wins the day in the legislature, not common sense.

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