I support public broadcasting because the private media also needs competition, not only against each other, but also via government funded media. This is the belief that made our country strong, and to sully this belief will undermine what I consider to be one of the core foundations of democracy: Freedom of information, a right that is given to every citizen of this country.
My viewpoint is not against the general views on free market. Most private industry encourages government fundings because it allows them to compete better on the market, thus providing additional benefits to the consumer who can rely on at least one free source of information that can allow them to make informed decisions regarding the affairs of this country.
It is unfair to simply assume that any form of subsidy is a form of weakness, especially considering the fact that government subsidies are what created most of our modern corporations. Even Ford Corporation welcomed the auto industry bailout of their competitors, because they knew that it would encourage more competition among the private sectors. This is not an opinion: We have seen this in action from our days as moon walkers, where government funded research ranging from before the Apollo lunar missions to today have made private industries such as Intel and SpaceX a reality.
H.R. 1076 is an unfair and unjustified attack on our nation's public radio system and I strongly urge you to vote against it. Not only does this bill prohibit NPR from receiving federal funds, it goes so far as to prohibit the use of federal funds for acquisition of radio content regardless of the source.
Public broadcasting is an essential service to the American people. Without public broadcasting, our communities would lose access to the safe-haven of children's non-commercial educational content, the in-depth news and public affairs programming, access to the world of arts and cultural locally, nationally and internationally, and the local voice that weaves the diverse perspectives of our communities together.
The government does not exist to be absent. The government is there to represent the people that create it. Therefore public radio is the voice of the people, and speaks in the interest of the people. This is how democracy is preserved.
3 comments:
A stock response from Senator Posey:
Thank you for contacting me to express your support for federal funding of public broadcasting such as National Public Radio (NPR) and Public Broadcasting Service (PBS). It is good to hear from you and I appreciate knowing your views on this issue.
During these times of economic difficulty in which families are tightening their own budgets in order to compensate for the rising costs of everyday expenses such as food, fuel, and electricity I believe it is incumbent on the federal government to do the same. With that in mind I believe the Congress should carefully consider every spending proposal to ensure that we are using tax dollars wisely and that we begin to reduce, rather than increase, runaway federal spending deficits.
For each of the last two years, one of every three dollars the federal government has spent has been a borrowed dollar. Continuing that practice will bankrupt this nation and saddle future generations with a debt they will never be able to repay. All areas of the federal budget must be restrained.
As the Congress considers spending proposals, I will be sure to keep your support for public broadcasting in mind.
Thank you again, [name inserted], for contacting me. It is an honor to serve you in Congress. For more information on my work in Congress or to sign up to receive my E-newsletter, please visit my website, http://posey.house.gov/. If I may be of service to you in the future, please do not hesitate to contact me.
Sincerely,
Bill Posey
Member of Congress
The GOP has lots of these stock letters to crank out to the people they are supposed to represent. A person might think their take is righteous if they didn't put millions and billions into faith based organizations or use our tax money and borrowing power to fund tax breaks for corporations who fund their elections.
I call bullshit.
Hi Charlene, I'm much more saddened by the fact that the GOP senators are not representing their constituents. Most of the registered GOP voters want to keep federal funding for public broadcasting. I am still wondering why we are a nation of knee-jerk reaction.
Thanks for posting...I love your blog. I'm adding it to my list of feeds. :)
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