This RW attack on NPR is pretty serious - Maybe we should be paying more attention.

[jillan]

The bill that DeMint introduced (or will introduce) will stop funding to ALL public funded radio, like PBS and Pacifica.

We watched them do this to Acorn - we cannot let them do this to public radio. Can you imagine? Npr is the only sanity that some smaller towns have that aren't lucky enough to have one liberal talk station...and NPR isn't even that liberal.

Anyway - there is a petition if you want to sign it
http://act.credoaction.com/campaign/stand_up_for_npr/?rc=fb_share2

and even if you don't want to sign, we may just want to keep our eyes and ears opened.

Ugh - I can't stand DeMint!

[jillan]

1. Here is the assholes statement:

"Once again we find the only free speech liberals support is the speech with which they agree. The incident with Mr. Williams shows that NPR is not concerned about providing the listening public with an honest debate of today’s issues, but rather with promoting a one-sided liberal agenda,” said Senator DeMint.

"Since 2001, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, which funds programming for National Public Radio and the Public Broadcasting Service, has received nearly $4 billion in taxpayer money," said DeMint. "The country is over $13 trillion in debt and Congress must find ways to start trimming the federal budget to cut spending. NPR and PBS get about 15 percent of their total budget through federal funding, so these programs should be able to find a way to stand on their own. With record debt and unemployment, there’s simply no reason to force taxpayers to subsidize liberal programming they disagree with.”

“We can’t keep borrowing hundreds of millions of dollars from China each year to fund public radio and public TV when there are so many choices already in the market for news and entertainment. If CPB is defunded taxpayers will save billions. This is just one of the many cuts Congress should make next year"

http://demint.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?p=PressReleases&ContentRecord_id=b4535225-a006-4342-83b4-f7ba12cc5364

What really needs to be defunded is DeMint!

[ixion]

6. “We can’t keep borrowing hundreds of millions of dollars from China each year to fund public radio

but apparently we're able to do just that to commit atrocities abroad and here at home. :(

[rurallib]

19. however we can borrow to give the wealthy tax breaks.

[timtom]

23. "...so many choices in the market for news and entertainment."

Such major douche-baggery! These people know no shame! So many choices, indeed!

Thanks for posting his insane comments.

[jillan]

2. And there's this - this is really going into overdrive - ALOT of repigs have signed onto this

already.

It started with Palin and Huckabee. Then Williams let loose. Then DeMint, Boner, Tom Price, Cantor - they have already asked Waxman to investigate.

Here we go again.

http://dailycaller.com/2010/10/22/calls-increase-for-congress-to-investigate-defund-npr/

[strawberryfield]

36. There is more going on here than Juan Williams and NPR

This is just one more example in this election cycle of the RW taking a tiny side issue and turning it into a national distraction. The last thing the cons want to have is people thinking in terms of Democratic candidate Jones vs. Republican candidate Smith. They want this election to be about utter meaningless BS. Unfortunately, the corporate media has largely allowed this to happen. The RW will try to milk this one to Election Day to keep us off our message. If the public tires of it, they will find something else.

[Pushed To The Left]

3. Signed it! n/t

[Democat]

4. It would be a joke if Democratic politicians had a spine

Democrats have enough votes to easily block any attempt to defund NPR. The problem isn't the Republicans, it's the cowardly Democrats who are so scared that they often join with Republicans.

Acorn wasn't destroyed by Republicans, it was destroyed by cowardly Democrats.

[Kablooie]

5. If they get control we may see a major clampdown on all liberal, (or balanced), speech.

[gatorboy]

7. The RW have always attacked NPR.

I can remember when Newt went for them hard.

I'm surprised no one has hit back that defunding NPR puts many more Americans out of work.

[Democat]

8. You're surprised the Democrats aren't hitting back?

I stopped expecting that many years ago.

Remember Acorn? How much "hitting back" did Democrats do then?

[Flubadubya]

17. "Piling on" maybe...

"hitting back" ...not so much. :cry:

[jillan]

27. I'm just hoping that Democrats learned from Acorn & that includes Us!

[Tesha]

13. The RW will *ALWAYS* attack NPR.

That;s their method of control; keep up the attack and NPR,
like an abused spouse, will keep moving rightwards in the
hopes that the Right will finally love them and stop beating them.
But that never happens, does it? No matter how far Right they go,
the drumbeat of attack continues.

This is not unlike the dynamic in many relationships, actually.

Consider the DLC versus the Democratic Party. "You're losing
elections because you're too LIBERAL and PROGRESSIVE." And
the DLC will keep saying this no matter how far Right the
Democratic Party shifts.

It's also quite like the relationship between the Republicans
and the current President. He keeps moving right and they
keep kicking him.

The Reich Wing will *ALWAYS* attack NPR.

Tesha

[madmom]

9. Where was this "bill" when Helen Thomas was fired?

[KharmaTrain]

10. That's 3% Of Their Budget

NPR, PBS and the CPB long ago detached itself from the threats of Congress about funding. A majority of the money that goes to operate your local NPR station come from state and local funding along with corporate underwriting and listener contributions. There's little that comes from Congress...and money, if pulled that can be recouped from other sources.

Pacifica gets ZERO funding from the government...their funding comes strictly from corporate and private donations. So DeMint and his ilk can go pound sand.

Yes, the wingnuts are trying to demonize NPR...but they've done it before. So the rushpublicans want to investigate broadcasting? How about the monopolies they helped create that have put a majority of the commercial airwaves in the hands of a few CONSERVATIVE companies (who have all but gone bankrupt). I'd be more than happy to revisit "Telcom '96" and look at all station ownership and funding. Doubt the wingnuts want to go anywhere near that.

[Tesha]

11. Does Pacifica *GET* any public funding? They used not.

Frankly, NPR made this bed (by pandering to the Right
and the corporations and now they must lie in it.

NPR *USED TO BE* fair and balanced; they even once had
a (Gasp!) SOCIALIST commentator (Michael what's-his-name),
but he disappeared long, long ago. And now, NPR uses Right-
leaning analysts and commentators from Right-leaning think
tanks at a 4:1 ratio over left-leaning analysts and think-tank
commentators.

Now? Fuck 'em. Let Sneering Steve Inskeep join the ranks of
the unemployed.

Tesha

[mazzarro]

15. That Should Not Matter Now!

NPR may have brought this on itself, but to allow the rethugs to kill-off NPR then we will never have the opportunity to push NPR back to the left and we would be the loser for that. Pacifica cannot take the place of NPR for a long time or even ever. Not with the reluctance of liberal/progressive rich folks to buy and control media outlets like the rethugs.

[proud2BlibKansan]

33. Well maybe this will inspire those liberal/progressive rich folks to buy media

Soros just donated to media matters. Maybe others will follow.

[proud2BlibKansan]

32. Amen

A story I saw in CNN claimed NPR only gets 2% of its funding from the feds. The rest is private donations. If that's true, this won't hurt much.

[Bluzmann57]

12. Signed and posted to my facebook account

Gladly. palin, demint and co. must be stopped.

[greytdemocrat]

14. Well...

Firing Williams was NOT the brightest idea NPR Execs have had especially with the elections right around the corner. Just gives the other side ammo.

[jillan]

29. I totally agree with you - the head of NPR should've had a meeting with Juan and laid it out on the

line that when he goes on faux that he is still an employee of NPR, and represents their ideals.

What just happened over the last few days - the conversation went from Where is the RW Money coming from? to Juan Williams.

Thanks for nothing - NPR....I still don't want to see them defunded....that 4% or whatever they get can really hurt a public funded station.

[Tesha]

40. They've had that conversation with Juan in the past.

And he just went right ahead thumbing his nose at them.

And it's always "near ab election" and the Reich Wing will always
try to make hay with this sort of thing -- don't you know that by
now?

Tesha

[RagAss]

16. Fuck NPR...they slept with the enemy ... Now let them squeal !

[OHdem10]

18. Close down anything that can be described as Liberal. gives the

Right more power. It is just that simple. What the
heck, Liberals lie and down roll over.

Does it even matter that they destroyed Acorn.

[datasuspect]

28. it's like they studied Mein Kampf

[ShamelessHussy]

20. that may give Democracy Now a boost in exposure

during the Bush years, NPR revealed it's self as an arm of corp/gov propaganda.

time for something better, imho

[Lost4words]

22. very true!

:hi:

[timtom]

21. Thanks.

As a Credo subscriber, I just signed the petition from the email sent to me.

[political_Dem]

24. That's why we need the equal time clause introduced back into FCC code.

This is a travesty.

And about DeMint, no one is checking out the story whether Greene is a plant or not. It could be election fraud.

[HughMoran]

25. They've tried this defundng stunt repeatedly over the years

A number of Republicans always vote to support NPR (even during Bushco when they tried this same stunt) and nothing ever changes. Nothing will happen this time either.

[Turborama]

26. My thoughts exactly. As you said, this isn't just about NPR, it's about much more than that

He's conflating NPR with the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and they want to take it all down based on a Faux news part timer getting fired for ignoring multiple warnings & violating NPR's code of conduct and instead following Faux's Modus Operandi (http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=385x518018">as detailed here by Rachel). How fucked up is that?

Article on this in LBN here: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x4584674

[AuntPatsy]

30. You have to wonder just how far the arm of funds extend to ensure the people

continue to remain unable to stop any of it all regardless of how many protest...

[proud2BlibKansan]

31. I gave up NPR years ago. They have moved so far to the right it's sad.

TPTB at NPR should have thought of this before they asked us to be outraged.

[jillan]

34. It's not about that, tho. What gives the wackos the right to try and control the airwaves?

I only listen to NPR when there is nothing else. But they are going after PBS too. Rumors of Pacifica as well.

The rightwing corporate sponsors already control cable news, they need to leave their grubby hands off of public radio & tv.

[proud2BlibKansan]

35. They took NPR over years ago

The time for outrage was met with no outrage. No one should be surprised here.

[jillan]

37. Dems never meet anything with outrage, do we? That's gotta change, or else we will continue

to get screwed over.

[Tesha]

41. There 's nothing the Reich can do to Pacifica; they get no federal, state, or local funding. (NT)

[SoCalDem]

38. It's a done-deal...count on it

Supposedly they only get 1-3 % now anyway, and with budget-cuts on the horizon, and Poor Widdew Juan crying his widdew eyes out over the "injustice" done to him, they will beat this horse until every remaining bluedog signs on to their legislation they are sure to propose.. Watch it pass, and watch dem leadership say ...."well it's only a small amount anyway".

This is how the right works.. they look for any loose thread they can pull...and when no threads are apparent, they rip a little hole & create loose threads..

It's how they whittled away at PBS and the Sierra Club and education & many others as well..

They NEVER rest.. they are always on the lookout for an edge..

[Democat]

42. The only "edges" are weak Democrats

This would be a joke if Democrats never caved in to fake Republican outrage.

The Republicans don't have the power to do anything without Democratic votes. If the Democrats weren't cowards, all the Republicans could do is cry. Instead, we cry because the Democratic majority gives the Republicans everything they ask for and more.

[felix_numinous]

39. NPR made a professional decision not a political one.

but the RW wants to make everything about politics, and all they want to hear on the radio are insane rants.

NPR had to drift to the right already just to survive the Bush years, but this is lost on these people. They would not recognize a neutral point of view if it bit them.