Save Sesame Street! Public broadcasting funder says Trump plan to ax its federal cash would 'devastate' programs for children and American history

[mystery-ak]

Save Sesame Street! Public broadcasting funder says Trump plan to ax its federal cash would 'devastate' programs for children and American history

    President Trump's proposed budget puts the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, which oversees PBS and NPR, on the chopping block
    The head of CPB warned that the elimination of federal funding would 'initially devastate' and 'ultimately destroy' children's and historical programming
    The budget also kills the National Endowment of the Arts and the National Endowment of the Humanities
    Already, celebrities are lining up against these proposals, with John Lithgow, Salman Rushdie, Judy Blume and others signing a petition against the cuts
    Trump isn't the first Republican to try and strangle Big Bird, as Mitt Romney memorably mentioned it during a debate in 2012
    Sesame Street, while receiving some government funds, is run through a non-profit and inked a deal in 2015 with HBO, creating another viable revenue stream

By Nikki Schwab, U.s. Political Reporter At The White House For Dailymail.com

Published: 10:33 EDT, 16 March 2017 | Updated: 16:33 EDT, 16 March 2017

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http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4320150/Public-broadcasting-head-calls-Trump-budget-devastating.html#ixzz4bWPTnVQ7

[Weird Tolkienish Figure]

Here we go, time to trot out big bird.


And we haven't even touched entitlements.

[INVAR]

The Merchandising of Sesame Streets stuff alone should fund their program with plenty of profit to spare.

Welcome to Crony Fascism disguised as public service.

[geronl]

Sesame Street is in no danger. It will survive even if PBS dies.

[jmyrlefuller]

Sesame Street already moved to HBO last year. It's pretty much completely safe from any further federal funding cuts. They're largely autonomous at this point.

It's the other children's programming that's at stake here. But let's be frank: PBS has some good children's shows, and yes, they're better than the other children's shows that are on the commercial cable networks (of course that's from an adult perspective). That I'll acknowledge. But they currently fill eight hours a day of programming. Some of that is filled with shows from Canada and reruns of shows that ended production years ago. There should be no problem with maintaining a basic level of quality children's shows on the networks.

[Applewood]

I have no objection to public television. I must object to having my tax dollars pay for it. 

The local PBS station has endless telethons, an auction and chronic pitches for money.  Then there is the merchandise they sell.  Plus many of their  programs are subsidized by corporations,  foundations and a number of other wealthy donors.  Why do CPB/PBS need our tax dollars too?