As I recover from too few hours of sleep even with the "fall back" I saw coverage of the Million Muppet March on the Sunday sites.
Like the original Million Man March it was far short of the announced goal. But unlike the MMM this didn't have at least a partial strong point. Farrakhan was adamant about men in the inner cities taking responsible for their children. But here is a handful of people wanting to keep Bird Bird on the public dole.
'Million Puppet March' descends on D.C. after Romney's PBS defunding promise
Several hundred - though not a million - supporters of U.S. public broadcasting descended on Capitol Hill on Saturday in what was called the “Million Puppet March.” The march was prompted by GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney’s promise, during a televised debate with President Barack Obama a month ago, to halt government funding of PBS if he wins the election on Tuesday.
During the first of three presidential debates, Romney told moderator Jim Lehrer:
I like PBS. I love Big Bird. I actually like you, too (Lehrer's show is on PBS). But I’m not gonna keep on spending money on things to borrow from China to pay for.
On Saturday, “Sesame Street” characters such as Big Bird and Kermit the Frog were accompanied by other Muppets and puppets. In addition, also seen was a protester wearing a latex Romney mask and a Halloween-themed group that dubbed itself “the finest skeletons from the national closet.”
"Million Puppet March" co-organizer Michael Bellavia said,
It’s not just "Sesame Street." We’re saying we want to support the whole ecosystem of public media - everything from the TV side, to radio, to all the Internet media that gets produced.
Romney’s targeting of PBS attracted criticism, particularly since the $444 million 2011 federal subsidy for the Corporation of Public Broadcasting accounted for .037 percent of the nation's $1.2 trillion deficit. Notably, as viewers of PBS can attest, most of its funding comes via donations (as evidenced by its numerous pledge drives).
That said, fifteen percent of the overall public broadcasting budget in the United States comes from Washington, while contributions from foundations and individuals makes up the rest.
No Mr Bellavia, we like Big Bird, etc. We, the American people, are simply looking at the funding of the Corporatoin for Public Broadcasting as an hold back from a time leftist overindulgence. And when public broadcasting was started there were only five channels on the TV. Now it's in the 100s and in days of multi-trillion dollar deficits and a 16 trilliion dollar national debt this 400 million dollar annual line item is something we cannot afford.
When I was young Army officer someone put budgeting into three sectors: Must Do, Should Do, Like To Do. Big Bird et all make a fortune with merchandising and can live on their own. Self reliance. That is a much better lesson to teach our children than "It's not easy being green."
Here are some of the pictures:
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