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kmblue187's avatar

I'm going to antenna only, in Atlanta you get a lot of free stations, one being public TV (well 10 bucks a month, I'll pay for that.). Poverty is a terrible thing, as if our government cares.

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kmblue187's avatar

Fantastic photo illustration.

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littlerice vice's avatar

This morning, after hearing about this, I drove 30 miles to my local public radio station (WXPR) just to present my donation in person. Told them that I was pissed and mentioned our representatve in D.C. They gave me several stickers and promised a new tote bag later on. So now I will have a tote bag for all of the old tote bags! It might be coming together! To be seen maybe.

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Peter MacMonagle's avatar

The current government is a kakistocracy. When television news personalities are given cabinet level jobs we have reached a new low, matched only by a sizable number of Republican members of Congress noted for their particular denseness. Even with Ronald Reagan I thought that the quality of elected officials was above the norm. Today? Nobody in the Republican Party even comes close.

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littlerice vice's avatar

I agree. They have been reaching the bottom of the barrell for a while now.

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Lisa the Kitten's avatar

This also dramatically affects non-commercial, community radio stations like the one I'm a unpaid volunteer broadcaster for (as are all of the other 150 broadcasters on our station) . . . we're not a NPR affiliate, but we ARE the emergency broadcaster for our region in the Sierra foothills, which is permanently concerned about either winter storms or wildfires.

The $200,000 that will now be clawed back from our already-not-lavish budget will make alerting our listeners to vital emergency information that saves land, property and lives far more difficult.

This is shameful, painful and totally unnecessary . . . but it's all part of The New Cruelty in which we now live.

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TimeIsLikeAClockInMyHeart⏰'s avatar

I was wondering about that as we have local little independent stations here as well. That really blows.

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Lisa the Kitten's avatar

Yup. Even the larger community radio station I DJed for in New Orleans (WWOZ) will have about $400,000 of their budget clawed back.

So basically any and all public radio stations (even the non-NPR ones) usually get some money from CPB - but not any more . . . and this will be the death knell of many of them.

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Zyxomma's avatar

Ta, Dok. WIOX 91.3 FM is where A Jet Age Sound originates. The radio station is in the old Masonic hall. We're part of the Pacifica network, and we have underwriters. All staff are volunteers. I believe we'll survive, but many will not. Heartbreaking as well as dangerous, for so many reasons.

Btw, A Jet Age Sound is on hiatus. Tomorrow we're going to Grey Fox, next week to Saratoga for Willie Nelson, Bob Dylan, Lucinda Williams and others, then we're taking our real vacation, to visit family in Virginia and both Carolinas. We'll be back on the air August 16th from 10 p.m. to midnight Eastern. You can hear us at wioxradio.org by clicking the Listen Live button. As always, if you have sound problems, reload the page. You can also go to that website to donate, which keeps our turntables spinning.

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Hooker P Tape skipping dipshit's avatar

There will be offers to fill in the gaps from right wing billionaires. So twenty percent of the content will be weirdos spouting conspiracy theories.

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JustDontSayDittos's avatar

What's crazy is it took a 60 vote majority in the Senate to pass the original budget, but only 51 votes for the clawback. Oh, and now the administration has discretion over actually spending the money.

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Joseph Fedorko's avatar

For a little while … maybe …

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jaspersdad's avatar

In Canada CBC is trusted as the go to news source by a wide margin. 75% of Canadians trust CBC over the next closest, CTV at 65%.

Which explains why the Cons have been wanting to defund it for over a decade. I say if that's the hill you want die on go for it.

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Goonemeritus's avatar

"Never argue with someone who buys ink by the barrel"

or has a coast to coast broadcast network. Today we just say FAAFO

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Dorothea is a Democrat's avatar

I remember the good old days when you could shame Republicans with Big Bird in the rotunda. Now it is impossible to shame Republicans. I wonder about Boise, Doc. I'm not sure how much funding they have. Our Seattle station is funded like a small country, so not a problem for them, but I noticed they don't do any pledge breaks in Boise. Which tells me they don't have enough money to take a week of special programming to beg for cash. Plenty of richy riches in Idaho to support the station all by themselves. Including your Senator Jim Risch who is the 7th richest guy in the Senate. Murkowski could easily fund that station in Bethel with her own money. She's covered in oily green. So much money out there and none of it doing anybody any good.

Might be something wrong with that.

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Gregory's avatar

PBS and NPR were competing for audiences with Fox and the rest of the right wing echo chamber.

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Lionel “8647” Hutz's avatar

Right now the Democrats need to start laying down markers for what must be in the upcoming budget to get their votes. And they need to start working out language that will prevent the Republicans from backing out of any deals they agree to in the budget by just needing 50 votes to go back on their promises.

Obviously needed:

1) Refunding of CPB at similar levels

2) Return of the funds for Medicare and Medicaid

3) Return of the tax credits and funds for the ACA

4) Return of funds for EVs and other environmental issues

5) Return of funds for international relief and other soft power to compete with Russia and China

6) Taxes on millionaires and billionaires and capital gains to pay for all of this

7) Making it the law that as part of the taxing authority of Congress, no tariff can last more than 60 days without Congressional approval

8) Cuts to ICE and concentration camps to also pay for all of this.

I am sure there are other makers that must be laid down, but at this point the threat of a government shutdown is not worse than what the Republicans will otherwise do. Make it clear that as the Republicans backed out of their last deal for your support by their recession package, you cannot trust them and need the law to address such reckless behavior.

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PaulDietzel's avatar

Now that they're not going to be getting any Fed dollars maybe my PBS affiliate will stop screwing up Friday nights with "Firing Line with Margaret Hoover."

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Joe Schmoe, Troublemaker's avatar

LBJ is spinning in his grave and his "lil johnson" is whacking the coffin to a rhythm of "Fuck you, Drumpf! Fuck you, Drumpf! Fuck you, Drumpf! Fuck you, Drumpf!"

(Sincere apologies for the off-putting adolescent visuals; I was raised on Sesame Street, Electric Company, Zoom...and I am megaparsecs beyond pissed🙇‍♂️)

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PaulDietzel's avatar

I didn't think LBJ had a "lil Johnson", didn't he call it "Jumbo?" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S3GT9UN7nDo - I like linking this because you can conjure it off of the google machine by just typing in "down where your nuts hang." The funny thing to me is that the pants maker had already given him three pair and now he's asking for more . . . plus shirts . . . plus jackets.

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Joe Schmoe, Troublemaker's avatar

"Lil" in the sense that his schmuck (Yiddish: dick, penis) was smaller than he.

Yes, he was quite keen to whip it out to show his trowser trout out and about to visually brag about it. *And* he was known, quite well known, to close-talk as often as possible in order to impose his viewpoints in the White House, Senate, and even before then.

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Zyxomma's avatar

One of my favorite Yiddish expressions, about a man small in stature: Er iz tsu klein to zayn a mensch und tsu groyzs to zayn a schmok (He's too small to be a man and too big to be a prick).

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