On Tuesday, The Trump administration sent its rescission package to Capitol Hill, asking Congress to claw back $9.4 billion in approved spending, including $1.1 billion for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. In their infinite pandering, Congress funded the CPB two years in advance of every other government agency, with the notion that "public" broadcasting needs to preserve its "independence" from government interference.

While the evidence of "public" broadcasting tilt is overwhelming, the liberal broadcasters will rely on the vaguely positive sound of their mission to win over enough moderate Republicans to keep their money (as usual). Local PBS and NPR stations lobby hard with their local politicians, suggesting they are a "public service" and not a partisan weapon.

Usually these networks can find enough "moderate" Republicans to stave off defunding, but even they are now proclaiming this is the gravest threat to their gravy train. The margins are thin, but the evidence of their partisanship is as thick as a set of encyclopedias. 

In letters and emails to their financial backers, PBS and NPR stations are offering one-sided arguments on how they need taxpayer money. Melissa Bell, the CEO of WBEZ in Chicago, attacked Republicans hearings and FCC probes of NPR practices and broadcasts: "These are not symbolic gestures; they are strategic moves to undercut independent journalism and weaken important public-interest institutions across the country.”

They are always "essential" and "trusted" with their "independent" reporting....that reliably lines up with Democrat Party talking points. They aren't "independent" in their politics and they're not "independent" in their financing, since they are quite dependent on government money. 

PBS CEO Paula Kerger lamely claimed again "there's nothing more American than PBS." Unless it's airing a concert on the Fourth of July or Memorial Day, there's no evidence PBS is indisputably the most American institution imaginable. 

NPR CEO Katherine Maher is still insisting there's no bias whatsoever on NPR stations. She told podcasters at The Wall Street Journal, "Perception is an issue and we don't like being perceived as liberal. If you look at our reporting, we are consistently found to be centrist in reporting." Consistently centrist? That's a bad joke. 

Enjoy the podcast below, or wherever you listen to podcasts.