Public Broadcasting on the Ropes

The new Republican majority in the lower house of Congress, emboldened by sweeping victories in November, has called for across-the-board cuts in discretionary spending. And although they've been criticized for a lacking specifics, it didn't take long for a few conservative lawmakers to offer them, including Rep Doug Lamborn (R-CO), who introduced a bill his month to eliminate all federal funding for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, the organization charged with distributing funds to public stations, National Public Radio (NPR) and Public Broadcasting Service (PBS), and another bill that would more narrowly restrict any tax dollars going to NPR. "Government-funded broad-casting is now unnecessary in a world of 500-channel cable TV, satellite radio and cell phone Internet access," Lamborn wrote in an op-ed in the Hill on Jan. 12 after introducing the legislation.