There are things you do not suggest cutting from the budget without cutting
your own political throat: one of them is reducing Big Bird to becoming a pimp
for Chick fil-A.
While pundits decry the lack of fire in Barack Obama in the recent presidential
debate, the biggest criticism of Romney was his almost amoral attack on the
National Endowment for the Arts and the Corporation For Public Broadcasting
which funds PBS. "I love Big Bird" didn't do much to soothe the
feelings of Americans who have come to love and appreciate the educational
properties of Sesame Street. And the thought of commercializing the lovable
avian more than he has been is too nauseating for America to stomach.
Romney's argument - that we would have to borrow from China to keep funding PBS
- rang hollow in the face of firing Big Bird altogether. Would we have to
"borrow from China" to fund Big Bird? Hardly. Compared to the Defense
budget, funding for the arts in Obama's 2013 budget is a pittance:
* President Obama's FY 2013 budget asks
for:
http://thinkprogress.org/alyssa/2012/10/03/955961/mitt-romneys-long-fixation-on-big-bird-and-public-arts-funding/?mobile=nc
-$154 million for the National Endowment for the Arts
-$154 million for the National Endowment for the Humanities
-$660 million for the Smithsonian Institution
-$22.3 million for the Kennedy Center
-$120 million for the National Galleries of Art
-$445 million for
two years of funding for the
Corporation for Public Broadcasting
A total less than $1.5 billion in the budget barely matches the budget for
Congress ($7 billion). Comparatively, PBS is a bargain, but not quite as
entertaining.
The Religious Edge
PBS has always been considered the poster child of secularism and the evils
attended thereof by today's Christian Right. It's "liberal" values of
honesty and fair play have been promoted to youngsters... without mentioning
God. This makes the likes of PBS an abomination. Likewise the National
Endowment for the Arts, the National Endowment for Humanities, etc.
What most churches fail to realize is that their tax-exemptions are a form of
subsidy from the government - a tax deduction, if you will, albeit a
"God-given one." Imagine the taxes due on the holdings of the
Catholic Church, estimated to be at $557 BILLION. Add to that figure the worth
of Protestant churches, and the figure is well over $1 TRILLION. Add to that
the fortunes of Pat Robertson, prosperity preachers "Bishop" Eddie
Long, Creflo Dollar and charismatic healer of human dominoes Benny Hinn
...well, you get the picture.
No wonder that many churches link themselves to corporations for support and
that they in turn support the Ryan-Romney economic plan: tax cuts for the rich
might "trickle down" to churches, and the ones that require tithing
...For example, the more a rich Mormon makes, the more money for Romney's LDS.
Upsetting the American Psyche
It has long been said that America has made a religion out of entertainment and
an entertainment out of religion. In other words, BOTH religion and
entertainment are sacrosanct in America: both are considered God-given rights.
And neither can be tampered with, adjusted, or eliminated in any way. In a
dual, they are almost evenly matched (a slight edge to entertainment thanks to
evil "secularism" and the comedic value of Jon Stewart's Daily Show
and SNL).
Romney's cavalier attitude towards entertainment - even educational
entertainment - ranks with his unconcern for the poor and his 47% gaff.
It also puts him in the category of artless campaigner.
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