Rick Scott Kills Off Big Bird

[HockeyMom]

Dear friend,
On May 26, 2011, Florida Governor Rick Scott vetoed the state's nearly $4.8 million appropriation for public broadcasting—completely eliminating state funding for public radio and TV.
State funding for public broadcasting had already been reduced by 30% from last year. With these cuts, 13 public radio stations and 13 television stations will lose public funds. This is a tiny portion of Florida's overall budget, but a crippling loss for these public radio and TV stations.

Public broadcasting is a form of objective media that is inclusive and accessible to everyone. It keeps our communities both connected and informed. That's why I created a petition urging the Florida State House and Senate to override Gov. Scott's line-item veto of state funding for public radio and TV. The petition says:

"We, the undersigned, urge the Florida legislature to override Governor Rick Scott's line-item veto of state funding for public broadcasting. Public broadcasting is a source of objective and educational media that our community needs."

So now instead of watching educational series or concerts on PBS, while waiting for those 700,000 jobs he is going to create, I suppose we can all watch Faux News instead praising Scott's accomplishments?

[monmouth]

1. Sunday night, Masterpiece Theatre...What a loss...n/t

[Angry Dragon]

2. Gov. Penis Head

his new name, may it follow him every where

[William769]

5. Why insult the penis?

[Lochloosa]

8. +10000

[n2doc]

12. Most penis' are much better looking than him!

I tend to like "zombie" first when seeing pRick.

[wizstars]

71. most penises have better hair, too.

[CBHagman]

3. Boy, the 'cans really are bending over backwards...

...to establish their credentials as foes of public broadcasting. In the U.S. House, Republicans voted in lockstep, I recall, to eliminate public broadcasting funds, the CPB, etc., earlier this year.

In past years the GOP has attacked public broadcasting (though, to be fair, not with today's degree of unanimity). It's interesting that they didn't move to eliminate it during the G.W. Bush administration. Now of course they can use the excuse that budgets are tighter, but it's not like they were living frugally during the Bush years.

[csziggy]

4. It looks as though it is not just PBS public stations being cut

WUSF in Tampa predates the formation of PBS and has long been a top public service educational station. This cannot help but hurt stations like this that have provided such good programming for the state for over sixty years.

Since a lot of the Florida public stations are associated with universities and they use students to add programming and to teach the students about broadcasting and program creation, this will also reduce students' opportunities to get hands on expertise that will help them get jobs once they graduate.

[Harmony Blue]

6. Huge blow to USF

A lot of people will lose jobs at WUSF as not all are students.

[csziggy]

16. Yes, WFSU will also suffer

And they have a good sized permanent staff. pRick Scott is doing his part to make sure the jobless rate stays high as long as Obama is in office!

[marmar]

7. Of all the rancid Repug govs elected in the last wave, he might turn out to be the most vile.

nt

[QuintanarooBoy]

18. I'm beginning to agree

Thread recced.

[MatthewStLouis]

9. They love to wallow in ignorance.

[Maraya1969]

10. Where is the petition?

Tweet, FB, blog, email.

Some Republican in the FL senate just put up a bill that allows the citizens to recall elected officials. So hopefully if that passes we can get this freak out of their.

[Harmony Blue]

11. Yes it has reached the point that

A republican super majority in Florida hates Rick Scott that much.

[Riftaxe]

13. Big Bird has $399,074,000

(Sesame Workshop)
That's $399,074,000 after liabilities in 2010.

Perhaps SW should be paying PBS to advertise their merchandise instead of the other way around...

[marmar]

14. Que?

:wtf:

[Riftaxe]

17. Exactly, Big Bird is big business

And Sesame Workshops financial's are publicly available, just google it.

They make incredible revenue off of PBS and are paid to do so, and I doubt anyone would even bother to argue that their goals are not financially motivated.

[MadHound]

23. And what does the non-profit Sesame Workshop do with that money?

Oh, yeah, puts in back out into the community via grants for various children programming and other child-oriented matters.

[Riftaxe]

79. Oh i suppose the same as the other *cough* non profits

Gary E. Knell, President (2008)

Salary: $718,807

Benefits: $132,668

I'm not saying it is not a lucrative corporation to work for, they openly advertise for H1-B holders if your interested in applying.

[HockeyMom]

15. The link to the Petition

http://signon.org/sign/keep-public-broadcasting?source=s.fwd.in&id=28137-10250531-EVLUb8x

[Kablooie]

19. I'm really getting the feeling that these guys are winning and we are powerless to stop them.

The whole country seems to be toppling over to the right.
When you succeed in stopping any of the insanity it turns around and continues barreling downhill at twice the speed.

[HockeyMom]

20. Buyers Remorse

Rick Scott has an approval rating of 29%. Only 29% of Florida's voters are Republicans? Republicans, who voted for this jerk, are seeing his policies and cuts affect THEM, as in my Republican husband. At first he didn't believe me (denial) about Scott eliminating PBS funding. I send him links on everything Scott does. My husband watches PBS all the time and has been donating for 20+ years. We even sent in a donation a couple of years ago for over $150 to get tickets for Rain. He has reaped the benefits of PBS. He stopped talking and just looked very SAD. He is beginning to UNDERSTAND.

It's also hitting him that for all his rants about Unions and Public Employees, HIS income is going down, down, down because MY salary as a Public Employee is going down. He needs another operation. He has to recalculate the household budget based on LOWER income because of MY JOB.

Then there is the Social Security and Medicare fiasco. When the cuts were about 55 and under, everything was all "great". Now that they are talking about cuts and raising the retirement age for those OVER 55, it will affect HIM.

Middle class REPUBLICANS are also bearing the brunt of their "party" too now. The Republican Party is throwing the baby out with the bathwater and I think they are going to pay a major price for it.

[Volaris]

21. So, basically, (in Florida) PUBLIC Broadcasting Station is now a misnomer. What an asshat.

But, I guess if Frontline is the last bastion of television that is going to tear into the world's idiots for BEING idiots, well, we all know we can't have THAT, now, CAN WE?

The (roughly) 3-hour long piece titled Bush's War was the best piece of documentary/investigative journalism I've seen in 20 years. If you haven't seen it yet, (or your in the mood to remember why you were pissed off about the whole thing) I think its posted at the following link......

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/bushswar/view/

when I get bored, I peruse the archives of PBS for interesting things I might have missed. It's a godsend for anyone who can't stomach late-night infomercials.

[Thaddeus Kosciuszko]

22. "Public broadcasting is a source of objective and educational media that our community needs."

Well then, the community will find a way to make up the difference.

[DainBramaged]

24. And through what outlet? Tomato cans and string?

Do you think you and I can go to FAUX and sit down and begin discussing the criminality of Scott's previous ventures in health care, or do you think we'd have to pay?


Public broadcasting IS a public forum, and when PUBLIC funds are cut off the PUBLIC suffers not the corporate sector........but I bet you knew that already......

[Thaddeus Kosciuszko]

26. They raise money by utilizing telethons in my area.

Public broadcasting has a very affluent audience--they can afford to pay for it.

[DainBramaged]

27. BBBAAAWWWHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

Nice try.

[DainBramaged]

25. Oh, and Liberty as you put it, is freedom from Corporate slugs

I wonder if you have ever taken up arms to defend the Country or is video gaming s far as you've gotten? Don't regard yourself as a guardian of freedom unless you respect and preserve the rights of people you disagree with to free, public, unhampered expression.

[XanaDUer]

28. +1

nt.

[Thaddeus Kosciuszko]

29. "free, public, unhampered expression..."

A soapbox is a raised platform on which one stands to make an impromptu speech, often about a political subject. The term originates from the days when speakers would elevate themselves by standing on a wooden crate originally used for shipment of soap or other dry goods from a manufacturer to a retail store.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soapbox

[DainBramaged]

42. Are you suggesting that we go back to soapboxes?

[Thaddeus Kosciuszko]

51. No, I am suggesting that "free speech" does not require subsidies to be free.

Subsidies come with strings attached...strings are like chains, they are impediments to freedom.

[DainBramaged]

53. Does freedom pay for repairing the potholes in your streets?

[Thaddeus Kosciuszko]

54. Potholes don't speak...

However, they can cause some people to speak...

[DainBramaged]

60. Wrong answer. Let's be blunt, are taxes an impediment to freedom?

[Thaddeus Kosciuszko]

62. A wrong tax or an excessive tax can indeed be impediments to freedom.

Do you think it should take 71,684 pages to define the tax code?

[DainBramaged]

63. What are wrong taxes? Corporate taxes? Excessive taxes, income taxes?

Just what is a fair share? Should GE be allowed to escape paying any income tax while I have to pay 35%?

[Thaddeus Kosciuszko]

65. Do you think it should take 71,684 pages to define the tax code?

Corporate taxes are not "wrong," but they are among the highest in the world.
http://seekingalpha.com/article/257977-high-u-s-corporate-tax-rate-a-barrier-to-economic-growth

GE is "tight" with Obama, so it is easy to understand why they paid $0 taxes. It isn't right, but as long as Americans keep voting for the same people, they will get the same results.
http://www.opensecrets.org/pres08/contrib.php?cycle=2008&cid=n00009638

Again, do you think it should take 71,684 pages to define the tax code?

[DainBramaged]

67. Wait OUR corporate taxes are among the highest in the World?

:rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:


GE is 'tight' with the President?

You made a funny, so sad, too bad, nice try, you like extra cheese?

[Guy Whitey Corngood]

76. I have to say it again. Bye jagoff! nt

[DainBramaged]

78. His signature gave him away. He tried to be cute, didn't work

And when he made his little comment about the President, I KNEW he was a Puke.

[Thaddeus Kosciuszko]

49. .

[DainBramaged]

52. Really? Do you think welfare is a chain? Do you think it's undeserved?

Is Social Security a chain too?

[Name removed]

56. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[DainBramaged]

59. Is filling potholes an impediment to freedom?

Like I sad, you've made it a habit of being vague and using single sentences to answer complex questions. But at DU, we understand how complex questions and facts befuddle the opposition.....

[Thaddeus Kosciuszko]

61. Usually, the answers are simple.

Following through is the hard part.

[DainBramaged]

64. Answers are simple when you are simple, complex answers sometimes are needed for simple questions

[Thaddeus Kosciuszko]

66. Yes, that is why it takes "them" 71,684 pages to define the tax code.

I suppose I'm just too "simple" to recognize superior wisdom when I see it.

[DainBramaged]

68. It's been fun, pizza on the way, have a nice life.

[Thaddeus Kosciuszko]

69. It is interesting to note that you are afraid to answer the question.

[DainBramaged]

70. ....................

[Thaddeus Kosciuszko]

72. Run along, now...

:hi:

[DainBramaged]

75. HAHAHAHAHAHAHA

Another zero on the cowl.....

[Guy Whitey Corngood]

77. .

[malaise]

30. Do you like flowers?

What are your favorite flowers

[Thaddeus Kosciuszko]

32. Blue Bells for appearance and Gardenias for fragrance.

[malaise]

33. Democrats love 'blue' bells

Nice :D

[alphafemale]

31. That just means the listeners need to kick up the donations to keep it alive.

An end to government funding might be the best thing that ever happened to Public Radio and TV. They wouldn't have to bow to the dumhead Repug agenda anymore for fear of losing funding anymore.

And I really DO think private donors would pick up the slack.

[Thaddeus Kosciuszko]

34. Indeed...that would ensure absolute freedom from outside interference and

the ever-changing political landscape.

[DainBramaged]

35. What about interference from internal sources, like the Corporate terrorists Scott supports?

and the GOP for that matter?

[Thaddeus Kosciuszko]

36. Corporate terrorists,,,?

I thought the war on terrorism was supposed to address that matter.

[DainBramaged]

37. I guess you forgot about BP?

[Thaddeus Kosciuszko]

38. Okay...but I thought that was an accident.

Do you have evidence that suggests it was deliberate?

[DainBramaged]

40. Do you think the cleanup was done honestly?

[Thaddeus Kosciuszko]

43. No, it was fraught with a multitude of government interferences.

[DainBramaged]

44. It was?

Do you think like PBS, the private sector should have had full control and been allowed to cover up the magnitude of the spill and not reimbursed the public who depended on the gulf for a living? DO you think that freedom to wreck havoc by the big corporations trumps the freedoms of the individual?


Are you checking with someone for the answer? OH, and you didn't answer my question about military service.....

[Thaddeus Kosciuszko]

45. Of course not, I thought BP had established a government administered$20 billion claims fund.

[DainBramaged]

46. Was that enough? Your answers are very vague and very uninformed.

I know Google is your friend, but here, that was common knowledge, and friends of mine had to leave the gulf because their business was devastated, along with the families of their employees who NEEDED the employment the gulf provided. They are trying to re-establish themselves on the Atlantic coast, but the competition is fierce, and BP has done everything in their power to stall their claim.

[Thaddeus Kosciuszko]

47. I don't know if it's enough or not. The estimates I have seen have a pretty wide spread.

On the low side, it's more than enough; however, I have seen numbers as high as $30 billion +/-. If it goes higher than $20 billion, BP should be required to increase the size of the fund.

[DainBramaged]

48. BP stalling claims payments so that Feinberg will take blame for denials

(I guess you missed that)

Apparently, BP officials are attempting to put off any denials of claims until the process is turned over to Kenneth Feinberg, the federally appointed administrator of the $20 billion compensation fund that the White House convinced BP to set aside.

BP’s strategy, experts say, is to make Feinberg take the blame for all the claim denials.

“They don’t deny them. They just hold them open forever,” said Mississippi Attorney General Jim Hood.

If BP continues to use stalling and delaying tactics to avoid paying legitimate claims, local lawyers say their clients will be forced to file their claims in court and sue BP for damages.

http://www.awkolaw.com/news/bp-oil-spill-disaster/bp-stalling-claims-payments-so-that-feinberg-will-take-blame-for-denials/


I guess that's OK if you are a defender of the Corporatist agenda.....

[DainBramaged]

50. On another issue, do you think Chris Christie's assault on his electorate is valid?

Is it OK for him to insult his state's voters when they ask questions? Are guerilla tactics against those who don't support him OK with you?

[malaise]

55. Did you see the latest Christie outrage

That he has no intention of letting anyone know about his association with Roger Ailes

http://www.newjerseynewsroom.com/state/gov-christie-wont-discuss-meeting-with-roger-ailes-and-rush-limbaugh
<snip>
Claims executive privilege concerning dinner at Upstate New York home

Gov. Chris Christie wants to keep the details of what went on at a dinner meeting he had with Fox News chairman Roger Ailes, a Republican strategist, and radio commentator Rush Limbaugh in Ailes Upstate New York home on the down low.

Gawker.com, a gossip website, stated Friday that Christie’s office has refused a request to provide it emails that could be related to the meeting. Christie’s aides declined to confirm if emails exist or if the meeting took place.

Last month, New York magazine reported that the governor, Ailes and Limbaugh met. Ailes has acknowledged the meeting took place.

[DainBramaged]

57. He is quickly becoming a pariah in NJ

[Bryn]

39. I watch PBS all the time.

Hope people in Florida get together to keep Rick Scott from cutting it out. He is doing real damages to my native Florida. Good thing I am in Arkansas now, but watching Florida with horror. Even here in AR I still watch PBS, many great programs with close captioning on always!

[Zebedeo]

41. I like watching PBS

from time to time, but I don't think in today's day and age it is necessary to have state-run media. There are so many other media outlets available. I don't think the government needs to have its own captive broadcast station. JMHO

[malaise]

58. I disagree

I think the government's agenda and view need to be heard and they do need radio and TV.

[Thaddeus Kosciuszko]

73. I agree--when the only choices were CBS, NBC and ABC, public broadcasting made sense.

However, as the the subsidy on ethanol demonstrates, even when they are clearly no longer needed, government subsidies are difficult things to eradicate.

[lynne]

74. Given the economy, I agree with this -

- PBS was vital when it originated as most of us could get only 3 stations and the shows were very limited. With the addition of the internet, satellite and cable, the times have definitely changed. We're no longer at a loss for an alternate viewpoint or opinion and the arts are well represented. There is absolutely nothing on PBS that's can't be seen on the internet, cable, or satellite.

PBS has become a dinosaur. Love the Big Bird but its time for Big Bird to support himself as the economy isn't in the position to do so right now.