Defying all logic, National Public Radio (NPR) is accusing Rep. Doug Lamborn (R-CO) of attempting to control public radio stations. Rep. Lamborn introduced legislation in the 111th Congress to cut all taxpayer funding to public broadcasting and is continuing those efforts to eliminate funding in the 112th Congress, as NetRightDaily.com first reported.
With public support to cut off all public funding for public broadcasting on the rise, NPR is firing back at Lamborn in an attempt to change the terms of the debate.
According to NPR, “Congressman Lamborn’s legislation is an intrusion into the programming decision-making of America’s public radio stations. His legislation will disrupt and weaken the free and universal public media system that serves 170 million Americans each month.”
NPR apparently hasn’t read Lamborn’s legislation.
Lamborn introduced two bills to completely eliminate all public funding for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and NPR by 2013 (H.R. 68 and H.R. 69). The legislation introduced by Lamborn does nothing to influence the way that NPR delivers the news. Rather, the legislation if passed, would force public broadcasting stations (including NPR) to find ways to privately fund their operations or close up shop.
According to Lamborn, “Congressional Republicans must show the American people that we are serious about cutting spending and reducing the size and scope of the federal government. We simply cannot afford to subsidize NPR, or any other organization that is not doing an essential government service. The government must learn to live within its means.
Lamborn continued, “[w]hile I like much of NPR’s programming, the fact is, it is luxury we cannot afford to subsidize. This effort to cut government spending should be part of the larger push from this new Republican Congress to cut spending and get our nation’s fiscal house in order.”
The Corporation for Public Broadcasting currently receives over $430 million a year from taxpayers. This is an absurd sum for a partisan operation.
NPR knows that their days of living off of money taken from people that had no choice but to hand over the cash could be coming to an end much sooner than they had ever expected. Changing the debate to make Lamborn appear as a “Big Government regulator” is not going to change their fate or change the minds of those that oppose funding for their partisan broadcasts.
