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12.31.2010 0

NPR Baselessly Accuses Rep. Doug Lamborn Of Taking Over Public Radio

  • On: 01/13/2011 09:54:00
  • In: Uncategorized
  • By Adam Bitely

    The movement to defund public broadcasting has done very well over the past several months. In the wake of the firing of Juan Williams from National Public Radio (NPR), it seems as if the effort to defund the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, including NPR, is finally within reach.

    Inside of Congress, Rep. Doug Lamborn (R-CO) has been fighting to get legislation that would completely stop public broadcasting from receiving any taxpayer funding. Rep. Lamborn attempted to pass legislation last year, but in the Democrat-controlled Congress it fell flat on its face. With the new GOP-controlled Congress though, Lamborn’s legislation H.R. 68 and H.R. 69 have a solid chance of success.

    This increased chance of success has now led NPR to fabricate and release bogus information to the public that is solely aimed at discrediting the legislation that Rep. Lamborn has brought forth. NPR, realizing that the days of living off the taxpayer dime could well be coming to an end by 2013, released a bizarre response to The Hill indicating that Rep. Lamborn was attempting to regulate the news desks at NPR and public broadcasting radio stations nationwide.

    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… This legislation would ultimately dictate the daily editorial schedules and news programs of nearly one thousand public radio stations across America.”

    Apparently they have not read the 7 pages of legislation, which you can read here H.R. 68 and H.R. 69 for yourself. You will notice there is no such language that NPR reports to have read.

    Nowhere inside of H.R. 68 or H.R. 69 is authority granted to Rep. Lamborn or any other government official to regulate the program decision-making at NPR. The legislation strictly calls for a complete “prohibition” of taxpayer dollars to the Corporation of Public Broadcasting including NPR.

    To be more specific H.R. 69 more explicitly bans any funneling of federal money through non-Federal entities back to NPR.

    The reasoning for the legislation is to pay down the debt. According to Rep. Lamborn, the Corporation for Public broadcasting received over $430 million in funding this year alone. As H.R. 69 states, “It is the sense of Congress that… Government programs and services that can be funded privately, or that are otherwise available within civil society, should not depend on taxpayer funding.”

    As Rep. Lamborn stated, “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.”

    NPR has clearly demonstrated that they are out to change the terms of the debate. They have shown that they could care less if their “facts” add up to truth. They are casting Rep. Lamborn as a “Big Government regulator” who is out to grab power. And this characterization is sure to be reported on by other liberal media outlets, which will attempt to change the terms of the debate without any facts to back it up.

    This mischaracterization of the legislation is all the more evidence that NPR does not deserve a single cent of public funding. If they are unable to read a couple of pages of legislation and report , then they have clearly indicated that they are not capable of handling millions of taxpayer dollars.

    Adam Bitely is the Editor-in-Chief of NetRightDaily.com. You can follow Adam on Twitter at @AdamBitely.


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