Sen. ted-cruz” target=”_blank” rel=”noreferrer noopener”>Ted Cruz,<.
Cruz tweeted that Big Bird’s effort to encourage kids to get vaccinated was “Government propaganda…for your 5 year old!”
ONE YEAR UNTIL 2022 MIDTERMS, REPUBLICANS PREDICT THEY’LL WIN BACK HOUSE, SENATE MAJORITIES
Sen. Ted Cruz, a Republican from Texas, speaks during the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in Orlando, Florida, in February. Recently, the senator called out Big Bird’s efforts to vaccinate kids.
(Elijah Nouvelage/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, blasted “the government, in its infinite wisdom” for “propaganda.” Roy argued the government was trying to portray children as “superheroes” for getting vaccinated.
“The American people are waking up to what bureaucrats are doing every single day. Undermining our freedoms and using PBS as the the long arm of the government,” declared Roy on Fox.
Big Bird prompted a rebuke from the right after touting that he got vaccinated in a tweet.
“I got the Covid-19 vaccine today! My wing is feeling a little sore, but it’ll give my body an extra protective boost that keeps me and others healthy,” tweeted Big Bird.
joe-biden” target=”_blank”>President Biden<
An actor dressed as Sesame Street character Big Bird speaks during an Apple Inc. event at the Steve Jobs Theater in Cupertino, California, in 2019.
(David Paul Morris/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Former Secretary of State the-clintons” target=”_blank”>Hillary Clinton<, R-Utah, as the Republican presidential nominee during an October 2012 debate with barack-obama” target=”_blank”>President Obama<
Republicans tried again to eliminate public broadcasting in 2010, shortly before the party won control in the midterms that year. Then House Minority Whip Eric Cantor, R-Va., tried to bring a measure to the floor to specifically slash money devoted to NPR.
Here’s how public broadcasting funding works:
Congress appropriates a batch of money each year to the CPB, a private, nonprofit entity, which provides money to public broadcasters and public broadcasting outlets. Barely a fraction of that money goes directly to NPR and PBS, even if indirectly. Neither PBS nor NPR are government agencies. They are independent organizations which came into being after Congress approved the Public Broadcasting Act of 1967. It was part of President Lyndon Johnson’s “Great Society” program.
“We want most of all to enrich man’s spirit,” said Johnson. “That is the purpose of this act. It will give a wider and I think stronger voice to education radio and television by providing new funds for broadcast facilities.”
A good chunk of CPB’s federal dollars goes directly to NPR and PBS stations – separate from those organizations themselves. CPB devotes other money to cover the cost of various initiatives, such as programs and documentaries. Some stations use their federal CPB funds to “buy” programs from NPR or PBS.
CPB funding has been stagnant at $445 million since Fiscal Year 2015.
Slashing funding for the CPB hasn’t been part of this debate yet. But Republicans may have figured out a way to project their disdain for public broadcasting into a politically charged issue like vaccines for kids. It’s one thing to talk about “budgets” and “numbers” for public broadcasting. But honing in on “propaganda” as Cruz and Roy have done could have more resonance.
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It’s unclear if this will impact the annual appropriation for the CPB right now. The government is operating on a temporary spending measure through early December. Another stopgap plan is in the works for then. By their nature, these interim spending bills simply maintain all old spending at current levels. Moreover, Democrats control the House, the Senate and the White House. So CPB money isn’t going anywhere any time soon.
And that means that the GOP will continue to have a foil in the future. Big Bird. Bert and Ernie. Oscar the Grouch. They aren’t going away just yet. That means, if history is our guide, Republicans may come after these Sesame Street characters again in the future.
