From an analysis of President Bush's proposed (whew) 2008 Fiscal Year budget, he seems to think it is OK to eviscerate the federal subsidy for quality PBS and NPR operations and programming- while at the same time pouring billions more down the rathole of magically stopping the Iraq Civil War.
By these actions, Bush seems to think that curbing the sectarian clashes in Baghdad is infinitely more important than assuring a culturally enriched quality of life for all Americans.
Item # 1: Bush is seeking $100 billion for the Iraq and Afghanistan wars for the rest of fiscal year 2007 ending on September 30 and $145 billion for fiscal year 2008. The budget also projects $50 billion in war costs for 2009 but has no Iraq projections beyond that. The war request for 2008 includes $5.6 billion to fund Bush's proposal to send an extra 21,500 troops to Iraq.-Reuters
Item #2: President Bush is reopening the fight over government support of public television, unveiling a 2007 government fiscal year budget that would cut federal funding for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting by nearly 25 percent..There was some confusion on how to tally the exact cut, but public TV and congressional sources said at least $114 million of the $460 million CPB budget for the fiscal year that starts in October would be cut. The Association of Public Television Stations said the total impact could be $145 million when cuts in related programs are added, including a program to upgrade radio station satellite facilities."-Ira Teinowitz, TVWeek.com.
And the $145 billion to pay for a war in a nation that didn't attack us on 9/11?
I'm now going to break out Excel, and see what proportion of that $145 billion for war expenses the $114 million cut in grants to the Corporation for Public Broadcasting consists of.
BRB...
Better numbers: the amount proposed to be cut from the CPB's for public radio and tv is between 7 and 8 hours of the annual budget for the "War on Terror."
No typo. Hours.