Pence has been a big supporter of public broadcasting. Will it matter?

[BeyondGeography]

Mike Pence Is a Coward and a Hypocrite If He Doesn’t Save Public Broadcasting

...Many conservatives in Congress surely will welcome Trump’s proposal (to defund public broadcasting), but the true tragedy is that Trump’s vice president knows precisely the value of public broadcasting in the United States. Mike Pence funded public broadcasting for eight years as governor of Indiana, and even won a Champion of Public Broadcasting Award from America’s Public Television Stations (then called the Association of Public Television Stations).

After a decade in Congress, during which he criticized public broadcasting funding, Pence won the Indiana governorship in 2012. A former radio talk show host, he came to appreciate public media’s important role in early childhood education in Indiana.

...Pence said public stations “enrich our local communities through distinctive programs and services and through collaborations with some of our most cherished institutions,” adding, “I’m proud to say the Hoosier State has now and will continue to find the resources to support public media efforts in our state...Frankly, when we were going line by line through our budget proposal, when we came to deciding whether or not to include funding for public television in our budget, I wanna tell ya, it was an easy call. I believe education is a state and local function—I believe the state has the primary responsibility for educating our children. And I will say from my heart, through all of my life one thing has been clear: public television plays a vital role in educating all of the public, but most especially our children.”

The White House did not respond to a request for comment on Thursday. Reached by phone, Butler offered one plausible explanation—that Pence doesn’t in fact support the move at all. “As far as I know, Mike Pence remains a champion of public broadcasting, but he is not the one who makes the final decision in this administration,” Butler told me. He said he’s been in touch with Pence and other administration officials in advance of their budget rollout, and ultimately doesn’t blame them for the outcome. “I don’t look at it that way at all,” he said. “I think this is a decision the president made.”

The irony, Butler added, is that the first stations to suffer from Trump’s cuts would be in rural America. And he pointed to a recent national survey that showed 66 percent of Trump voters favor “increasing or maintaining federal funding for public TV.” Butler thinks Trump just doesn’t understand how his cuts will affect Americans: “The president, as far as we know, has never said a public word about public broadcasting.”

https://newrepublic.com/article/141369/mike-pence-coward-hypocrite-doesnt-save-public-broadcasting

[riversedge]

1. The RW talking point is that PBS is a state issue. Seems Pence has supported public

broadcasting in his state (by your article). Perhaps that will be our cue.???

[mwooldri]

2. Solution:. TV licenses.

Tax of $190/yr/household for public broadcasting. Seniors over 80 exempt.

Eliminates the public broadcasting funding problem, and fundraisers.

Problem is this isn't 1920.