"Why should coal miners pay for PBS"?

[babylonsister]

FB...

"Why should coal miners pay for PBS"? This was an actual question asked by the Trump administration yesterday. Obviously a blatantly stupid question. We have questions too. Why should a poor black family in Detroit pay for the President to go golfing? Why should a single mother of 3 who's working 2 jobs in Louisiana be denied health-care so that the CEO of Etna can get a tax-break? Why is the guy washing dishes in Baton Rouge paying for the President's wife's secret service protection so she can live comfortably in NYC? We could do this all day. But here's the real question the Trump administration and the Republicans who empower him need to answer: Do you have a heart? Did no one teach you to care about your neighbors? Do you know what "empathy" means? Did no one ever teach you to "share" when you were in kindergarten? Have you never heard the phrase "do unto others"? I can't think of a group of people who need to watch Sesame Street MORE than the Republican party. Perhaps they would learn some common decency."
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[dchill]

1. K&R.

[dalton99a]

2. Kick.

[Cracklin Charlie]

3. We're growing smarter, stronger, kinder...

On Sesame Street!

I watch it every day. PBS is a bargain, at twice the price.

Screw the granny-starvers.

[MyOwnPeace]

4. What you're talking about........

are what many believe to be good Christian virtues.
And we know that many evangelicals supported Drumpf - so they ALL must be following "the good Book!"

[Warpy]

5. I've known miners who would resent being called cultureless clods

who are incapable of following a BBC serial or watching Sesame Street with their kids.

This guy hates PBS only because it's for all of us, not just the rich men he thinks should run everything. We're mindless bots to him and the few of us who do understand what's on PBS are made into troublemakers by it. His class of arrogant big money agrees.

The programs he's attacked are all chump change programs and ending them will do nothing to fix the deficit.

This is a direct message to the people of this country, "you don't matter any more."

[WinkyDink]

12. My Grandfather, my uncles, and my father among them. My father loved opera, museums, art, etc. And

he thought John Lennon was a genius writer (he read my copies of "In His Own Write" and "A Spaniard in the Works&quot .

[gopiscrap]

6. if they want to play that way,

then why should we pay for coal miners health care. They knew what they were getting I to when they took the job. Fuck 'em if that's the way they feel. However my political beliefs and faith system would not let me do that, but it sure is tempting

[doc03]

7. Why should I pay to maintain three Whitehouses for that so-called president?

[iluvtennis]

16. I agree. If Melania wants to stay in NYC, let he "billionaire" husband pay for it...

...and $3 million trip to Mar-a-lago every weekend need to stop

[dae]

21. Exactly!

[Squinch]

8. Excellent!

[ProudProgressiveNow]

9. K&R nt

[Gabi Hayes]

10. here's why:

[WinkyDink]

11. The ultimate questions are: "Have you no sense of decency, sir, at long last? Have you left

no sense of decency?"

[dalton99a]

15. And he'd merely reply, "I have the best sense of the decency or certainly one of the best

of anybody that's ever run for the office of president. Ever."

[WinkyDink]

18. Mulvaney was the subject (as in the OP), not Trump. Trump is, I agree, beyond hope or shame.

[Ilsa]

13. But but but if we pit these select groups against each other,

then all that empathy bs will just go away!!!

[WinkyDink]

14. Empathy, like food, doesn't show results.

[Salviati]

17. THIS is elitism.

Working hard in any endevour and being proud of your successes is not elitism, but looking down on others who haven't succeeded in ways you judge to be valuable and cutting off their options, their doorways to new experiences, for them and their children, THAT is elitism.

[wildeyed]

20. Why should taxpayers be forced to provide jobs for said coalminers?

Which is basically what Trump is going to try to do. There is going to be a bunch of make-work jobs underwritten by the American taxpayers so they can feel pride and #MAGA!!!!11!! Besides, they already take more than their share of federal money. Not sure how he thinks they are paying for much of anything, frankly. Math is def not their strong suit. Sad.

[marlakay]

22. Why should I pay for too many weapons

And tanks they aren't even using? Why am I paying for paybacks to oil companies?

Why am I paying for congress to get yearly raises when they work little and do nothing thing?

And I don't even want to think about all the people and Trump himself I am paying for to destroy this country!

[dae]

23. Best counter statements I've heard on such an asinine argument!

Thank you babylonsister!

[canetoad]

24. "Why should coal miners pay for PBS"?

That's the kind of question asked by someone who would stand in front of this and whine, 'My five year old could do better.'
Total fucking philistines.


?ig_cache_key=MTAwMzA5MDkyNTEwMDQ0OTY2Mg%3D%3D.2

[raging moderate]

25. So they and their families can enjoy it, too.

Excuse me. My mother the typist and my father the factory worker enjoyed PBS. Along with my truck driver and salesclerk uncles. They all nearly starved to death as children in the depression, and none of them ever got paid much money, and they all worked very hard. But they still had minds, and hearts, and souls. And they all loved good plays and art and music of all kinds. They loved to use their minds, to read and to learn and to think. They loved to find out about other people's lives all over the world and hear different people talking about achievements and science and history and politics. All of these things they had learned to do through the wonderful public school system and the marvelous public library system. And PBS was like a lifeline, with things to dream of and think about and hold on to beyond the harsh realities of low level jobs and crumbling old apartments and the constant desperate scramble to make ends meet and keep children fed and clothed. PBS can bring the wonders of the universe into a poor home anywhere.

[calimary]

26. Cue Matthew 25:35-45.

https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew+25%3A35-45&version=ESV
QUOTE:
Matthew 25:35-45English Standard Version (ESV)
35 For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, 36 I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.’ 37 Then the righteous will answer him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? 38 And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? 39 And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?’ 40 And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers,[a] you did it to me.’
41 “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. 42 For I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink, 43 I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not clothe me, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.’ 44 Then they also will answer, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to you?’ 45 Then he will answer them, saying, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.’
Footnotes:
Matthew 25:40 Or brothers and sisters


Pretty much all you need.

[Horse with no Name]

27. Why should I pay for their health problems because they chose a dangerous occupation?

I have a dangerous occupation and don't get any special protections, why should they?

[raging moderate]

28. Then you should get special protections, too.

Everyone in your situation, or theirs, should get special protections and help with resulting health problems. Your special protections won't make their situation worse. And vice versa. I bet we can help with both situations, if we put our minds to it.

[Horse with no Name]

29. It is rhetorical

they don't want to pay for PBS for our kids....but want us to compensate their vocational choice to their kids.
Of course I believe that they should be taken care of.

But if there was similar compensation to Nurses....the coal workers wouldn't want to pay that either.

[kskiska]

30. Mr. Rogers

is spinning in his grave.

[pamela]

31. Yeah, let's eliminate one of the four channels they can get for free.

Cutting PBS hurts coal miners, and others living in rural, poverty stricken areas, more than it hurts "the elites" he thinks he is hurting. Not everyone has cable and folks who depend on over-the-air channels like PBS for entertainment are the ones who will be most hurt by this. That includes plenty of coal-miners. I bet their kids like Sesame Street, too.

[Blue_Tires]

32. I like how he essentially said coal miners

are too goddamned stupid/uncultured to appreciate PBS while getting a pass from the media...

[Generic Other]

34. I bet coal miners like Poldark

Tin miners in Cornwall are not much different. I first heard about Harlan County on PBS. Yeah, coal miners could watch PBS too. Since it was free. And every kid in America post 1970s watched Sesame Street, right?

[Generic Other]

33. So eloquently put by some anonymous FB soul

Thanks, I posted it again on mine.

[demmiblue]

35. K&R

[IronLionZion]

36. Coal miners have children who learn stuff from the educational shows

and they don't even have to pay for cable to watch it. It's free. That coal miner's family gets news and debate coverage and other information and entertainment completely free of charge.

PBS as a publicly funded channel is cheaper than if that coal miner wanted his or her children to see the content and pay a cable company for access.

Public services like this tend to have lower per user costs than comparable private services.

That is NOT the case with many military programs or corporate subsidies. Fewer people benefit with a much higher cost per user.

Even if for whatever reason a repub is hell bent on a strong national defense and prosperous job creators, there is fraud, waste, and abuse aplenty in military programs and corporate subsidies where money is spent without actually achieving the stated outcome.

[urgk]

37. For the same reason I pay for black lung treatments.

We're all in this together. Sometimes, you get more. Sometimes, I do. Sometimes, it's little kids whose parents can't or don't know how to teach them as well as Big Bird can.

[TlalocW]

38. Why sould I pay to keep coal miner jobs?

They seem to be just about the only job that republicans fight to keep while telling the rest of us to pull ourselves up by our bootstraps, take courses/job training, or just saying oh, well, you made bad choices when it comes to our careers. And while they're telling us all that, you would think they would actually be doing something for coal miners, but instead republicans are working to get rid of safety laws that keep them from getting killed, taking their health care, and stealing their pensions.

All-in-all, the whole coal miner job situation has to be keeping republicans in near orgasmic fits of joy - they preserve jobs that pollute the earth, satisfying two groups of conservatives - the ones who just like to pollute, and the religious nuts who think Jesus is coming back next week so we can do whatever we want to the planet. Then there's spitting on "poor" (ie not as rich as they are) by telling non-coal miners to piss off while taking away everything else from the miners, and yet miners KEEP voting for them. It's a republican dream smorgasbord - pollute, screw everyone one, and STILL get their votes.

TlalocW

[BumRushDaShow]

39. This is what Drumpf and his ilk believe in this

and nothing else.

[ET Awful]

40. The simplest answer? They should pay for PBS so their children don't have to be coal miners.

It's as simple and clear as that.

[mwooldri]

41. Because I don't see the Trump Foundation underwriting public broadcasting.

Public broadcasting is for everyone. It used to be believed that CBS, NBC, ABC, Fox etc were also public service broadcasters, yet funded by commercials. The rest of the Western world has a reasonably robust and reasonably independent state broadcaster. PBS & NPR are America's efforts at non commercial, government supported (yet independent from) public service broadcasting.

It is every far right politician's wet dream to defund and dismantle the state broadcaster. And since we got a bunch of far right politicians in power, they're just fulfilling their promises.

[Demsrule86]

42. Why should I pay for a stupid wasteful wall.