Romney Likes Big Bird!

One must listen carefully to the spin that the media places on an idea. The question of whether the federal government has a right to fund public broadcasting (PB) is such an idea.

Certainly there is no enumerated right in the Constitution giving the federal government the right to create and fund public broadcasting. Just as the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) and the Energy Information Administration (EIA) are indirect employees of the PotUS, they are employees of his Secretary of Commerce and Secretary of Energy respectively. The career civil servants in PB, BLS and EIA depend on political appointees of the President for advancement. It is tempting for the party in power to ensure that the messages and statistics are presented with as much positive spin as possible – or simply faked if close to an election. The decrease in unemployment from 8.1% to 7.8% is a case in point. Only 114,000 jobs were created. This is anemic. Only a dramatic increase in self-employed decreased the U-4 rate. September is also the month for dramatic changes in school-related employment. The 7.8% number was prominent in the BLS report. Arithmetic was necessary to clarify the reasons.

Candidates are reluctant to talk about specific cuts which they would make if elected. Gov. Romney gave a specific example in the first debate. He said that he would not fund PB if it meant having to borrow money from China. The media attacked him for wanting to “kill” Big Bird. Gov. Romney stated that the liked Jim Lehrer, the debate moderator, and Big Bird, but there was a principle (Law) which overruled emotions. By contrast, President Obama has shown obvious disdain for the Law.