Cartoon Aardvarks Lobby for PBS/NPR Funding, and So Does That ‘Arthur’ Character

By Doug Powers  •  February 17, 2011 09:58 AM

**Written by Doug Powers

Someday far into the future, people might look back at the fact that a country suffocating beneath a $14 trillion debt continued to satisfy pleas for big money from cartoon characters, muppets and public trough lampreys in Congress (pardon the redundancy) and chuckle, but for me that day is not today:

House Democrats made their case for continuing taxpayer funding of public media outlets such as NPR and PBS with a little help from Arthur the PBS cartoon character, who visited the Capitol Wednesday morning.

The friendly but silent aardvark joined Democratic Reps. Edward Markey of Massachusetts, Earl Blumenauer of Oregon and others to hit back against Republicans who have pledged to cut the funding from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting in the next budget.

“We need your help today,” Markey said as a person dressed as the character walked toward the Capitol building. “We can’t leave Arthur and all of his pals in the lurch.”

Can’t leave Arthur & pals in the lurch? To quote the president, “Yes we can!” But they got one thing right — what better symbol when it comes to digging snouts into pockets than an aardvark? Next time they should bring Snuffleupagus, because he can get down in there a little deeper.

They even brought charts (full picture at the Daily Caller here):

null
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Bert needs to lay off the Skoal.

Why do Bert and Ernie look a little rough? The horrible thought of having to scrape by only on tens of millions of dollars per year in licensing and merchandising fees with no extra taxpayer money can take its toll on a muppet.

Alan Grayson would have been great at this:

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As for the NPR half of this equation, I don’t know what they’re worried about, since their CEO seems to believe their level of taxpayer support is fairly insignificant. Not insignificant enough however to forget to send President Obama a gracious thank-you note for the increase in funding in his recent budget.

**Written by Doug Powers

Twitter @ThePowersThatBe

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Posted in: Democrats,PBS,Pork

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Comments


  1. #1
    On February 17th, 2011 at 10:07 am, letget said:

    I do not care what the d’s haul out to keep the funding for npr and pbs, dc defund both of them, stat! soros has gobs of money, let him fund both of them.
    L

  2. #2
    On February 17th, 2011 at 10:07 am, John Deaux said:

    I see Sesame Street merchandise all over the place. If they’re not profitable without public assistance, they seriously need to review their licensing agreements.

    Tickle Me Elmo should have permanently removed them from the public teat.

  3. #3
    On February 17th, 2011 at 10:09 am, b-cat said:

    You see, you learn something everyday. I never knew what kind of creature that Arthur character was supposed to be. I have now learned it is the kind of a creature that turns over rocks and eats the creepy things that lurk there.
    :shock:

  4. #4
    On February 17th, 2011 at 10:10 am, walterc said:

    Just the amount of money I’ve spent over the years on toys, games, coloring books etc etc of Elmo and Co should be enough to keep them going for a decade.

    How can they stand there and say this crap with a straight face?

  5. #5
    On February 17th, 2011 at 10:11 am, Virginia Patriot said:

    National Peoples Radio has sucked enough of my money to propagandize against America.

    Defund all the leftist propaganda organs.

  6. #6
    On February 17th, 2011 at 10:14 am, swmntman said:

    Ok, I’m checking the constitution to see if funding aardvarks and puppets is in there… hmmmmm.. I see senators, representatives, president…. I guess a case could be made.

  7. #7
    On February 17th, 2011 at 10:28 am, IndyRich said:

    Are Bert & Ernie elegible for 99 weeks of unemployment compensation?

    They probably are, if they live in Chicago.

  8. #8
    On February 17th, 2011 at 10:29 am, Truesoldier said:

    Well if bert, Ernie, Arthur, etc are so popular they will be quickly picked up by one of the “for profit” stations.

  9. #9
    On February 17th, 2011 at 10:41 am, babiesgrandma said:

    b-cat said:
    You see, you learn something everyday. I never knew what kind of creature that Arthur character was supposed to be.

    I, too, didn’t know what Arthur was supposed to be – I wonder where his snout went?

  10. #10
    On February 17th, 2011 at 10:45 am, RedDog said:

    If they are what they public wants, the free market will reward them. In the meantime eliminate public funding. The Arthur Vining Davis Foundation can kick in the difference if they choose.

  11. #11
    On February 17th, 2011 at 10:46 am, RedDog said:

    On February 17th, 2011 at 10:14 am, swmntman said:
    Ok, I’m checking the constitution to see if funding aardvarks and puppets is in there… hmmmmm.. I see senators, representatives, president…. I guess a case could be made.

    LOL. Nice.

  12. #12
    On February 17th, 2011 at 10:47 am, thejim said:

    Defund all Leftist crap including the leftist brainwashing elements in education. There is no better time to do it than now while the majority of citizens are aware of the battle and the damage being done on so many fronts.

  13. #13
    On February 17th, 2011 at 10:48 am, happyscrapper said:

    Cookie! Me want cookie!

  14. #14
    On February 17th, 2011 at 11:01 am, Dexter Alarius said:

    Where are the intellectual property rights activists with their outrage over these characters being used for political purposes?
    Hello? Is this thing on?

  15. #15
    On February 17th, 2011 at 11:04 am, Pasadena Phil said:

    Why do we have to subsidize the BBC, France News and other foreign liberal government run propaganda outlets? Don’t we already pay for enough through the advertising that goes to the MSM for products we buy?

    I’m in the information business myself. I pay for facts, not biased opinion. That’s why I canceled all of my newspaper and magazine subscriptions. I already get too much propaganda for free. Why would I want to pay for it?

  16. #16
    On February 17th, 2011 at 11:41 am, Ralph Gizzip said:

    babiesgrandma said:

    I, too, didn’t know what Arthur was supposed to be – I wonder where his snout went?

    Deep into your wallet.

  17. #17
    On February 17th, 2011 at 11:42 am, hawkeye54 said:

    If they are what they public wants, the free market will reward them. In the meantime eliminate public funding. The Arthur Vining Davis Foundation can kick in the difference if they choose.

    So true. The government has no business funding PBS, nor any other media or arts organizations or projects. Those should be funded entirely by individuals and private institutions.

  18. #18
    On February 17th, 2011 at 11:56 am, Rogue Cheddar said:

    Why should the taxpayers be supporting Bert and Ernie’s gay lifestyle?

  19. #19
    On February 17th, 2011 at 11:56 am, NBF said:

    They always say that:

    1. They’d collapse without forced taxpayer funding.

    2. Forced taxpayer funding only makes up a small portion of their funding.

    Well, which is it? You can’t have it both ways.

  20. #20
    On February 17th, 2011 at 12:27 pm, JamieD said:

    PBS & NPR Funding Drives = Big Scam. Period.

  21. #21
    On February 17th, 2011 at 12:31 pm, FirstSkirt said:

    NPR is on a very long list of subsidies paid for by the taxpayer. Why is AARP subsidized to the tune of millions of dollars a year? Out, out, out with ALL of them unless they are supported by our Constitution, and they have some direct connection to our liberty and security.

  22. #22
    On February 17th, 2011 at 12:33 pm, JamieD said:

    The only reason these organizations are always asking for money is because advertising is against their philosophy of attacking “evil business” or any other effort of self reliance and beneficial productive activity.

  23. #23
    On February 17th, 2011 at 12:35 pm, ArizonaNeanderthal said:

    NBF said:

    Well, which is it? You can’t have it both ways.

    Are you suggesting they said something that is not true? Why–that would be like lying-wouldn’t it?

  24. #24
    On February 17th, 2011 at 12:53 pm, Ron said:

    There’s no frickin’ way public unions would try this crap in Texas. Y’all c’mon down! We’ll show you a protest…and its a lot warmer here, btw.

  25. #25
    On February 17th, 2011 at 1:11 pm, DougT said:

    JamieD said:

    The only reason these organizations are always asking for money is because advertising is against their philosophy of attacking “evil business” or any other effort of self reliance and beneficial productive activity.

    Yet, NPR and PRI are always interrupted with the “brought to you by…” and “paid for in part by…” and “proud sponsors” blurbs.

    My personal favorite: “ADM – Supermarket to the world.” Made you want to punch a baby. In the list of truly evil companies in the world today, ADM must be among the Top Ten.

    I love business, I love markets. I hate corporate pork and regulations that are targeted to improve a single industry’s bottom line at the expense of common sense.

    No to NPR and no to every other non-profit, for-profit, protected, subsidized, or otherwise government-assisted entity on the dole.

  26. #26
    On February 17th, 2011 at 1:16 pm, prendad said:

    I guess you just can’t blame House Democrats lobbying for their mouthpiece at NPR. But, gee whiz people, why can’t you be satisfied with ABC, NBC, CBS, and MSNBC already in your pocket? In addition to all of these screaming liberal networks you want ME to pay for NPR?
    FORGET IT.

  27. #27
    On February 17th, 2011 at 1:23 pm, Hangfire said:

    Elmo should contact Juan Williams’ agent.

  28. #28
    On February 17th, 2011 at 1:29 pm, MarcoPolo said:

    This can’t be right. CBS and Columbia both said that NPR doesn’t even get any public funding. http://bit.ly/eg64qk

    Another mark in the “Sarah Palin is right again!” column.

  29. #29
    On February 17th, 2011 at 1:38 pm, right_on said:

    “We can’t leave Arthur and all of his pals in the lurch.”

    It is so obvious now why the liberals love PBS (Publicly Broadcast Sh!t), not Arthur so much, as “all of his pals,” which is code for “all the progressive corporate heads” at the National Public Broadcasting Progaganda offices. The left believes in using fantasy to promote their agenda…just look at the numbers in their budget proposals.

    Using public funds to destroy America from within, by emersing our pre-school youth with socialistic messages generated at NPR. Apparently, having the podiums in the public school classrooms is not enough…they want to start the Marxist indoctrination earlier, kind of like a television version of “Head Start.”

    There is reason for hope with our new congressmen…the sleeper has awakened!

  30. #30
    On February 17th, 2011 at 1:44 pm, cheapseat said:

    So Bert and Ernie can’t draw a big enough audience to pay for themselves. Neither can the opera, but if you can’t pay for the fat lady singing, can the fat lady.

  31. #31
    On February 17th, 2011 at 1:55 pm, Ron said:

    Notice all the photos from the state capitol show the protesters wearing red — not an accident, I’m sure.

  32. #32
    On February 17th, 2011 at 2:43 pm, shimauma2 said:

    On February 17th, 2011 at 11:56 am, Rogue Cheddar said:
    Why should the taxpayers be supporting Bert and Ernie’s gay lifestyle?

    *shrug* some deviant lifestyles are more equal than others.

  33. #33
    On February 17th, 2011 at 3:56 pm, rocketman said:

    ***
    Lighten up on the aardvark. I’d gladly trade in my CongressCritter–Sylvestre Reyes (D-Tx) on a bright honest aardvark.
    ***
    John Bibb
    ***

  34. #34
    On February 17th, 2011 at 6:25 pm, Virginia Patriot said:

    rocketman,
    The aardvark would definitely be a step up. Find one to run in the Democrat primary, he might just win. They keep electing Sheila…..

  35. #35
    On February 18th, 2011 at 12:31 am, Jim C. said:

    I know he’s a cartoon and I suppose I’m quibbling, but Arthur doesn’t resemble a real aardvark in any way.

  36. #36
    On February 18th, 2011 at 10:07 am, gunslingerpatriot said:

    Keep in mind this is the same ID10T mentality that tried to ban toys in Happy Meals!

    GSP

  37. #37
    On February 18th, 2011 at 12:51 pm, Straight_Talk_Luigi said:

    I don’t think a cartoon like Arthur would need to worry about surviving in a free market.

    If you’ve seen Cartoon Network (minus Boomerang) or the modern Nick station, you’d know what I mean.

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