The Hill: The House on Thursday voted to move forward on legislation without voting on a proposal put forth by Republicans to defund NPR.
Rep. Eric Cantor (R-Va.), the next majority leader, said the vote demonstrates that Democrats "are still not ready to listen" following their sweeping midterm election losses. […]
The House voted 239-171 to move forward on a teleworking bill without taking up the stripping of NPR's funding. Republicans put the item on the floor through their YouCut program, an initiative that allows the public to vote online on spending cuts they want to see enacted by Congress. […]
Three Democrats, Reps. John Adler (N.J.), Gene Taylor (Miss.) and Gabrielle Giffords (Ariz.), voted with Republicans. Adler and Taylor lost their elections two weeks ago.
If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again. Republicans would not have to try again if they simply waited until next year. Eric Cantor is clearly playing political games by trying to get Democrats on record for not wanting to cut spending. That is cute, but at this stage of game it would be far better to actually cut the funding.
Political games like this is what I worry about most with the Republican leadership. These are the games of yesterday; people are looking for real action from Republicans this time around.
Regarding funding for NPR, it should be terribly obvious that it is unnecessary at this point. Way back in the day before cable and the internet there was a need to fund NPR to provide an independent voice. Not anymore. If a ordinary black man from New Jersey can one day get up off his couch one day, start a blog for free and a year later is quoted by the New York Times, Washington Post, National Review and Associated Press, then it is a pretty safe bet that NPR can get their message out without taxpayer dollars. If they can’t, they can always bum a few bucks off the spooky dude.
Via: Memeorandum
Via: The Hill