Big Bird and National Public Radio won a reprieve Thursday as the House restored $100 million that had been proposed as a budget cut for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.
The 284-140 vote demonstrated the enduring political strength of public broadcasting, whose supporters rallied behind popular programs such as 'Sesame Street,' 'Postcards From Buster' and 'The NewsHour With Jim Lehrer.'
The Public Broadcasting Service undertook a high-profile campaign to rescind the proposed cut. Lawmakers were flooded with letters and phone calls.
The vote came as the House worked on a $142.5 billion spending bill for health, education and labor programs for the budget year beginning Oct. 1.
Woot, but at the same time, the CPB is still under attack by right-wing apparatchiks:
The Corporation for Public Broadcasting, whose chairman is under fire for complaining about what he considered liberal bias at PBS, chose a former Republican Party co-chairman Thursday as its president and chief executive.
Patricia S. Harrison, the assistant secretary of state for educational and cultural affairs, was selected after three days of closed meetings by the corporation's board of directors. She was co-chair of the Republican National Committee from 1997 to 2001.
-- Salon.com News | Public broadcasting names new president
So we still have to remain wary and protective of one of the few remaning truly unbiased sources of public news and information left in this country.
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