Trashing PBS

It is truly ironic that the new Congress appears so hot to trash the Public Broadcasting System (PBS), with its unparalleled ability to deliver hard news and wide opinion to the viewing and listening public, at precisely the time it is needed the most. Doesn’t Congress realize that the only way to work toward balancing the budget without having to commit political suicide is by educating the public on the absolute necessity for such sacrifice? Congress should allow this medium to continue informing the public of the options available. Few members possess the backbone to tackle the real budget busters, including the exploding growth in unfunded benefit liabilities such as Social Security and Medicare, which will quickly bankrupt the nation if left unchecked.

Instead of showing us true budgetary leadership, they choose to attack politically vulnerable targets such as PBS, whose fiscal impact is less than microscopic, or resorting to window-dressing such as the balanced-budget amendment (too little, too late, in that it will take years to be ratified by the requisite number of state legislatures, by which time the country will have fallen into a fiscal black hole).

REBE S. RODARTE

Lake Forest