Dear Rep. Chabot (OH-R)
Dear Representative Chabot,
I recently contacted your office urging you to vote ‘no’ on H R 1076 - the bill to defund National Public Radio (NPR).
You graciously responding to my urging with the following email:
Dear Mr. Roberson:
Thank you for contacting me to express your support for the funding of public broadcasting. I appreciate hearing your thoughts on this issue.
As you know, our nation faces the challenge of a $14 trillion debt, and it is imperative that Congress exercise fiscal restraint so that our children and grandchildren are not burdened with a staggering national debt. In our efforts to reduce wasteful spending in Washington, I agree with you that Congress must carefully weigh costs and benefits of all government programs in order to make appropriate funding decisions. As the 112th Congress moves forward in the budget process, I will certainly keep your views in mind.
Again, thank you for taking the time to contact me. I hope to hear from you again in the future.
Sincerely,
Steve Chabot
Member of Congress
Here’s the thing, Mr. Chabot. Defunding NPR does not reduce the deficit one penny. What HR 1076 does do is prohibit the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) from using any of it’s funding to support NPR.
Here, let’s let Rep. Justin Amash (R-Mich.) expain it:
“H R 1076 does not actually save taxpayer dollars; it merely blocks CPB from exercising its discretion to send funding to NPR. The funds CPB does not send to NPR under the bill are returned to CPB to be spent subsidizing other private radio producers. I offered an amendment in the Rules Committee to require that any funds not sent to NPR be redirected to pay down the deficit, but the amendment was ruled out of order. Therefore, public broadcasting will not see any reduction in federal funding even if this bill becomes law.”
In the future, Mr. Chabot, you need to either understand what your voting on or not attempt to mislead your consituents on what your voting on. I ask nothing more or less from you.
Your Pal,
Jeff In Ohio