Senate Republicans introduce bill to defund NPR, PBS

Sens. Jim DeMint (R-SC) and Tom Coburn (R-OK) introduced a bill to defund the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB), which doles out federal funds to radio and television stations.

Sen DeMint said it "should be an easy decision" to halt taxpayer money for public broadcasting while the nation is "on the edge of bankruptcy." He pointed out that the bipartisan debt commission convened by President Obama suggested ending the subsidies. The pair focused on NPR and PBS, two major recipients of public media dollars — particularly on the salaries of media execs at both outlets, including the nearly $1 million a Sesame Street president takes home each year. "Americans struggling to make ends meet shouldn't be forced to fund public broadcasting when there are already thousands of choices for educational and entertainment programming on the television, radio and Web," Sen DeMint said. The federal government issued about $420 million last year for public media. Obama's recent budget request included $451 million for this purpose. The total over the last decade is about $4 billion, according to Sens Coburn and DeMint.