A coal miner’s plight: Paying for public broadcasting is less than a dollar of his taxes

"When you start looking at places that we reduce spending, one of the questions we asked was can we really continue to ask a coal miner in West Virginia or a single mom in Detroit to pay for these programs? The answer was no. We can ask them to pay for defense, and we will, but we can’t ask them to continue to pay for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.” -- White House budget director Mick Mulvaney.

Mulvaney may be the WH budget director, but these comments suggest little understanding of the taxes paid by single mothers or coal miners. Single mothers in Detroit, most of whom are living in poverty, likely pay no taxes at all and instead would be receiving funds from the U.S. government via the Earned Income Tax Credit. Coal miners also do not earn a lot of money, but in many cases may pay at least some taxes. The biggest part of the federal budget is entitlement programs — especially Social Security and Medicare — but President Trump has pledged to leave those untouched. That’s where the real money is, whereas programs like the CPB are a relative pittance.