House targets budget cuts for domestic programs, but supports the Defense Department’s sponsorship of Nascar racers

Photo courtesy of mmo4free

Well, we all knew that PBS was feeling at risk to lose its federal funding; otherwise, why would the NewsHour have suddenly gone into attack mode against those “entitlements,” an insulting euphemism (see today’s Sally Forth comic strip) that gives NewsHour correspondents and a slew of other media reps cover in supporting funding cuts targeting programs for the elderly, veterans, and the poor. You get the picture.

But Gail Collins has a point this morning in her NY Times column on Sacred Cows, Angry Birds. Collins is commenting on the support in the House of Representatives recently for cuts in funding for domestic programs while fighting to preserve the Defense Department’s budget to sponsor Nascar racers.

Collins writes:

The House of Representatives has been cutting like crazy! Down with Planned Parenthood and PBS! We can’t afford to worry about mercury contamination! Safety nets are too expensive!

But keep your hands off the Defense Department’s budget to sponsor Nascar racers.

“It’s a great public/private partnership,” said Representative Rodney Frelinghuysen, a New Jersey Republican. 

The Defense Department claims racecar sponsorships are an important recruiting tool for the Army. The House agreed — although this might be news to the Navy and Marines, which decided a while back that a Nascar presence wasn’t worth the money. 

“What makes U.S. Army’s motorsports initiatives successful?” Ryan Newman, driver of No. 39 U.S. Army Chevrolet asked his Facebook readers as he urged a show of support for the program. “In a 2009 study among fans nationwide, 37% feel more positive about the Army due to its involvement in motorsports.” 

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