PBS will keep its federal subsidy even if benefits for veterans, the poor, and the elderly are cut

 

Mark Shields

David Brooks

Okay, while watching the PBS NewsHour this evening, including the Analysis of Shields and Brooks, I finally got it. By zealously going after gutting those “entitlements” that refer to benefits received by veterans, the poor, and the elderly, the NewsHour allies itself with conservatives and can therefore better defend itself against long-time charges by the Republican Party that it is has a liberal bias. The NewsHour crew will thereby increase the odds that Federal funding of PBS will not be cut in order to reduce the Federal deficit.

Never mind that Social Security beneficiaries paid into the system throughout their working lives or that Washington has raided the trust fund to pay for its two wars and avoid taxing the rich and closing tax loopholes for large corporations – ever notice how many of those corporations underwrite the NewsHour?

And why should veterans of the US Armed Forces consider themselves more worthy of benefits than the NewsHour crew?

Still, I must say it was especially disheartening that last Friday night, Mark Shields stood up to David Brooks in his attacks on “those entitlements,” but in tonight’s so-called analysis, he had evidently been silenced by his superiors.

Economist Krugman Still Not Sold on Geithner’s Bank Rescue Plan Despite Dow’s Uptick and Rise in Home Sales

Despite the Dow’s uptick today and the rise in home sales, economist Paul Krugman remains “saddened” by today’s detailed version of Geithner’s bank rescue plan. Appearing on the PBS NewsHour this evening (Monday), Krugman argued the plan treats only a small symptom of the real problem.

PBS correspondent Jeffrey Brown interviewed Krugman and Don Marron, financier and CEO of Lightyear Capital, a private equity firm. Marron spoke in favor of today’s version of the bank rescue plan. No transcript of the discussion is available as yet at the PBS web site.