Aren't we the crybabies, now. First we vote for change, for a reduced role for the federal government, then we howl as the axing and cutting begin. "Not public broadcasting - those are my favorite programs. Not the free school lunch program, our children will starve to death."
Sure there are many fine programs put out by PBS. But we have a serious deficit. The $285 million given to PBS each year needs to go toward deficit reduction. It is not the role of the federal government to educate or entertain us. That role is best left to the private sector. PBS receives millions of dollars in noncommercial sales. It will survive without our tax dollars.And in spite of some of its excellent programs, the "MacNeil/Lehrer News Hour" and NPR are often blatantly liberal. My conservative tax dollars are rarely represented on these programs. I also resent PBS's use of taxpayer money to lobby Congress for more taxpayer funding. The use of 1,600 publicly funded radio and television stations for lobbying purposes is illegal.
The school lunch program is another example of the abuse of taxpayer funds. There are just too many families who take advantage of free lunches for their children, even when starvation and hunger are not an issue for them. They are teaching their children to take a handout when there is no great need.
It is just easier to accept something that is offered than to get up and make a sandwich for the kids' lunches. The "poor" would be in good company with those of us who are middle-class if they sent their children to school with a brown bag lunch. We can't afford school lunches either. My teenagers have to earn their school lunches or make their own.
May we all have the backbone to sacrifice our pet projects for the sake of smaller government and a reduced deficit, as well as better managed programs at the local level for the truly needy among us.
Marcia Ogden
Provo