House Democrats on Thursday shot down a G.O.P. attempt to roll back federal funding to NPR, a move that many Republicans have called for since the public radio network fired the analyst Juan Williams last month.
Republicans in the House tried to advance the defunding measure as part of their “YouCut” initiative, which allows the public to vote on which spending cuts the G.O.P. should pursue. But their push was blocked, 239 to 171, with only three Democrats voting with a united bloc of Republicans.
Representative Eric Cantor of Virginia, the No. 2 House Republican who is set to become majority leader in the next Congress, said the vote showed Democrats had failed to learn the lessons of this month’s midterm elections.
“Today’s vote was just the latest common sense YouCut to cut spending and save taxpayer dollars, and again Democrats showed that they just don’t get it,” Mr. Cantor said in a statement.
For his part, Representative Earl Blumenauer, Democrat of Oregon, who formed the Congressional Public Broadcasting Caucus, called the Republican effort cynical and politically motivated.
“I urge members of both parties to focus our efforts on the urgent priorities facing this Congress and stop playing political games with public radio stations,” Mr. Blumenauer said in a statement.
Republicans? Playing political games with cynical efforts to make meaningless cuts in order to rile up their rabid base? Gosh, that never happens. Eric Cantor is promising once the new Congress is seated, this vote will pass the House. It won't go anywhere in the Senate and won't reach the President's desk, but it's nice to know that the Republicans are so focused on jobs and not petty vengeance against anyone who might be to the left of FOX News.
Of course, it's not like Republicans actually care about the unemployed, either.
It won't go anywhere in the Senate and won't reach the President's desk, but it's nice to know that the Republicans are so focused on jobs and not petty vengeance against anyone who might be to the left of FOX News.
ReplyDeleteI notice you didn't mention how Sen. Rockefeller wants the FCC to dump both Fox News and MSNBC (which they can't do anyway; doesn't this idiot know anything?). But that isn't petty, isn't it? Oh that's right; Rockefeller is a Democrat. Democrats good, Republicans bad.
I didn't mention it because it's a stupid idea. I'll gladly call Rockefeller out on it.
ReplyDeleteAlso, Juan Williams loses his job, it becomes a national imperative for Republicans. Millions of ordinary Americans lose their jobs, Republicans couldn't give a damn.
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