The House Appropriations Committee had approved a $100-million cut in the tax funding for the Corporation for Public Broadcasing, which provides money to PBS and NPR. But the cut was removed on the House floor by an amendment that passed 284-to-140 vote. Representatives David Obey (D.-Wis.), Nita Lowey (D.-N.Y.) and Jim Leach (R.-Iowa) sponsored the amendment after supporters of public broadcasting launched a lobbying effort with the help of left-wing activists at MoveOn.org and liberal pundit Bill Moyers.
Rep. Ralph Regula (R.-Ohio), who chairs the Appropriations subcommittee that oversees CPB funding, had originally hoped to zero out funding within two years. ??¢â???¬?????Not that I dislike public television,??¢â???¬ Regula told the Washington Post, but ??¢â???¬?????we have limited amounts of money.??¢â???¬ It was 10 years ago that a newly elected GOP majority first attempted to eliminate funding for public broadcasting. The effort met a similar fate then.
