The Ridgewood Blog Brings a Free Market Laissez-faire Point of View to Local, New Jersey State and National Issues.
Stop the presses! Congress has actually eliminated government programs—yes, more than one!
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Washington DC, in a historic move, Senate Republicans pushed through the first rescission package in over 50 years, canceling previously appropriated funds for foreign aid, NPR, and PBS. This rare rollback of federal spending marks a major taxpayer victory.
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Washington DC, in a sweeping late-night move, President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Thursday directing the termination of all federal funding for National Public Radio (NPR) and the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS). The order also tasks all federal agencies with identifying and ending any additional taxpayer support going to the two public broadcasters.
Continue reading President Trump Signs Executive Order to Terminate Federal Funding for NPR and PBS
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewood NJ, This Old House, a long-running television show on PBS, has been a cornerstone of home improvement programming since its debut in 1979. The series has captivated audiences with its detailed, educational approach to renovating and restoring homes, blending practical advice with engaging storytelling. Season 46 features the team back in New Jersey for another project with builder Zack Dettmore; homeowners Peter and Kay want to modernize their 1930s colonial home and add an extension to enhance their kitchen.
As night follows day, defenders of big government trotted out “Sesame Street’s” Big Bird as the poster child of President Trump’s terrible spending cuts.
The Daily Beast story on Trump’s budget proposal to cut taxpayer funding to the Corporation for Public Broadcasting features an ax-wielding man about to chop Big Bird’s head off. Politico has a story titled “Can Big Bird Survive Trump?” In a “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” segment mocking Trump’s budget, Donald Trump fires Big Bird.
These folks would do well to find a new mascot. Big Bird is big business, and doesn’t need taxpayer money to survive.
First, let’s take a look at Sesame Workshop, the nonprofit that produces “Sesame Street.”
Last year, Sesame Workshop had $121.6 million in revenues. Of that, $49.6 million came in distribution fees and royalties and $36.6 million in licensing of toys, games, clothing, food and such. In 2014, only 4% of its revenue came from government grants.
Despite being a taxpayer-supported nonprofit, Sesame Workshop pays its top executives fabulously well.
https://www.investors.com/politics/commentary/big-bird-is-rich-so-why-does-he-need-taxpayer-money/
THE RECORD
Downton Abbey finale
9 p.m. Sunday, PBS
In these rude and crude times, how I wish Violet Crawley, Dowager Countess of Grantham, could dispense her wit and wisdom to a world she’d never live to see.
Can you imagine if Violet, an octogenarian in 1925, were to aim some of her best zingers at 2016’s most annoying and discourteous transgressors?
“Vulgarity is no substitute for wit,” she might say to any number of today’s politicians, pundits and social-media commentators. And, Violet, played to perfection by Dame Maggie Smith, could fix the self-righteous with that withering stare and ask, “Does it ever get cold on the moral high ground?”
Violet’s witticisms top the list of things I shall most miss about “Downton Abbey,” which airs its 93-minute grand finale at 9 p.m. Sunday. For several months a year over the past half decade, PBS’ highest rated drama has been a weekly respite from 21st century life, an escape to a world of manners, civility, magnificent homes, stunning and elegant clothing, a place where dignity was greatly valued.
As I write this, I have not yet previewed the finale of the sixth and final season on the press site, in part, because I want to be surprised, in part out of fear that I’d inadvertently spill spoilers.
These days, of course, it’s easy enough for anyone in America to find out what happens next, as the “Downton” finale was written about and recapped aplenty after it aired in Great Britain on Christmas night. What’s more, the final season DVD has been available for purchase since late January.
Still, I’d rather avoid specifics here and just ponder something that Hugh Bonneville, who played Robert Crawley, Earl of Grantham, said about the final episode when cast members did a press event in New York City in early December: “There are conclusions to a lot of wonderful stories, but not everything is tied up in bows,” he said. “It’s left to the imagination of the audience, for them to continue these characters’ stories in their own imaginations.”
Along the way, “Downton Abbey” picked up Primetime Emmy Award nominations as outstanding drama series four years in a row (for a total of 59 nominations and 12 Emmy wins, over its run), and lost two of its most beloved characters — Lady Sybil Crawley (Jessica Brown Findlay) and Matthew Crawley (Dan Stevens), deaths precipitated by the actors choosing to not renew their contracts. But at that December event, cast members and executive producer Gareth Neame suggested there would be mostly happy endings Sunday night.
https://www.northjersey.com/arts-and-entertainment/tv/at-wits-end-over-the-final-downton-1.1522992
