Fund all government like fund Public Broadcasting.
With Congress being sworn in, a lot of new members are replacing single term representatives and claiming mandates from the electorate. Calls will be made to cut deficit spending and someone will suggest an end for federal funding of public broadcasting. PBS is a favorite target when "What is essential for government" gets debated. As a regular consumer of the public airwaves, I’m not worried about a funding loss. Member stations only get 5or 6 percent of their money from government. Challenged, listeners & sponsors who value public broadcasting will make up the difference. They handle the other 94 percent.
The PBS funding model got me thinking. What if all government programs were funded that way? Congress would appropriate five percent of a program and department heads would convince the American people to make up the difference. Imagine pledge campaigns where admirals & generals promise free courtesy flights in an F-22 strike fighter for contributors at the million dollar level. It’s not likely to happen, but public stations could teach the new Congress a couple budgeting lessons: first: spend only what you can convince your contributors to give each year and second offer programs people are willing to vote for with their own cash. A five percent funding model for the military or FAA isn’t practical, but if each tax payer filled out a form allocating their tax dollars or deciding when and what to take out loans for the government on, funding priorities would change.
Tax payer control isn’t realistic, but what's sensible is for the newly elected congress to ask some practical questions of constituents, not “What do you want,” (we want everything) rather, “Given the governments set amount of income, what do we spend it on?”
There is no magic to budget balancing. Businesses, families and public broadcasting do it every day. They set priorities, allocate funds and set aside savings accounts for unforeseen calamities. Congress members only have one mandate: to represent us. Sit down with your constituents, and maybe even your local public broadcaster and find out how they would solve budget problems. Then go capital floors and make your declarations. Do a good job and maybe we’ll keep you around more than one term.
The PBS funding model got me thinking. What if all government programs were funded that way? Congress would appropriate five percent of a program and department heads would convince the American people to make up the difference. Imagine pledge campaigns where admirals & generals promise free courtesy flights in an F-22 strike fighter for contributors at the million dollar level. It’s not likely to happen, but public stations could teach the new Congress a couple budgeting lessons: first: spend only what you can convince your contributors to give each year and second offer programs people are willing to vote for with their own cash. A five percent funding model for the military or FAA isn’t practical, but if each tax payer filled out a form allocating their tax dollars or deciding when and what to take out loans for the government on, funding priorities would change.
Tax payer control isn’t realistic, but what's sensible is for the newly elected congress to ask some practical questions of constituents, not “What do you want,” (we want everything) rather, “Given the governments set amount of income, what do we spend it on?”
There is no magic to budget balancing. Businesses, families and public broadcasting do it every day. They set priorities, allocate funds and set aside savings accounts for unforeseen calamities. Congress members only have one mandate: to represent us. Sit down with your constituents, and maybe even your local public broadcaster and find out how they would solve budget problems. Then go capital floors and make your declarations. Do a good job and maybe we’ll keep you around more than one term.
posted by Stan at 12:41 PM
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