Big Bird, 1-percenter
Mitt Romney Under Fire for Wanting to End Big Bird’s Government Subsidy — EDITORIAL - NYPOST.com
Kill Big Bird?
Why the hell not?
Team Obama, desperate to salvage something from Wednesday’s debate debacle, seized on Mitt Romney’s call to end PBS’ taxpayer subsidy.
It was — horrors! — a gaffe.
Nonsense.
“I like PBS,” Romney said. “I love Big Bird. But I’m not going to … borrow money from China to pay for [it.]”
Gaffe? No way.
Romney’s not out to drive Big Bird off the air. He just doesn’t think that he rates a Washington subsidy — and he’s not alone.
President Obama’s own Simpson-Bowles deficit-reduction commission calls for ending PBS’ subsidy — some $280 million — outright. And for good reason.
PBS is now home to numerous lucrative franchises — with “Sesame Street” the most successful, having earned $211 million in merchandising sales from 2003 to 2006.
Indeed, Sesame Workshop’s total assets at the end of last year stood at more than $411 million — and its CEO is paid nearly $1 million a year.
Which certainly makes Big Bird a 1-percenter, earning far more than Mitt Romney — and paying far less in taxes, to boot.
