Obama's bipartisan commission on reducing the federal debt is much in the news today for a draft listing proposed cuts to government spending. They could impact taxes, medicare and social security if adopted.

Scrolling down through the document to item 32, the draft proposes eliminating funding for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.

32. Cut funding for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.68

The Corporation for Public Broadcasting’s primary job is to fund NPR and its member stations (and other public radio stations) and PBS and its member stations. The current CPB funding level is the highest it has ever been. This option would eliminate funding for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, saving just under $500 million in 2015.

Additionally, Congress should end two duplicative public broadcasting programs on President Obama’s termination list: The Public Telecom Facilities Grant Program (PTFP) and USDA’s Public Broadcasting Grants program. In recent years, PTFP has primarily provided funding to help broadcasters transition to digital broadcasts. In FY2010, PTFP received $20 million in appropriations. The President has twice recommended terminating USDA’s Public Broadcast Grants program for the same reason. This program received $5 million in FY10 to provide funding to public broadcast companies to convert to digital transmission as well – an obsolete task.69

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