Candidates' positions are categorized as Pro (Yes), Con (No), Not Clearly Pro or Con, or None Found. Candidates who have changed their positions are listed as Now their most recent position. Candidates are listed by party and in alphabetical order by last name. Black & white photos indicate candidates who have withdrawn or who no longer meet our criteria for inclusion.
Should the federal government continue funding public broadcasting such as PBS and NPR?
Virgil Goode, former US Representative (R-VA), stated the following during the Oct. 23, 2012 "Third Party Presidential Debate," in Chicago, IL, hosted by the Free and Equal Elections Foundation, available at www.c-span.org:
“I’m not for funding public broadcasting.” Oct. 23, 2012 Virgil Goode
Barack Obama, 44th President of the United States, stated the following during an Oct. 8, 2012 campaign event at the Nokia Theater in Los Angeles, CA, "Remarks by the President at a Campaign Event," available at www.whitehouse.gov:
"The other night he [Mitt Romney] ruled out asking millionaires and billionaires to pay even a dime more in taxes to help us bring down our deficit. Not a dime. When he was asked what he’d actually do to cut spending, he said he’d go after public television. So for all you moms and kids out there, don’t worry, somebody is finally cracking down on Big Bird...
Governor Romney plans to let Wall Street run wild again, but he’s bringing the hammer down on Sesame Street...
...We can’t afford to gut our investments in education or clean energy or research and technology. We can’t afford to roll back regulations not just on Wall Street, but on oil companies and insurance companies. That’s not a jobs plan. That’s not a plan to grow our economy. That’s not change. It’s a relapse. We’ve been there. We have tried that. We’re not going back." Oct. 8, 2012 Barack Obama
[Editor's Note: According to a Feb. 13, 2012 press release by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB), available at www.cpb.org, Patricia Harrison, President and CEO of the CPB, made the following statement:
“President Obama today submitted his Fiscal Year (FY) 2013 budget to Congress. In it, he requested full funding – $445 million – for CPB’s FY 2015 advance appropriation."]
Mitt Romney, former Governor of Massachusetts, stated the following during the Oct. 3, 2012 presidential debate in Denver, CO, available at www.npr.org:
"What things would I cut from spending? Well, first of all, I will eliminate all programs by this test — if they don't pass it: Is the program so critical it's worth borrowing money from China to pay for it? And if not, I'll get rid of it...
I'm sorry, Jim. I'm going to stop the subsidy to PBS. I'm going to stop other things. I like PBS. I love Big Bird. I actually like you too. But I'm not going to — I'm not going to keep on spending money on things to borrow money from China to pay for it. That's number one." Oct. 3, 2012 Mitt Romney
Jill Stein, MD, former Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School, stated the following in her Jan. 2012 speech "A People's State of the Union: A Green New Deal for America," available at www.jillstein.org:
"The Green New Deal creates a Corporation for Economic Democracy, a new federal corporation (like the Corporation for Public Broadcasting) to provide publicity, training, education, and direct financing for cooperative development and for democratic reforms to make government agencies, private associations, and business enterprises more participatory.
And speaking of the public broadcasting, the Green New Deal strengthens media democracy by expanding federal support for locally-owned broadcast media and local print media." Jan. 2012 Jill Stein
Withdrew on Jan. 4, 2012; no additional research done as of that date to determine candidate’s position on this question. Jan. 4, 2012 Michele Bachmann
Failed to win the Republican nomination on Aug. 28, 2012; No additional research done as of that date to determine candidate’s position on this question.