Public Broadcasting’s Proxy War Against the Taxpayer
April 28, 2011 at 2:46 pm | Posted in NewsRealBlog | Leave a commentTags: Free Market, Legacy Amendment, minnesota public radio, MPR, NewsReal Blog, NPR, Public Broadcasting, Sales Tax, Socialism
by Walter Hudson, contributed to David Horowitz’s NewsReal Blog
In the great state of Minnesota, we have something called the Legacy Amendment which increased our state sales tax to create a slush fund for all kinds of extraneous goodies related to “outdoor heritage, clean water, parks and trails, and arts and cultural heritage.” The result has been increasingly odious lobbying efforts to claim a slice of that taxpayer pie. Legislators can’t seem to give the money away fast enough. As the state wrestles with a $5 billion budget deficit, funds raised by the Legacy Amendment go to such essential items as paying a science-fiction writer $40,000 to speak to an audience of 500 at a small town library.
Like Frodo’s quest to destroy the Ring, an effort is underway to repeal the Legacy Amendment in the same manner it was created, though a ballot initiative. In the meantime, the slush fund’s beneficiaries continue to squabble over the state’s fiscal crumbs like a hoard of orcs tearing at man-flesh.
Among them is Minnesota Public Radio. In a recent email to members, the public broadcasting organization pleaded for help in pressuring legislators to keep the gravy train flowing.
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