That would undermine the point. It's called "Public" for a reason. How would Mr. Rogers have done if he were beholden to the corporate machine?

I disagree. Some questions can be very complex and sensitive, requiring a bit of time to formulate a decent response. Of course in a debate though, if a person pauses or uses verbal fillers when trying to formulate their response, it would appear that they don't know the answer. In actuality though, they could just be ensuring they don't make a slight error resulting in an awkward response.

This is such a stupid meme. Those oil company "subsidies" are nothing more than the deductions that every company gets (domestic manufacturing, capital equipment, etc.), and oil companies still pay a much higher rate than other companies.

I know it's a daunting concept, but do try to understand that just because you're fond of PBS doesn't mean that everyone should pay for it.

Could be, I agree. But probably not. Particularly among politicians, who are not particularly given to nuanced or deep and meaningful answers but rather prefer the most politically expedient ones.

It serves a public good. Things that serve public good get funded... publicly.

Oil companies serve a public good, one far greater than PBS does.

I imagine Mr. Rogers would of done the same thing, it's a kids show.  There is a market for it, I don't see why it is something that needs to be government funded.  Seems to me that PBS would do just fine without public funding, unless I am missing something?

I think many people missed the point on the PBS example ...

It isn't about whether PBS is a good institution or worth funding in general, it is about whether PBS is worth funding when you know you have to borrow that money to fund it. Maybe PBS is that important and maybe it isn't, but if you're using that as your standard for what gets cut and what gets kept you're on a much better path than the government currently is.

For example, is it worth funding green energy companies that offshore most of their manufacturing to China knowing that you will be borrowing that money from China to fund the company? In my opinion that sounds like a great deal for China and an awful deal for Americans.

Rog Against the Machine!

That is a very flawed statement there, I'll give you a second to realize and retract...