WASHINGTON (AP) – The House on Thursday voted to end federal funding to National Public Radio. Republican supporters said it made good fiscal sense, and Democratic opponents called it an ideological attack that would deprive local stations of access to programs such as “Car Talk” and “All Things Considered.”

The bill, passed 228-192 along mainly partisan lines, would bar federal funding of NPR and prohibit local public stations from using federal money to pay NPR dues and buy its programs. The prospects of support in the Democratic-controlled Senate are slim. Seven Republicans broke ranks to vote against the bill.

“It is time for American citizens to stop funding an organization that can stand on its own feet,” said Rep. Doug Lamborn, R-Colo., the sponsor. He said it was not a question of content—which many conservatives say has a liberal bias—but whether taxpayer dollars should go to nonessential services. “As a country we no longer have this luxury.”

Other Republicans also denied that the measure was a vendetta against NPR, although the organization left itself open to conservative attacks last week when an executive, talking to conservative activists posing as members of a fake Muslim group, was caught on camera deriding the tea party movement and saying the NPR would be better off without federal funding. Both the executive and the president of NPR resigned after the incident. (more…)

I’d wager most of us would agree that NPR is something of a failed news media enterprise given its inherent bias and recently revealed utterly condescending and repugnant view of the average American citizen it is intended to serve – not disrespect.

Jim Geraghty of NRO offers some interesting information as regards NPR compensation and severance packages. In defense of NPR workers, how could one not be condescending given some of its compensation levels and severance packages for producing so much media so many Americans ignore for being the Leftist shill it so often obviously is.

Hopefully now that it’s been exposed, the Republicans in Congress will demonstrate some backbone and get taxpayers off the hook from having to subsidize such extravagance in the face of so much failure and disappointment.

The departure of heads of NPR can prove costly for the organization, which is funded in part by the U.S. taxpayer. According to NPR’s 990 financial disclosure form with the IRS, in 2008, former NPR CEO Kenneth Stern received $872,189 in severance payments. Stern was reportedly forced out by the NPR’s corporate board after less than 18 months in the top job.

To her credit, Schiller understood that the organization was facing tough times and felt a need to lead by example; the fiscal 2009 form indicates she took no compensation from NPR.

However, I suppose she’ll be entitled to a severance package . . .

Also note those 990 forms are fascinating troves of information.

NPR president Kevin Klose’s compensation that year was an eye-opening $1,176,202. Interim CEO Dennis Haarsager’s compensation amounted to $315,878 that year.

Below are the Radio Television Digital News Association’s guidelines for the use of hidden cameras in news gathering. The Left, abetted by the mainstream media, has sought to demonize James O’Keefe from the start. Not content to stop there, they have also used O’Keefe to demean and undermine Andrew Breitbart given their linkage as the ACORN video story was playing out. In turn, they also attempt to further undermine O’Keefe for any connection to Breitbart. In short, if you prove to be an effective fighter against the Institutional Left, any and all events, associations, facts – and even non-facts – are considered fair game to try and damage your reputation.

At the same time, a Leftist blogger can call a sitting Republican Governor, not just lie about his identity, but impersonate another, David Koch – and there’s nary a peep about the dubious ethics involved. In fact, the usual Leftist suspects, TPM and the Washington Post, for example, make hay out of it to attack the conservative Republican. Worse, not only does the Democrat Party ignore the dubious ethics employed by the imposter caller, they demand an investigation into, not the impersonator of a private citizen, but Gov. Scott Walker.

Governor Scott Walker’s conduct on the prank call with the David Koch imposter has largely receded from the national media spotlight, but if Wisconsin Democrats have their way, it will be the subject of an investigation by Wisconsin’s enforcer of campaign finance and ethics statutes.

If that isn’t clear enough as regards the double-standard employed by the Left and their media pals, you may recall another recent incident where NBC’s Dateline attempted to do a sting targeted at individuals who would dare attend a NASCAR event. Thanks to new media, in the person of Michelle Malkin in that instance, the plot was exposed.

On a side note, James O’Keefe promptly released the entirety of his video of his lunch meeting with Ronald Schiller, now gone from NPR. To this day, Katie Couric has not done that as regards a hit piece on Sarah Palin she manufactured from an interview during the 2008 campaign.

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WASHINGTON (AP) – The chairman of NPR’s board of directors says the board asked chief executive Vivian Schiller to step down after another executive called the tea party racist.

NPR chairman Dave Edwards said Wednesday that accepting Schiller’s resignation was difficult. She stepped down a day after a conservative activist posted a video showing NPR executive Ron Schiller calling tea party Republicans xenophobic and racist.

Vivian Schiller says NPR is facing the most serious threat yet to its congressional funding. She says there’s extraordinary pressure on Congress to make cuts and the remarks by Ron Schiller were outrageous and unfortunate at such a critical time.

Ron Schiller is not related to Vivian Schiller.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP’s earlier story after the jump. (more…)

Earlier today, independent journalist James O’Keefe released his latest undercover investigative videos.  In the first video, Senior Vice President of Development of the NPR Foundation, Ron Schiller, is shown discussing a potential donation from a phony Muslim Brotherhood front group set-up by O’Keefe’s team. While discussing the importance of NPR, Mr. Schiller expresses negative personal views on conservatives, the Tea Party, Republicans, Zionists, and Juan Williams, among other topics.

In a second video, NPR fund-raising officers discuss why those who question global warming will only be covered as a political story, not as a science story.

The fallout from the sting has been fast and furious.

NPR offered up a partial defense, but was quick to denounce the comments made by Mr. Schiller:

The fraudulent organization represented in this video repeatedly pressed us to accept a $5 million check, with no strings attached, which we repeatedly refused to accept. We are appalled by the comments made by Ron Schiller in the video, which are contrary to what NPR stands for. Mr. Schiller announced last week that he is leaving NPR for another job.

Even though Schiller is already on his way out the door, NPR has put him on “administrative leave” since being made aware of the video footage. (more…)

I don’t know if its 2,000 years of Jewish guilt or something in our DNA but the Jewish people have a history of being our own worst enemies. Nowhere is that proven more clearly than in the Jewish press. For any anti-Semites that may be reading this article, I realize that you believe that all media is controlled by the Jews, but for the purpose of this article, we are talking about media specifically and targeted toward Jews, such as the JTA on the internet and the newspaper, The Jewish Week.

The Jewish Week could be much more profitable if most of the reporters were fired and replaced with press releases from Media Matters, J Street and other progressive organizations. And the best part of it all the readers wouldn’t be able to detect anything different.

In 2007, I  was involved in the leadership of an umbrella organization called Coordinating Council for Jerusalem (CCJ). It was an activist group trying to prevent the division of Jerusalem. The leadership consisted of representatives from organizations comprising all levels of  Jewish observance and political persuasion. There was no agenda beyond Jerusalem.

A Jewish Week reporter, James Besser however, wrote an article implying that the CCJ was comprised of only Orthodox organizations (along with a bunch of right wing crazies)  whose only purpose was to prevent a Middle East peace deal. This contention was absurd, In fact if there was any inkling that we were trying to prevent a peace treaty,  half of the organization’s membership would have walked out.  Besser’s contention could have only come from his own imagination.

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In my column this week for the Irish Examiner USA, I wrote, “When it comes to Hate Speech and Violence, Liberals Rule.”

For some strange reason liberals are identifying all contrary opinions as hateful regardless of the words actually used. I’m always surprised when I hear from my Democrat sister in California that she thinks I should tone down the anger in my columns. I’ve reread my pieces and see only the explanations of my viewpoint. I do not name-call or use derogatory language yet she reacts as if I do. Is it possible to erroneously read emotions that simply aren’t there if the reader is expecting them to be?

I found this same phenomenon when I received an e-mail from a New York literary agent commenting that he found my book proposal “a manifesto of innuendo, belief and hate for those you do not agree with.” He then added, “There is the Rush way and then there is the George Will way.”

After searching in vain for evidence of hate speech in my book proposal, I came to realize that the agent was projecting his own disdain for the “right wing” and assuming that I was therefore a Rush Limbaugh devotee.

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Norman Leboon, a convert to Islam, was charged today with making death threats against the House Republican Whip, Eric Cantor (R-VA), and his family. The threat came in a YouTube video that Leboon posted last Wednesday. In it, Leboon says:

Remember Eric…our judgment time, the final Yom Kippur has been given. You are a liar, you’re a Lucifer, you’re a pig, a greedy [expletive deleted] pig. You’re an abomination. You receive my bullets in your office. Remember they will be placed in your heads. You and your children are Lucifer’s abominations.

In calling Cantor a pig, Leboon may have been thinking of the passages of the Koran where Allah transforms the disobedient Jews into apes and pigs.

His threats to Cantor come after the congressman’s office was hit by what police called a stray bullet, and he received anti-Jewish threats from left-wingers.

A difficult Pesach for the Cantor family, I am sure. (more…)

Let’s summarize: A donor to the Democratic National Committee threatens to kill Republican Whip Eric Cantor in the same newscycle that a donor to the Republican National Committee gets financially reimbursed for going to a racy club in Los Angeles, but the old-school news media leads with the GOP donor story.

I’d actually argue that threatening to kill someone from the other party is a more serious offense and deserves serious attention – especially in light of the four-day media frenzy over “intimidation” tactics after the vote to hijack health care. But maybe that’s just because I live in Los Angeles? (more…)

There have been accusations of violence flying everywhere since the dreadful healthcare bill was passed on Sunday night. It’s certainly true tensions are running high, just like they have been for an entire year. And for good reason. Many of our freedoms as Americans were stripped away when healthcare passed. But are the threats of violence just a charade to distract Americans from learning about what the massive healthcare bill really does? I think so.

Could you imagine what would happen if someone set fire to, say, Nancy Pelosi’s church? (Does she even go to church?)

Or what if a Congressman who supported healthcare reform was beaten up so badly that he had to have stitches on his eye? How about if a Congressman’s car window was shot out because he opposed healthcare reform?

The same media so excited to rush to protect the “defenseless” Congressmen barely mentioned that someone set Sarah Palin’s church on fire or that private citizens in California were personally harassed and targeted for simply suggesting that there should be a ballot initiative on marriage, or for donating to it. (more…)

You know you’ve just had a bad day when the apostle of Washington Conventional Wisdom, David “Teddy Kennedy’s seat” Gergen puts on his serious mien (does he have any other?) and pronounces upon the weighty matters of the day.

Yes, when Gergen speaks, people not only listen — they’ve already heard it all before!  In fact, it’s what everybody else is already thinking!  By the time it gets to Gergen’s lips, God long ago changed the channel to re-runs of Happy Days.

So what do you think?  How did POTUS do, sans TOTUS — commanding college professor (okay, “senior lecturer”) or tongue-tied, smirking, classless community organizer?  Mr. Smile and a Shoeshine, or an anxious, cantankerous former wonder boy/palooka who can’t figure out why this particular fight wasn’t properly fixed by David “Jake Lingle” Axelrod, like all his others? A strike, or a gutter ball?

(more…)