The temper tantrum from the left over Republicans finally yanking taxpayer dollars from PBS and NPR reached a new level of absurdity this week, with House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries literally waving around an Elmo doll on the House floor. Yes, really.
In what can only be described as political theater for the terminally unserious, Jeffries tried to paint the GOP’s commonsense rescission package—targeting $9 billion in low-priority and unspent funds—as an attack on Sesame Street.
Forget the ballooning national debt or the countless failed federal programs, because apparently the real tragedy is… the plight of Elmo.
Jeffries breathlessly declared, “Today, we are on the floor… debating legislation that targets Elmo. And Big Bird. And Daniel Tiger.” If this sounds like parody, it isn’t. It’s the modern Democratic Party—defenders of bureaucratic bloat and children’s puppets with taxpayer subsidies.
What Democrats won’t admit is that public broadcasting doesn’t need your tax dollars. For years, we’ve been told that federal funding is just a “tiny fraction” of PBS and NPR’s budgets. So if that’s true, why the hysteria? If it’s such a small amount, surely a few Hollywood elites or woke billionaires can pony up and keep the puppets talking.
Meanwhile, Republicans are finally doing what voters sent them to Washington to do—cut waste, rein in spending, and stop funding leftist propaganda masquerading as children’s television and news. The Corporation for Public Broadcasting has long funneled taxpayer money into ideological programming, from biased NPR broadcasts to “progressive” messaging on kids’ shows.
Rep. Lisa McClain (R-MI) nailed it when she responded, “I never realized Elmo was more important to my colleagues on the other side of the aisle than the American people.” Spot on.
Even House Majority Leader Steve Scalise pushed back with cold, hard truth: Sesame Street isn’t going anywhere. “The Cookie Monster was actually doing an advertisement for Netflix,” Scalise pointed out. “It’s not going away. It’s doing just fine. Very lucrative.”
So let’s cut the melodrama. If Democrats want to start a GoFundMe to save Elmo, they’re welcome to it. But American taxpayers shouldn’t be forced to bankroll public television networks that cater to coastal elites and push progressive narratives.
