Mitt Romney Says He Would Eliminate PBS Subsidy If Elected President

By Alex Weprin 

In an interview with Fortune, presumptive GOP Presidential nominee Mitt Romney says he would cut the PBS subsidy if elected President. The Corporation for Public Broadcasting and its member stations across the country produce news programs like “PBS NewsHour” and “Need to Know,” as well as non-fiction fare like “Nova” and “Antiques Roadshow.” “NewsHour” anchor Jim Lehrer is one of the journalists tapped to moderate the upcoming Presidential debates.

You’ve promised to cap government spending at 20% of GDP. Specifically where will you cut?

There are three major areas I have focused on for reduction in spending. These are in many cases reductions which become larger and larger over time. So first there are programs I would eliminate. Obamacare being one of them but also various subsidy programs — the Amtrak subsidy, the PBS subsidy, the subsidy for the National Endowment for the Arts, the National Endowment for the Humanities. Some of these things, like those endowment efforts and PBS I very much appreciate and like what they do in many cases, but I just think they have to stand on their own rather than receiving money borrowed from other countries, as our government does on their behalf.

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