Should Obama lay off Big Bird?
By laglen
@laglen (19759)
United States
October 11, 2012 9:56am CST
The Democrats think so too.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/10/10/us-usa-campaign-bird-idUSBRE8991S820121010?feedType=RSS&feedName=politicsNews&rpc=22
"I'm not sure I understand why he is doing it," said Bill Galston, a former Bill Clinton adviser.
Sesame Street even wants him to stop! With such important issues, why is he fixated on a kids show which by the way, will not stop from the small subsidy.
It is the point, why are tax payers paying for this when we have an astronomical debt? If we made cuts here and in other government waste areas, then maybe it would make a difference. And bear in mind, his point was why are we borrowing form china to pay for this?
What are your thoughts? Should Obama leave Big Bird alone? Do you find it telling that Obama doesn't even mention that Leher received the same threat and he is a real person!
3 people like this
13 responses
@matersfish (6306)
• United States
11 Oct 12
What a sad, sad, sad day.
I don't know what to think about this.
Mitt Romney is a criminal and should be given a life sentence.
Pack up Ernie and Elmo
Hit the road
There you go
I said bye...bye...oh, Big Bird, now
Romney's gonna bulldoze the Street
Money's thin
So no more free
Bye...bye...my little Big Bird, oh
No one seems to love Bert
Or understand Bob
And without a subsidy
Big Bird'll have to rob
There'll be no more street lights
No special guests
No easy plight
Bye
Oh, won't you say bye-bye
Bye...oh, Big Bird
Ahhhhhhhhhhhh
Bye!
Bye!
Big Bird!2 people like this
@Taskr36 (13963)
• United States
11 Oct 12
Don't worry, Obama explained this back in 2008.
“if you don’t have a record to run on, then you paint your opponent as someone people should run from. You make a big election about small things.”
http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2012/10/09/team-romney-word-on-the-street-for-big-bird-tactics-troubling/
2 people like this
@flowerchilde (12529)
• United States
11 Oct 12
Wow! You said it! You surely did.. Or rather, I guess he did.
@adforme (2114)
•
12 Oct 12
Here is my thinking. At the end of the day, Big Bird will not fly away. People are going to come together to save him. It will prove how people can come together if they choose to. Blacks/Whites, Republicans/Democrats, Jews/Gentiles etc. will all come together to save the tail feathers of this wonderful bird that many children have grown and continue to grow with. If push comes to shove, donations will save the nest of Big Bird.
1 person likes this
@gitfiddleplayer (10362)
• United States
13 Oct 12
Who cares what Nobama says, the guy is an idiot, he has run this country into debt beyond what my kids grandkids will be able to pay off and he's squawking about a yellow bird on PBS?!? That just goes to show the character of this soulless individual. He doesn't care anyway, he will leave office and make 250,000 a year for being the worse president ever.
1 person likes this
@laglen (19759)
• United States
16 Oct 12
Git - good points
debater - this discussion is about 2012. George Bush is not making decisions for the country anymore. Plenty of people have said yes Bush was irresponsible with our money. Now, thats over. There is nothing else to be accomplished with that discussion. However, we now have the opportunity to boot out this drunken sailor.
I'll tell you what debater, I promise I will not vote for George Bush this year! Does that make you feel better?
@thegreatdebater (7316)
• United States
13 Oct 12
Git, I see you are IGNORING all of the debt that Bush, along with the interested from his two unfunded wars. Your kids and grand children would have been paying that bill back even before Obama was elected!!!!
1 person likes this
@thegreatdebater (7316)
• United States
13 Oct 12
Laglen, it was Romney that said he would drop the funding for PBS, which is a rarity for him to give specifics of what he would do if he was elected. Romney, like Ryan is big on talk about cuts, but short on specifics as to what he would cut. He thinks that he will walk into office and cut programs like he tried to do when he owned a company. What Obama is pointing out is that those cuts have consequences, and although Romney doesn't have a need for PBS, many other Americans do. Romney pointed out a subsidy that is less than 0.001 of our debt, which means eliminating this would be like a fly hitting your windshield (you wouldn't even notice). However, Romney wants to increase military spending by $200 BILLION which we will have to borrow from China. He doesn't like to point that out because it proves his hypocrisy in his economic policy.
@laglen (19759)
• United States
16 Oct 12
Thank you debra, debater, I don't care if it is only a nickel we are spending on PBS, there is no reason for it. They are fine to go private. There is plenty of money. Romney didnt say he would fire big bird, he said he would stop borrowing from China to pay for a tv network that is NOT needed. PBS is great, PBS serves a service but there is NO reason this service can not be self sufficient.
@debrakcarey (19887)
• United States
16 Oct 12
The government subsidy to PBS is about 12% of their income. And their CEO makes about $700,000. maybe HE can take a cut to keep Big Bird on the air? And guess what debater, RYAN's budget, you know...the one REID wouldn't even discuss, has LOTS more cuts that add up to a substantial savings and get us back on track in a short time. BUT you wouldn't know that as REID and Obama won't even get down to discussing it or the MSM in reporting it.
And the military funding would come by NOT allowing sequestration to happen, and trimming the FAT from some of the military spending.
1 person likes this
@debrakcarey (19887)
• United States
16 Oct 12
And you don't know THAT because loud mouth RUDE Biden wouldn't stop interrupting Ryan long enough for him to be heard, and the liberal moderater kept interrupting him if Biden wasn't.
1 person likes this
@lampar (7584)
• United States
11 Oct 12
I don't have a clue is the presidential candiates refer to Jim Lehrer or the sesame street studio production, they need to talk straight and make sense whenever they open their mouth, use the term 'big bird' on sesame street or Jim is rude and in poor taste from both candidate. It is not as big as they want us to believe when compare to their offices and social status. 
@flowerchilde (12529)
• United States
11 Oct 12
Big Bird (and BBC etc) doesn't need taxpayer money. I don't buy that they are impartial in politics, either.. Not that I care.. just sayin'
1 person likes this
@deebomb (15304)
• United States
12 Oct 12
Hello lagen. I think that Obama doesn't have any thing else to give us to think about that is of any importance. He is focusing on Big Bird as a distraction from the really important things in this election. PBS doesn't need government funding as every three months they do a
Big Bird and Sesame Street Workshop are going to do just fine with out any government funding. According to the publicy available tax forms the total assets of the Sesame Workshop were just under four hundred million dollars. By keeping on Big Bird Obama doesn't have to answer for his past four years of campaigning.
1 person likes this
@mommyboo (13174)
• United States
12 Oct 12
Yep, this is absolutely the stupidest thing since unsliced bread. This is the 'duck and point' maneuver, screaming and making a big deal over something insignificant in order to get everyone angry about it and forget about the multiple elephants in the room. Of course EVERYONE needs to lay off Big Bird. It's Sesame Street! Anybody attacking Sesame Street is a class A moron.
1 person likes this
So true! Well said and you are so right. It is smoke and mirrors. Look over here, not over there!
@lilwonders456 (8214)
• United States
11 Oct 12
Why is the government paying for PBS when we are swimming in debt? If people are Sooo upset about PBS than how about donating money to keep them on the air. it is all about priorities, in the face of our current economic crisis, our government shouldn't be paying for Big Bird.
1 person likes this
@Taskr36 (13963)
• United States
12 Oct 12
As I'm sure you know, Sesame Street makes hundreds of millions of dollars. Can you imagine how much more it would make if they actually had sponsors like other, non-PBS kids shows? That network could do just fine without a penny of government money if they wanted to.
@debrakcarey (19887)
• United States
11 Oct 12
Can you just imagine what those in countries who have no clue who big bird is are thinking as they watch this? Obama is clutching at straws, and he's LOOSING. 
1 person likes this
@STOUTjodee (3573)
• United States
12 Oct 12
Totally agree with you!! I think Obama is feeling like he's losing to Romney and he'll pull anything out of thin air! Does anyone still believe anything Obama says anymore?
@stringer321 (5644)
• Kiryat Ata, Israel
16 Oct 12
Let me get it right: Obama's idea was to do the campaign with the big bird to show how Mitt Romney would bring the economy of the U.S.A down, making wall street into Sesame street ?
If so, then, Obama could also do a campaign with Sponge Bob to show how Mitt Romney would bring the economy to the bottom, Bikini Bottom, where Sponge Bob lives...
Awww...that is so kiddish to use characters from kids television shows...
