Let Big Bird Fly Solo

Romney’s pledge during last week’s presidential debate to cut federal funding for PBS has been a laughing point for many liberals. And Big Bird has been called to work, appearing on SNL, YouTube, and even Romney’s campaign stops. But Big Bird shouldn’t fear for its extinction. Sesame Street is very popular. Who doesn’t love an 8 ft tall talking bird? The network doesn’t need Uncle Sam footing the bill. It can survive in the marketplace from advertising or private donations. The government needs to stop spending billions on programs that should be privatized.

The Obama campaigns depiction of ‘mean’ Romney attacking ‘poor’ Big Bird is inaccurate and deceptive. Sesame Street’s Executive Vice President Sherrie Westin told CNN last week, “Quite frankly, you can debate whether or not there should be funding of public broadcasting. But when they always try to tout out Big Bird, and say we’re going to kill Big Bird-that is actually misleading, because Sesame Street will be here.” Westin added, “Bird Bird lives on.”

Even Kenneth Tomlinson, Former Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) Chairman agrees. “Public television doesn’t need this massive bureaucracy funded by the American taxpayers called CPB to survive and be successful,” he said, according to the Washington Times.

Sesame Street is profitable, so the federal government no longer needs to feed it taxpayer dollars. The Obama campaign should stop using Big Bird for political gains, because he can fly on his own.