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It should come as no surprise that cutting Big Bird off the US dole would save very little money, relatively speaking. In part that’s because Sesame Workshop, the company that produces “Sesame Street,” gets most of its money from sources other than Uncle Sam.
Let’s look at the numbers. According to the latest Internal Revenue Service Form 990 financial disclosure that Sesame Workshop has made public, its total revenue for 2009 was about $130 million. Of that, about $7.9 million came directly from government grants.
Now, Big Bird gets program fees from stations, too. Sesame Workshop lists $27 million in content distribution revenue. Some of that comes from federal dollars funneled to local PBS entities, though the Form 990 doesn’t break that out.
We’ll go back to Sesame Workshop to illustrate this point. According to a pie chart of the group’s financials, 35 percent of the group’s cash comes from corporate, foundation, and government support. As we’ve seen, the “government” part of that isn’t very big.
Another 33 percent comes from product licensing. That’s all the Elmo dolls and so forth that clutter kids’ bedrooms around America. A final 32 percent comes from distribution fees and royalties.
Sesame Workshop president and CEO Gary Knell got $684,144 in reportable compensation from his job.
edit on 10-10-2012 by jibeho because: (no reason given)
It all ads up fool!
Originally posted by GogoVicMorrow
reply to post by ararisq
It's not about the money. I agree it is a lot of money. It's about the fact that Romney is so out of touch that he would start at the complete wrong end when making cuts. He would cut the few things that people enjoy or help in a rough time before even considering cutting the things that are way overblown and actually need to be cut.
I am a libertarian so I do believe in cutting such things, but it's definitely not the place to start. Consider making those cuts when the government is smaller and those monies have an effect on the governments ability to perform. This proves Romney is completely out of touch even further. The first cuts need to be to the military and "defense." TSA, FEMA. Let's see how much is going into that garbage and let's start there LOOONG before we consider cutting PBS.
The Federal Government Should Stop Doing Things The American People Can’t Afford, For Instance:
Repeal Obamacare — Savings: $95 Billion. President Obama’s costly takeover of the health care system imposes an enormous and unaffordable obligation on the federal government while intervening in a matter that should be left to the states. Mitt will begin his efforts to repeal this legislation on Day One.
Privatize Amtrak — Savings: $1.6 Billion. Despite requirement that Amtrak operate on a for-profit basis, it continues to receive about $1.6 billion in taxpayer funds each year. Forty-one of Amtrak’s 44 routes lost money in 2008 with losses ranging from $5 to $462 per passenger.
Reduce Subsidies For The National Endowments For The Arts And Humanities, The Corporation For Public Broadcasting, And The Legal Services Corporation — Savings: $600 Million. NEA, NEH, and CPB provide grants to supplement other sources of funding. LSC funds services mostly duplicative of those already offered by states, localities, bar associations and private organizations.
Eliminate Title X Family Planning Funding — Savings: $300 Million. Title X subsidizes family planning programs that benefit abortion groups like Planned Parenthood.
Reduce Foreign Aid — Savings: $100 Million. Stop borrowing money from countries that oppose America’s interests in order to give it back to them in the form of foreign aid.