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what won't Y-one PBS release details with 3
and a half million dollar deal with the billionaire
David Sirota is is writing
these days for Pando daily nationally syndicated columnist the other three
boxes
most recently back to our future: his website David Sirota dot com
and David it's always great talking with you thanks for joining us today
thanks for having me come so are
what's I didn't push the button her out I guess I did
there we go are so a what's the deal with the BS I mean
you know I think most people think a PBS has like some
very high integrity a new source although I've been noticing
increasingly I last time mara liasson was on Fox News &
when crowd hammer was gone you know
Obamacare socks she was grinning from ear to ear and
a Mumbai it was you know I he didn't literally say that but
close to it and and increasingly I'm hearing people from the heritage
foundation and from the Competitive Enterprise Institute always
in a hard white think-tanks Koch brothers funded think tanks
showing up on PBS but is a so is this part a batter is this something else
well I think what I think that there's a question about ideology on
I'm TDs and grab the media and there's a question that of funding and what may be
called
pick up Taylor on PBS is
I ostensibly every it's Brandon's public
journalism publicly-funded journalism and so
Carter PBS's budget comes from taxpayers to the corporation for public
broadcasting
apart if it comes stuff from members making donations
and part of it comes from corporate interests
that the last part is the part that's thats downplayed by PBS and its own
branding
a but PBS's forced because taxpayers on funded a
really a level than any other industrialized country funds public
media
our PBS's force increasingly to go out and try to get money from corporate
underwriters
for its programming what happened
this week so represent something that
crosses all sorts of lines including PBS's on rules and potentially FCC
regulations
keen yes a cut a secret deal
with a guy named John Arnold a former & Mon trader who is now a billionaire
who has been financing a multi-million dollar campaign in state legislatures
to slash the retirement benefits for public employees that's just a car I
would he do that
well i think is a lottery that exorcism integer
its conservative ideologue are part of it is that a
that that with states facing budget pressures
states are trying to balance their budgets on the backs of
pension cuts rather than considering let's say
tax increases on billionaires I ending corporate subsidies
right so John are responding this campaign
om he is if out the public about funding this campaign
would have been so public about am certain they were PBS has been public
about it the
John Arnold simultaneously and secretly
funding a 3 a half-million-dollar
PBS news program embedded in its news program i jus on the news hour
called the tension payroll which is which is promoting
at the segments they're all about how we have to cut
public employee pensions because they're supposed to be bankrupting our state's
and in CVS is not making explicit disclosure that he is part this year's
funding missed
now that is funny bit segment PBS's previously in its rules
not allow this kind of i mean you can make grants
general journalism but you are not allowed if you are a political activist
gonna sit on a particular issue
you're not allowed to also simultaneously fine a fund that the PBS
programming
specifically on that issue make sense as to why I mean at one point one of the
segments are you gonna example
promoted the California ballot initiative to cut public employee
pensions
and they promoted that as part of this series the John are responding
without not only mentioning that he's finding it without even mentioning John
all that also
funding the ballot initiative that the recovery so all sorts of conflicts
right and a
while that's pretty amazing where he is this just
basically PBS only now because they need the cash
I think it's a good question and answer I certainly think that they
they need the resources that's absolutely true they tailored
according to their spokespeople they tailored
this up a news program originally
because they knew with John Arnold interest and and his activism
on a public pensions and again the well
summit way that so it's so they they knew that this guy wants to smash public
pensions
arm because Jaipur and fulfil public pensions we might have to raise taxes on
billionaires or whatever
they knew that this guy didn't like public pensions and so they came up with
an idea for a new story that were trashed public pensions and pitched into
what's next in a pitcher a it and so in a private eye so scared to be Peterson
said that's exactly right i mean that was one of the revelations in our story
that was
was no shocking Arnold didn't come to them and said look I wanna fun this I
mean that would be
you understand his motivations and you criticize PBS for accepting the funding
what's worse is the PBS knowing its own rules against conflict of interest
said to us that they knew his interest in activism
on pensions and originally went to him with this proposal
I want to be clear part of the problem with this proposal I wanna see if it is
any individual PBS journalist was working on this
are the problem is the entire framing a fist this
this show is called and the segment that you see on the news hour
again undisclosed are wanna get is tension
Carol notice that it's not the the
the second is not called say stadium subsidy peril
or corporate subsidies peril or low taxes are not generating enough public
revenue Carol
yes tension peril and even docstater spending far more on corporate subsidies
then the entire pension shortfalls in pension funds
are valued at the the ideological skewing up this
is to say that tensions are the singular problem
with state budgets and the way to stick state budget two couples patched
one here's one other piece to this David in and that is that a lot of the state
pensions are least a number of them that I've
i've seen. summer good reporting down on us arm are
in trouble in part because they invested
they were invested in the stock market and these Wall Street
guys um like this former Enron traitor presumably
mean the wall street billionaires crash the stock market in 2008 and it took
down a lot of pension funds were
that that's absolutely right i mean i mean BMI in connection with John R
or memorandum on blew a huge hole in public tension in your eye 2008 stock
collapsed
her tension pension funds as well you're absolutely right and so it's amazing so
it's had
I expected not been funding their pensions not the meeting that
what they need to put in the pensions for years they've been raising that
money
spending on things like tax cuts in corporate subsidies
then Wall Street comes in and and blows a hole in the pension fund returns
and then guess what the solution according to the John R
the world is to simply cut retiree benefits they were promised retirees'
right and what Wall Street keep the profits absolutely and then just one
other point about the wall street action
were one of the worst stories it's happening on this I encourage everybody
to look at
is Rhode Island not only have they cut the tension benefits to employees
what the woman who became general treasurer their
was now running for governor move more and more of the money into hi fi
hedge fund ahead to the hedge fund industry which of course factor campaign
right now the only thing that's happening a public pension fund is this
that is that politicians are trying to move more
the to fund existing pension funds into extremely high P
investments they often don't be stock market
just what those fees finance the profits hedgecock
who who then donate money to PBS exam
David Akers 20 seconds left has PBS responded to your piece
PBS's refusing to release the terms of the contract with John Arnold
I although John Arnold says he would he reserves the right to cut off funding in
court extraordinary circumstances
which would seem to suggest he has serious editorial influence
you kind of a funny if he simply doesn't like what PBS's report
while what thats thats Graham
and PBS controls bequeathed
both isn't as the Corporation for Public Broadcasting CPB
that's right that's right yeah okay so CPV and they they
they control the TV are being control radio arm as well as on the radio as
well
they fun some other NPR but this is only on the be
so this is this is mostly the TV side David Sirota
staff writer with P&O daily I have to say I just
and David this is the Thom Hartmann program other three books most recently
back to our future is website David Sirota dot com David you doing brilliant
work thanks so much for being with us
thanks much for having me to keep up the good work