$95 million. *SAVE PBS*

That's how much Congress wants to slash from public broadcasting's budget for next year.1 Cutting that amount will devastate many of public TV's best children's programs.

We've fought this battle before, and won. Last year, Congress threatened to slash public broadcasting's funding by nearly a quarter. But intense public pressure forced them to restore the full original budget.

With your help, we can once again stop partisans in the House from getting away with this effort to undermine an important American institution. We need your support.

http://www.commoncause.org/SupportPublicBroadcasting

The budget cuts are aimed directly at PBS's "Ready to Learn" project, which funds shows like Clifford the Big Red Dog, Sesame Street, Maya & Miguel and Postcards from Buster.

Last year, Postcards from Buster, a show about a cartoon bunny visiting various places in America, was pushed into the gay marriage controversy by Secretary of Education Margaret Spelling. She took time out from her second day on the job to pander to the right-wing by firing off a letter to PBS execs expressing outrage over an episode of Buster that featured him visiting a family farm headed by two moms.2

We can successfully counter these attacks and ensure that Congress restores full funding - but we need your financial help to do it.

http://www.commoncause.org/SupportPublicBroadcasting

If the House and Senate pass the funding cuts, they would go into effect on October 1. The result would likely be the elimination of some educational programming… you can bet Buster, Big Bird and Clifford are nervous. Please forward this message to your friends and family and urge them to join our campaign to protect public broadcasting.

Earlier this week, calls and emails from Common Cause members persuaded the House Appropriations Committee to reduce public broadcasting's cuts by $20 million. Now we need your help for the next step of the fight.

http://www.commoncause.org/SupportPublicBroadcasting

Thank you for all you do for Common Cause.

Sincerely,

Chellie Pingree
President, Common Cause


1 Los Angeles Times
2 Spelling's censorship is evident on the show's website, which has "redacted" that episode from its archives.

party and educating the public. That's treason to the Republicans - which is why they keep slashing funding.