Car talk on chopping block?

The organization said in a statement it told employees that a majority of staff positions will “conclude” when the fiscal year ends on Sept. 30, 2025.

Probably not. It’s a corporation. This is from the home page:

Cartalk.com is a production of Cartalk Digital Inc. We offer unbiased reviews and advice, bad jokes and a great community for car owners and shoppers”

If it were part of public media it would be cartalk.org.

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Over the past 20-30 years, the decline has been evident to the point there is no justification for tax money anymore. Just like a family in hideous debt, at a deficit of 37/trillion, as JFK used to say, the journey of 1000 miles begins with one step.

Often at night they switch to CBC and even BBC. Never hear anything about the fires in Canada choking us down wind, just the normal Montreal stuff. There is no free media in Canada. Government approved. Let freedom ring as used to be said.

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Sorry you feel that way.

I watched PBS NewsHour at least 5-6 days per week. I’m sure your children and grands watched Sesame Street, you listened to CarTalk radio, etc.

I don’t want to say on here who is ultimately responsible for this sad ending, but you or others may solicit me on the private chat.

As a tax payer, I should have the choice in rather I pay for public things or not, I should not be forced to pay for something I will never use or benefit from, and no, neither my 3 children nor my grand children watch(ed) PBS and none of us have ever listen(ed) to pubic (NPR?) radio, growing up I remember thinking Sesame Street was stupid, even at the age most my age was watching it, NOTHING to do with politics at the time nor even now, if I wanted to watch and or listen to public anything, I still think it should be privately funded just as CBS, NBC, ABC, FOX and whoever else is out there… Again, nothing to do with politics, heck, I didn’t even really know what NPR was until I joined this forum… lol

The only reason they will have to shut down these shows is if not enough people watch/listen to it enough to donate to it in order to keep it up and going and or these shows are not capable of producing enough advertising funds to keep them alive like the other channels do, so it seems to me that not enough people watch them to keep them alive vs the amount of people being forced to pay for them… If you or I open a business and it fails to bring enough money to keep the doors open then we will have to closed those doors, it is simple math and probably business 101…

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I have never been to Yellowstone but I do not begrudge my tax dollars protecting the park. As a child I used an outdoor ice skating rink for “free”, rink maintenance paid by taxpayers that would never use the rink.

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Just bear in mind that some things we benefit from are indirect. Take your kids for example, did they go to public schools? It is quite common for people without kids to bark about taxes they pay to subsidize public schools. Education of youth benefits everyone, some indirectly. Imagine what your school tax bill would look like if only people with kids in school paid the bill. Some things have been deemed to be in the public/majority good whether every single person benefits from it or not. It’s a majority thing. Kind of like my cable TV offerings :wink:

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The “deeming” that is mentioned is why we elect representatives. Unfortunately, we live in a time that they are not doing their job, which is perfectly obvious when every vote shows complete polarization. It is like you sent your car for inspection and one mechanic says it needs a new engine and the other mechanic says the fenders are absolutely the problem.

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PBS stations also had a reliable time-sync signal, so that smart TVs requiring accurate time for guides can automatically do so.

I understand what you are saying, but to me (not you) a TV/radio show is different than a park… A park is a natural environment and has been around a really log time, the local parks are locally funded…

You should stick to vehicle advice . My tax dollars go for a lot of things I will never use but some of those are worthwhile for other people even if I think it is waste of money.

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All 3 kids at one point were home schooled for different reasons…

Isn’t school mandatory?? Even if you don’t have kids, didn’t you at one time go to school??

If the majority of people watched PBS and wanted to keep it on air, then they would find away to keep it on air (fund raisers, donations etc)…

This will be a stalemate as there will/can be examples for both sides, and I may not be as educated as most on here, but I am smart enough to know I WILL be out numbered on here due to most regular posters having a higher education and that is one of the main watchers of PBS, the other being younger kids… lol

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You are correct sir, as Your opinion is more important in life than mine is and people like me should have NO say in life where our money goes… See post above, I posted it before I saw yours…

You’re still a putz.

You clearly do not understand how democracy works. Your logic was often used by people against the war in Viet Nam who felt that they should not have to pay taxes for that “unjust war”. Single people or married w/o children also have used that argument against public funding of schools.

In a democracy, your representatives determine what is in the “public good”. You have an opportunity to help select who your representatives are. You may not have the ones you want, but you did have that opportunity. You can petition your representatives at any time.

About that [quote=“ChrisTheTireWhisperer, post:9, topic:201233”]
PBS stations also had a reliable time-sync signal, so that smart TVs requiring accurate time for guides can automatically do so.
[/quote], our PBS station is currently 22 minutes behind. Typically after each time change, the signal is ot accurate for several weeks, but it hasn’t been accurate at all since the last switch.

As for most of the National Parks, they make a profit for the government. All proceeds from entrance fees go directly into the government budget, then operating costs are paid from the government budget. The Smokey Mountains National Park and Grand Teton National Park are exceptions as per an agreement with the original funders (it was funded by private donations, mostly the Rockerfeller’s) to not charge an entrance fee.

Now I for one would like to see an accounting of all the money used by NPR and PBS. Most shows on my local PBS station originate out of WBUR in Boston. Our station has to pay upwards of $200k per episode of these shows, This Old House and Ask This Old House are the two most expensive as far as I know. That station in Boston has to be making a killing. I would like to know how the government contribution to CBP is distributed. Does my local station get any?

You don’t mean democracy, you mean a democratic republic. Big difference. The founders studied previous forms of government and soundly rejected democracy as a means of the tyranny of the majority.

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At the state university where I was a tenured faculty, full time employees were granted fee remission to take a class. However, this benefit did not apply to full time contract (year to year temporsry faculty). I took up the cause for my contract colleagues and was able to get the fee remission for them. I was questioned by an administrator as to why I was fighting for these contract colleagues. As a full time tenured faculty member, I would have fee remission if I decided to take a class. My answer was this: “Anything that raises the educational level of my colleagues benefits the university and benefits me”.
When my tax dollars help someone else through disaster relief, keeping a public service radio or television station ob the air in a remote area, helps fund education for students in need, funds school lunch programs for school children. etc, it indirectly benefits me.
The country school I attended back in the early 1950s, had students bused in from another district that didn’t have enough facilities to educate these students. Some of these students didn’t have money for lunches, but they were fed anyway. Nobody objected. Most of the families in the rural community were of modest means, but we weren’t going to let those students bused into our school from the other district go hungry.
I am fortunate at age 83 to have good health. I am happy that Medicare and and Medicaid that my tax dollars help support is there for those people not as fortunate.

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Americans tend to be very generous but not fools. In Minnesota we are just finishing a huge fraud of millions called feeding our children. Most of it made up. Now there is a second federal fraud investigation on housing. Same SOP. Over the past few years our small town school system has sustained a poverty level of 40%. So we have fund raisers to supply back packs, and school supplies while the dept of ag provides free lunches. Test performance has become dismal. Hard to see the end game back to success.

I heard a good line the other day which could be used for this topic if somebody can figure out how to tie it into NPR.s situation. “If only congress were alive to see this.”

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Spatula City has a big advertising budget. PBS should contact them.

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