By John Q. Hosedrinker 
Early Thursday morning, Senate Republicans passed legislation to claw back $9 billion in previously approved funding for public broadcasting and foreign aid programs. The vote was 51 to 48, with some Republicans joining Democrats in opposition. The bill is now headed to the GOP-controlled House and, if passed, will cement the Trump administration’s unilateral attacks on programs supported by Congress. Democrats warned that the bill imperils future spending negotiations and may be a test case for further cuts to programs.
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Doing Trump’s Bidding, Senate GOP Votes to Gut Public Media, Foreign Aid in Dead of Night | “At 2 am, Republicans just passed a bill to defund public broadcasting and lifesaving aid because Trump told them to—they wouldn’t even protect rural radio or emergency alerts.” This whole situation just screams of something rotten at the core of our political system. It’s frankly appalling to see the Senate GOP, under the apparent command of Donald Trump, making sweeping changes in the dead of night – especially when those changes include defunding vital services. This isn’t just about cutting back on public media, like PBS and NPR; it’s about taking away resources for emergency alerts, the very systems that keep people safe when disaster strikes. And it’s all happening while the rest of us are asleep, or at least trying to be.
Who in their right mind thinks it’s a good idea to dismantle public broadcasting? It feels like a direct attack on access to information, to culture, and to education. And the excuse of “I didn’t know that was in there when I voted on it” is just not acceptable. How can you vote on something without knowing what’s in it? It’s a fundamental dereliction of duty. It’s truly heartbreaking, and I feel for the people who work at those stations, who provide essential news and music. It’s like the GOP thinks that every penny for public service is better spent on…well, that’s the question, isn’t it?
The timing is particularly telling. Doing this under the cover of darkness, while the rest of the country is preoccupied, suggests a lack of confidence in the decision. It’s almost like they know what they’re doing isn’t going to be popular and are hoping to avoid scrutiny. It’s a textbook example of how not to run a government. To add insult to injury, they’re apparently taking away aid from starving countries, and yet they’ll parade their religiosity every Sunday.
It’s not just about the specific cuts, either. It’s about the pattern of behavior. It’s about the seemingly endless stream of votes and actions that seem designed to weaken democracy, to undermine public trust, and to benefit a select few. The fact that over 200 Republican Representatives voted to keep the Epstein files sealed, while only a couple of Democrats did, it’s deeply disturbing. What are they trying to hide? It’s not just about the money; it’s about control, about silencing voices, and about creating a society where the powerful are above the law.
The privatization of government functions is another worrying trend. The idea that we’ll all have to pay for weather alerts, that mail delivery will be handled by private companies – it’s all part of a broader strategy. It’s a strategy that benefits the wealthy, that hands over public resources to private interests, and that leaves everyone else vulnerable. They’ll run the government down so it won’t work and will be destroyed, and profit from the destruction.
This is the only thing they do, over and over.
The gutting of emergency alerts is, quite simply, criminal. How can you justify taking away the very systems that are supposed to keep people safe, especially in a world that seems increasingly prone to natural disasters? They’re sacrificing people’s safety for the sake of ideology. It’s a blatant disregard for human life, and it’s something that should never be tolerated. People in rural areas will suffer, and they’ll be left with less access to information and fewer means of getting help when they need it most.
And the hypocrisy is stunning. They’ll cry foul about “radical, leftist news” while ignoring the basic facts and serving up propaganda. This, of course, while they are allegedly protecting and funding pedophiles, traitors, and foreign assets. The constant attacks on anything that benefits the average person, the dismantling of institutions meant for the public good, and the blatant disregard for the needs of working families, it all just makes me sick. The fact that Senators don’t even have to be present for the business of democracy is another symptom of this larger problem. If they had to be there, maybe they would think twice about these votes.
This is not a government working for the people; it’s a government working for its own interests and the interests of a select few.
The fact that this is happening at 2 a.m. is no accident. It’s a calculated move, designed to minimize public outcry and to keep the details of these decisions from being widely known. And the consequences are far-reaching. The undermining of public media, the destruction of emergency alert systems, and the cuts to foreign aid will all have real-world consequences. The fact that the Republicans are willing to sacrifice these things to score political points or to appease Donald Trump is a tragedy.
And finally, let’s be clear: this is about power. It’s about control. It’s about dismantling any and all institutions that hold the powerful to account. It’s about creating a world where the few can continue to enrich themselves at the expense of everyone else.