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PBS AND NPR RIDE OFF INTO THE SUNSET LEAVING A TRAIL OF PROPAGANDA Cartoon published 08/02/2025 Goodbye PBS. Goodbye NPR. Enjoy your ride into the sunset. America will save a half a billion dollars yearly. Ah, farewell PBS and NPR—time to pack up those tote bags and Big Bird plushies for the great garage sale in the sky. After decades of sipping from the taxpayer trough, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) is finally hitting the off switch, courtesy of President Trump’s defunding crusade. America stands to save about half a billion bucks a year. Back in 1969, Congress birthed the CPB as a nonprofit cash conduit, funneling a whopping $15 billion over the years straight to PBS and NPR stations. These broadcasters weren’t exactly starving artists; they’ve also raked in piles from public donations—think pledge drives where you donate $50 for a mug that says “I ❤️ PBS.” But fast-forward to 2025: President Trump, never one to mince words (or tweets), signed an executive order in May instructing the CPB to stop funding PBS and NPR, calling it a step toward ending “taxpayer subsidization of biased media.” By July 18, Congress hopped on board, approving a plan to rescind $9 billion in funds, including $1.1 billion earmarked for the CPB. Trump inked the bill on July 24, sealing the deal on what he dubbed a victory over wasteful spending. Democrats, predictably, threw a tantrum worthy of a toddler’s meltdown, pleading for the cash flow to continue. But alas, their efforts fizzled like a flat NPR jazz solo. On August 1, the CPB announced it’s shutting down operations, starting the wind-down process immediately. Most staff will exit stage left by the end of September 2025, with a skeleton crew handling the final curtain call in January 2026. As for PBS and NPR themselves? They’re not vanishing entirely—local stations will limp along on donations and other scraps, but expect deep cuts, layoffs (like the 35% staff slash at Pittsburgh’s WQED), and fewer episodes of “Antiques Roadshow” appraising your grandma’s liberal bias. Trump’s team has long griped about the networks’ “far-left bigotry masquerading as journalism,” and now the plug’s been pulled on that particular echo chamber. It’s like finally ditching the U.S. penny—that tiny, useless relic we clung to like a bad ex. It was an institution, then a habit, then just pocket lint costing us millions to produce. Breaking bad habits is tough, but hey, we managed with the ending the penny; now it’s time to coin a new era without propping up partisan programming on the public’s dime. Who knows, maybe Elmo can get a new job on late night TV, we hear there’s an opening, right Colbert? — The GrrrTeam