Somewhere, Juan Williams is smiling -- and not just because of his cushy new gig at Fox:
House Republicans announced Wednesday they plan to force a floor vote on defunding NPR in response to the firing of analyst Juan Williams last month.
House GOP Whip Eric Cantor (Va.) and Rep. Doug Lamborn (Colo.) said that cutting funds to the publicly subsidized news organization was the winner of the conference's weekly "YouCut" contest, in which the public votes online on spending items they want eliminated.
Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.) has said he will introduce legislation to defund NPR in the upper chamber.NPR operates using both private and public money, though most of its revenue comes from non-public sources.
Although this article downplays the importance of public funding to NPR's financial health, the network's leadership has been frantically telling a different story. When she wasn't preoccupied with defaming Williams in the aftermath of his imbecilic firing, NPR CEO Vivian Schiller was insisting to anyone who would listen that such a move would be "devastating" to the future of the public broadcasting outlet.