Big Bird: My bed time is usually 7:45, but I was really tired yesterday and fell asleep at 7! Did I miss anything last night?
—
Sesame Street (@sesamestreet) October 04, 2012He sure did! During last night’s debate, Mitt Romney vowed to cut taxpayer funding for PBS if elected, leading to a massive freakout across the Twitterverse over Big Bird’s fate. Today, even David Axelrod is making his concern known:
Big bird has just come up on the conference call. Axelrod brought it up.—
Amie Parnes (@amieparnes) October 04, 2012
Sesame Street characters mentioned so far on this OFA call: Big Bird, Oscar.—
Reid Epstein (@reidepstein) October 04, 2012
Surely if PBS were to become privately funded, poor Big Bird would be forced to leave his nest! A new Twitter account, @FiredBigBird, sprang up last to let the world know how our feathered friend is taking the news:
This is why I love Twitter: @FiredBigBird is in the house. twitter.com/FiredBigBird—
Pavia Rosati (@pavianyc) October 04, 2012
RT @FiredBigBird: Mitt Romney favors Wall Street over Sesame Street—
Billmo (@BillmoNYC) October 04, 2012
RT @FiredBigBird: Mitt Romney will end Burt and Ernie's right to a civil union—
Mona Eltahawy (@monaeltahawy) October 04, 2012
RT @FiredBigBird BREAKING NEWS – BAIN CAPITAL HAS SHIPPED SESAME STREET TO CHINA… STORY DEVELOPING—
doug (@padawrong) October 04, 2012
ruh roh RT @FiredBigBird: "I worked with Big Bird. I served with Big Bird. You, sir, are no Big Bird" #DebateDenver—
Ed Henry (@edhenryTV) October 04, 2012
WIN RT @firedbigbird: I am afraid now @SarahPalinUSA and her husband Todd will eat me to protest gay marriage… #ChicFilA—
ProfB (@AntheaButler) October 04, 2012
RT @AntheaButler RT @firedbigbird: Mitt Romney favors Wall Street over Sesame Street—
Kiki (@kikiochieng) October 04, 2012
“@FiredBigBird: I am running in 2016 http://t.co/QPfsrhHN” lmaaaaaoo—
bell hooks. (@cydnaaaaay) October 04, 2012
RT @FiredBigBird: If Mitt Romney wins this is what I will be forced to do… twitpic.com/b0syqt—
HuffPost Politics (@HuffPostPol) October 04, 2012
Look what Mitt Romney has done to me…
twitpic.com/b0syqt—
Big Bird (@FiredBigBird) October 04, 2012
“@FiredBigBird: @thinkprogress he hates us! and now I am forced to live like this http://t.co/Ju0jRwks”
AHAHAHAHHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAH—
Stephen Mattox (@MasterMattox) October 04, 2012
RT @FiredBigBird: This is now my life http://t.co/JJMwNjaa—
Maria Elena Salinas (@MariaESalinas) October 04, 2012
RT @FiredBigBird: If you think Romney REALLY won this debate just know I have nearly 27,000 followers and we all remember your 47% remarks—
Dee (@DAbitty) October 04, 2012
(In spite of the impressive follower count, @FiredBigBird has since been suspended. Sorry, Joan Walsh.)
But Big Bird needs to take a deep breath and chin up; we don’t need to tell him how to get to the unemployment office just yet. Plenty of people still understand that he’s more than capable of maintaining a comfortable lifestyle for himself:
If #BigBird is so popular, then he should do just fine in the private market. Articles like gu.com/p/3aq4p/tw show how desperate Libs are—
Presidential Debates (@USRevival) October 04, 2012
@Mruff221 And BIg BIrd can't pay his own way? One of the biggest most commercialized TV programs in the world needs tax money???—
DSM IV (@Stathies) October 04, 2012
Sesame Street makes an average of $50mil a year on merchandise. I think #bigbird will be okay. #poorbigbird #defundpbs—
Tired Mama (@TiredmamainNC) October 04, 2012
Look forward to a time in America where 43-year-old Big Bird finally has to go out on his own and work. #defundPBS #pubmedia—
Dan Gainor (@dangainor) October 04, 2012
https://twitter.com/politicalsplash/status/253723669690458112
Last year, Senator Jim Demint addressed PBS’s Washington push for more government funding, and he pointed out that in just four years, “Sesame Street” generated over $200 million of private revenue:
Shows like Sesame Street are multi-million dollar enterprises capable of thriving in the private market. According to the 990 tax form all nonprofits are required to file, Sesame Workshop President and CEO Gary Knell received $956,513 — nearly a million dollars — in compensation in 2008. And, from 2003 to 2006, “Sesame Street” made more than $211 million from toy and consumer product sales.
Public money currently being allocated to PBS could be better used elsewhere:
It is time to end the subsidies to NPR and PBS. #bigbird #RomneyRyan2012 #Obama2012—
Stephanie Kistler (@slkistler) October 04, 2012
I find it ironic that people are upset with cutting funding to #PBS #BigBird but they aren't upset with cuts our #military has faced.—
Tara Noffsinger (@tlnoff) October 04, 2012
The PBS/Big Bird line was great, we shouldn't be spending money on it while we're borrowing money from China. Sacrifices. #debate—
Bethany S. Mandel (@bethanyshondark) October 04, 2012
It’s not as if PBS is hurting:
Paula Kreuger on CNN right now begging to keep her federal funding for public broadcasting.—
Amanda Carpenter (@amandacarpenter) October 04, 2012
Paula Kerger made $632K working for PBS, but wants YOU to keep paying for public broadcasting. on.wsj.com/fesEjS—
Amanda Carpenter (@amandacarpenter) October 04, 2012
Even “Sesame Street” execs have to admit that they’re doing just fine:
Big Bird will survive even if funding cut for PBS cnnpressroom.blogs.cnn.com/2012/10/04/ses…—
Katharine Q. Seelye (@kseelye) October 04, 2012
Via CNN:
[Sherrie Westin, Sesame Workshop's executive VP and chief marketing officer] says, “Sesame Workshop receives very, very little funding from PBS. So, we are able to raise our funding through philanthropic, through our licensed product, which goes back into the educational programming, through corporate underwriting and sponsorship. So quite frankly, you can debate whether or not there should be funding of public broadcasting. But when they always try to tout out Big Bird, and say we’re going to kill Big Bird – that is actually misleading, because Sesame Street will be here.”
Big Bird needs to ask Dora the Explorer how she manages 2live without taxpayer money. Try it Big Bird. You'll be just fine.—
Ari Fleischer (@AriFleischer) October 04, 2012
Defunding PBS will not put Big Bird and friends out on the street. This message has been brought to you by common sense.
