Radio and TV Martí Should Be Prime Targets for Budget Cutters  Should the White House be in the propaganda business? http://www.coha.org/radio-and-tv-marti-should-be-prime-targets-for-budget-cutters/

As a possible federal government shutdown looms ever closer, representatives of Congress are scrambling to pass a budget while addressing the staggering U.S. debt. House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) has proponed a goal of USD 40 billion in government spending cuts, and members of Congress are searching for a painless way to slash expenditures. While House Republicans showed no difficulties in placing National Public Radio (NPR) on the chopping block in mid-March, they have overlooked conservative pet projects that are far more costly, of lower quality, and ineffective. Two such projects are the anti-Castro broadcasts Radio and TV Martí, both funded by the U.S. government and aired in Cuba. Both are expensive and fruitless remnants of Cold War-era propaganda battles. Their termination would go largely unnoticed by Cubans and be applauded by most U.S. taxpayers, who presently shell out roughly USD 30 million every year to fund the broadcasts.