LeVar Burton and Bill O'Reilly Debate the Importance and Future of PBS
As the presidential campaigns close in on Election Day, the candidates have seized hold of a new symbol that defines the fight over government spending: Big Bird.
Last week during the first presidential debate, Gov. Romney said he would cut funding to PBS if elected president, even though he loved Big Bird.
But to former "Reading Rainbow" host LeVar Burton, this brings up a larger issue: quality education for the youth of America. He insists that "public broadcasting has been an agency, and part of a machinery that has delivered quality education to the public for many years."
While O'Reilly agrees that PBS is a quality channel for educating children, he pointed out that according to the Sesame Workshop's assets statement to the IRS, they have plenty of money to function on their own without $450 million in taxpayer help.
Watch their arguments below:
