You may not have seen the show “Diary of a Single Mom” co-starring Billy Dee Williams, but your tax dollars helped pay for it. Through the federal economic stimulus program, a company owned by actor-director Robert Townsend was paid more than $230,000 to produce and direct the Web-based show, records show. Other production costs on the show paid to different vendors total more than $700,000.
The money came through an award by the Department of Commerce to One Economy Corp. for more than $28 million last year to help boost broadband Internet service in underserved areas across the country. One Economy is using more than $1.5 million of that money to create programming such as “Diary of a Single Mom,” which the group says will help provide an incentive for people to connect to the Internet.
But taxpayer watchdogs say the government doesn’t belong in show business.
Ya Think?
Even if the show is well-liked and delivers a good message, she said, the question is whether it could have happened without stimulus money. “Certainly, Robert Townsend is successful,” Ms. Alexander said. “Not that successful people shouldn’t be working; they should be. But they have access to capital.” Mr. Saunier said a portion of the grant, which he estimated at between $1.5 million and $2 million, helps produce the sort of programming not available in mainstream media. He said a Pew Research Center study showed that many people who don’t use the Internet also don’t find online content relevant to their lives.
“It’s about maximizing the incentives to go online,” he said.
Yes, we need to raise taxes, it would be a shame of I didn’t get to watch my soaps.
…The rich get richer, the public gets more stupid, and the lawyers profit from it all.
(Yawn) What else is new(s)?
Dude, I’m bitter, twisted and an opinionated son-of-bitch but that’s just giving up…
Why bother to get up in the morning?
Why bother to breathe?
Get your ass in gear or you’ll find out that there four chioces.
You can Lead,
You can Follow,
You can Get Out Of The Way, OR
You can Obstruct, but then you could get your ass run over.
“It’s about maximizing the incentives to go online,” he said.
Like anybody needs an incentive….
I thought that was what internet p0rn was for.
Sadly, our government is too big and too complex to competently execute their assigned responsibilities.
If taxpayer money were feathers, then the government is driving an open truckload of chickens down the highway at 100 mph.
Well said.
Its about people ponying up the money for a non-hollywood owned and controlled, viz: fictitious business model based on something other than a pack of accounting tricks..
Lets all watch the movie and make it a fucking success.
Is it all that different than funding faith-based organizations with federal tax dollars?
I don’t think so.
Correct. Kill both programs.
Seems to me we already fund the National Endowment for the Arts and this sort of thing ought to be done by the agency designed to consider and fund it. If we let every agency fund it’s choice in programming we would end up with even sillier spending, for instance Homeland Security might try to teach us how to cook turkeys… oh, wait.
….Pew Research Center study showed that many people who don’t use the Internet also don’t find online content relevant to their lives.
HUH?? WHAT??
You dont have the INTERNET….
And you DONT CARE whats on the INTERNET??
who paid for this study?
Give me $10 and I could have told you THAT…
I’m against wasteful spending like any other sane person, but I think it’s ok to set aside a sliver of federal funding for these sorts of ‘cultural’ projects. The money ends up flowing back into the economy… it’s basically a tax break somebody actually had to work for.
But I guess conservatives would rather spend the money on bombs and billionaires.
Somebody –
I agree with you that we should set aside a sum of money and use it to encourage the arts. But, as I pointed out above, we already do that! Now we have another agency duplicating what we are already paying for. Duplication of efforts is hardly ever efficient. Two arts program requires two bureaucracies to support them. That second set of administrators is totally wasted money. So, the Dept of Commerce does this show, DHS sponsored cooking lessons, will DOE decide they need to produce an off-Broadway play? ATF can release a CD of patriotic Mexican music to swim rivers by? Hey, I know what you mean, It’s only a million bucks. But, you know the old saying: a million here, a million there and pretty soon – well, by today’s budgets, even then you”re not talking real money. But you are talking about MY money. And I’d like to see my money spent wisely. I did a quick google search and see the show is in it’s third season and they are selling DVDs of the shows. Do you suppose we get some of those profits? I know. I can hear you all laughing at me. Wishful thinking.
Now, here’s where I’ll catch hell: do you suppose there’s any incestual interest when a black administration finances a black soap opera that appears to be aimed at poor urban blacks? Maybe the Dept of Agriculture will sponsor a sit com about rural bible-belt farming families. There you go – laughing again…
Isn’t that the purpose of government? To take from your enemies and give to your friends?
With a lot of cash sticking to the right fingers, of course.
They gave Lando some money?
Good for them! Seeing he was so hard up that he had to wear Han’s old clothes.
I mean what was up with that?
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