Cross-posted on the Working Assets blog.

You may have heard that President Bush wants to cut about $145 million from the budget of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB). That's the agency that distributes federal funding to public radio and TV stations.

That's small potatoes in a federal budget of nearly $3 trillion, and maybe you're even thinking we have more pressing problems. And that is precisely why this is a critical issue now.

Consider what's going on: We're debating how to proceed in Iraq and many other difficult domestic and foreign issues. We're entering into another presidential campaign. It is especially important that Americans have access to the diverse viewpoints and hard-hitting journalism that public broadcasting provides.

Public broadcasting was founded about 40 years ago to provide quality commercial-free programming. The idea was that without having to depend on ads for their revenues, the shows could be free to speak truth to power.

We need that today too.

Please join us in urging your representatives in Congress to restore funding for CPB and to preserve its editorial independence.