HERE PIGGY, PIGGY !! SOOOEY ! SOOOEY!
Our hard earned tax dollars being wasted on redundent reasearch, like video games. Oh well, what's another HUNDRED MILLION of our hard earned tax dollars, when our country is already deeply in debt for a FEW TRILLION . DOES HAVING A GOVERNMENT POSITION PRECLUDE THE USE OF "SIMPLE COMMON ORDINARY LOGIC" ?

Where are the BANKRUPTCY laws preventing GOVERNMENTS THAT ARE BANKRUPT, from being able to "CONTINUE SPENDING" any way they freekin want !

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Game Industry magazine says that Hilary Clinton is against GTA and wants $90 million to study the impact of games on the "cognitive, social, emotional and physical development" of children. That is about $2 for every male under the age of 18 in the United States.

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The Children and Media Research Advancement (CAMRA) Act would authorize $10 million in the first year and $90 million over five years to establish a program within the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development aimed at establishing a coherent research program to examine the role of all forms of electronic media on children's cognitive, social, physical and psychological development.

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CAMRA: A Study of Government Waste?
From Robert Longley,
Your Guide to U.S. Gov Info / Resources.

Lieberman named "Porker of Month" for TV-child study bill
Just before Congress started its summer break, Sen. Joseph Lieberman (D-Connecticut), introduced the Children and Media Research Advancement Act (CAMRA), which would establish a $90 million program to research the effects of television viewing and other media on children.
What's that you're asking? Hasn't this issue been studied to death already? Is spending another $90 million of taxpayers' money going to produce different results? "Yes" and "No," says Citizens Against Government Waste (CAGW) in naming Sen. Lieberman their "Porker of the Month" for August 2004.

Sen. Lieberman told Congress that CAMRA will "fund and energize a coherent program of research that illuminates the role of media in children's cognitive, social, emotional, physical, and behavioral development. The research will cover all forms of electronic media, including television, movies, DVDs, interactive video games, and the Internet and will encourage research with children of all ages--even babies and toddlers."

According to CAGW, however, lots of people are already looking out for what our children are viewing. These groups, which include Children NOW, the Children’s Digital Media Center, and Common Sense Media, hardly need another study to convince them that there is violence and sex on television, and that it affects children.

CAGW quotes Lara Mahaney of the Parents Television Council as saying, “To spend $90 million on something we already know, is just a waste of money.”

In 2003, the Kaiser Family Foundation analyzed the effect of electronic media on infants, toddlers, and preschoolers finding that 81 percent of parents say they have seen their children imitate behaviors seen on television, and that 36 percent of children under six have a television set in their bedroom. The American Academy of Pediatrics studied the effect of television on children under two, and recommended that they not watch it at all. The National Institute of Child Health and Human Development also completed studies in the late 1990’s analyzing the effect of television and video games on society. It is clear, asserts CAGW, that there are no “gaps” in research, as scientists, doctors, Sen. Lieberman, and his colleagues already use existing research to make policy recommendations.

Sen. Lieberman argues, “we need to have the federal government to tell us scientifically what impact [electronic media] is having on our kids, and therefore, our country.” This, says CAGW, "belittles the ability of parents to use common sense in deciding what entertainment is appropriate for their own child’s consumption."

CAGW concludes that Sen. Lieberman's proposed $90 million program will contribute nothing new, will not solve any perceived problems, and is a prime example of government waste.

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Senators Propose Redundant Media Research Study

(Washington, D.C.) Citizens Against Government Waste (CAGW) today criticized Senators Hillary Clinton (D-N.Y.), Joe Lieberman (D-Conn.), Sam Brownback (R-Kan.), and Rick Santorum (R-Pa.) for reintroducing the Children and Media Research Advancement Act (CAMRA), which will set up a $90 million program to research what countless other studies have already documented the effects of television viewing and other media on children. CAGW named Sen. Lieberman Porker of the Month when he introduced the same legislation in August, 2004.

“This proposal is just one expensive rerun,” CAGW President Tom Schatz said. “For decades this issue has been studied to death, always yielding the same results. Calling for yet another taxpayer-funded study belittles the ability of parents to use common sense in deciding what shows are appropriate for their children.”

The American Psychiatric Association maintains that “The debate is over… For the last three decades, the one predominant finding in research on the mass media is that exposure to media portrayals of violence increases aggressive behavior in children.” By 1995, more than 1,000 studies had demonstrated a connection between violence in the media and aggressive behavior in some children, according to the American Academy of Pediatrics.

Just last month, the University of Birmingham in the U.K. released yet another comprehensive study drawing on six North American studies concluding that violent imagery in the media has an effect on children’s arousal, thoughts and emotions. In addition, clean television advocacy groups like Children NOW, the Children’s Digital Media Center, and Common Sense Media scrutinize every hour of television, issue reports on new video games, boycott advertisers, and write editorials.

CAMRA will fund six years of “energizing research into all types of print, digital and electronic media (including computer games, television, and the internet) on the cognitive, social, emotional, physical, and behavioral development of children from infancy through adolescence.” To justify such an expensive and wide-ranging effort, Sen. Lieberman has asserted that “no one is looking out, in a systematic way, for what our children are looking at.”

In August, Lara Mahaney of the Parents Television Council remarked, “To spend $90 million on something we already know is just a waste of money.”

The millions of dollars already being spent on research and advocacy are not enough for Sen. Clinton, who calls sex and violence in the media “a silent epidemic.”

“The not-so-silent epidemic Senator Clinton and her colleagues should be most concerned with is the rabid spending in Congress and the monstrous deficit created by redundant and useless programs such as this,” chided Schatz. “Senator Clinton in particular is clearly aware of the effects of violence in the media; she has commented on them countless times. Taxpayers need more comments and action on wasteful spending, not the creation of another worthless study.”

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PORKER OF THE WEEK
by Congressman Joel Hefley

U.S. Rep. Joel Hefley, R-Colo., gives his "Porker of the Week" award to a handful of senators for reintroducing redundant legislation that would study the effects of television and other media on children.

Sens. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., Joe Lieberman, D-Conn., Sam Brownback, R-Kan., and Rick Santorum, R-Pa., sponsored the Children and Media Research Advancement Act (CAMRA), which would fund six years of research into all types of media on the cognitive, social, emotional, physical, and behavioral development of children from infancy through adolescence.

"This legislation is an attempt to reinvent the wheel at the taxpayer's expense," said Hefley.
"There have been numerous studies done on the effects of media on the behavior of children in all age groups. Not to mention there are watch-dog groups like Children NOW and Common Sense Media that evaluate and monitor media content on a daily basis.

"It is true our children are growing up in an increasingly digital world. However, it is also true that technology has increased the ability of parents to regulate what they think their children should watch.

"It is fiscally irresponsible to spend millions on a program that will simply rehash what any number of other studies have already found."