Ticket pic of the week: Three of these characters are not like the other

If PBS TV characters are cavorting on Capitol Hill with members of Congress, then you know it's budget-making time.

Here, four Democrats (not counting the stuffed Big Bird) lobby the media against proposed cuts to federal funding by the now Republican-controlled House Appropriations Committee, which has some silly idea about taking on the nation's $14+ trillion in debt.

The peaceful protesters are, left to right, Paul Tonko and Bill Owens, New York Democrats, Arthur the Aardvark (D-Elwood City) and Ed Markey, Massachusetts Democrat and loyal PBS fan.

Republicans objected to the use for lobbying of childish icons and suggested the Corporation for Public Broadcasting could get along fine in these tough fiscal times without the $451 million of taxpayer funds proposed for the 2012 budget. South Carolina's Jim DeMint warned, "Public broadcasting's furry friends are political animals."

Yes, but who brings the cookies?

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-- Andrew Malcolm

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Photo: Reuters