Our inbox is all the proof needed on public broadcasting insanity.

WBUR, one of the taxpayer-boosted, left-leaning local outlets, fired out an email begging for cash. They emailed Friday saying: “Congress has cut all federal funds for public media. It’s a gut punch. At WBUR, we’ll lose at least $1.6 million this year. And every year for the foreseeable future.”

They failed to add the $1.6 million are tax dollars back into your pocket.

WBUR then gets to the point: “Give!”

“Give,” they repeat. “Longtime listener or reader? Become a first-time donor at this pivotal moment. Give again … Give more. Help us close this $1.6 million funding gap, right now. Give every month … Month after month. Year after year.”

Adam Smith, in his landmark “Wealth of Nations,” saw this coming.

“It is the highest impertinence and presumption… in kings and ministers, to pretend to watch over the economy of private people, and to restrain their expense… They are themselves always, and without any exception, the greatest spendthrifts in the society. Let them look well after their own expense, and they may safely trust private people with theirs. If their own extravagance does not ruin the state, that of their subjects never will.”

Adam Smith first published his bible of business in 1776. We appreciate the significance of that year and embrace the free market philosophy.

If you don’t want to listen to WBUR, GBH, NPR, PBS … don’t. If you do, that’s your choice. But paying for slanted media out of your tax dollars is a decision we do not support. We’ve beat this drum for years and now the Trump administration is finally moving this nation in the right direction.

As the Associated Press reported, the House gave final approval to President Donald Trump’s request to claw back about $9 billion for public broadcasting and foreign aid early Friday as Republicans intensified their efforts to target institutions and programs they view as bloated or out of step with their agenda.

The vote marked the first time in decades that a president has successfully submitted such a rescissions request to Congress, and the White House suggested it won’t be the last.

The House passed the bill by a vote of 216-213. It now goes to Trump for his signature.

“We need to get back to fiscal sanity and this is an important step,” said House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La.

As we wrote in this space this week, the nation’s $36 trillion debt can’t be dismissed. Our children’s children deserve better.

Manageable debt is not only fiscally prudent, it’s critical to our national security. “The national debt has become America’s second mortgage,” The Heritage Foundation warns.

The Trump administration is betting on tariffs and economic growth to help trim the deficit, but others don’t see it that way. This means any talk of cutting must be taken seriously.

Public media stations rely on federal funding for about 15% of their budgets, on average, according to The Hill.

Does the government help you with 15% of your household budget?

Yes, this is a sacrifice and some news deserts will suffer more than big cities. But the news media has been under attack for years and yet we don’t go begging the government for handouts. You trust us to fight for readers who want the truth and that’s what we will continue to do.

WBUR should try that approach.