[Captain Peter Blood]

What is going on? Republicans have been working for at least 10 years to Kill this Department and De-Fund it. Now why is Bush set to increase it to it's highest levels in 20 years? It is this kind of idiocy from Bush that makes me wonder what he, and of course Rove, are thinking. Spending is up under Bush, all these new programs he is proposing, like the Prescription Drug bill, are exploding federal spending all out of control. My God if I want Nanny State care and massive spending I can vote for Democrats. Where in the Hell is the Republican Leadeship on this? There ain't going to be any Hollywood votes for this and this really is pandering to the lowest degree along with the Immigration idea!!!

[MamaLucci]

It's called "triangulation". Worked like a charm for Clinton.
I'd hoped for better from President Bush.

[Enterprise]

Disgusting, if true.

[Bernard Marx]

Bump.

[victoryovertheleft]

Well, let's wait to see what exactly is in it.

After all the "biggest increase in twenty years" might amount to a few million dollars.

It might also be used to fund patriotic art or propaganda efforts overseas.

It won't be put exactly that way, of course- but something like that.

In any case, within the scheme of the Federal Budget, whatever is proposed will be pocket change.

[Dog Gone]

If this story is accurate, it's a strategic error on the part of the White House.

[Hildy]

Why is he torturing us like this? Why? It makes no sense. If I go with me thesis that you can't say Bush is a man of conscience about the war, but does other things purely out of political motivation. So is this really his conscience? If so, I truly need to rethink him. I know, what's the alternative...but it's getting harder and harder to make my mouth say those words.

[GeronL]

No.. conservatives want to kill the endowment.... Republicans want to be re-elected more than anything else.

Its party over principle

[RWR8189]

Mr President, we have this little thing called the deficit.

I'm not trying to be some anti-Bush guy like some people around here are, but this is the type of worthless spending that is just not needed.

What happened to 1% growth in non-defense non-homeland security spending?

[GeronL]

Of course, earlier in the week there was a rumor he wanted to LIMIT spending.... I knew it wasn't true

[farmfriend]

Who are the Democrats in the race again?

[Bush Cheney]

Call me naive, ignorant, or both, but what the hell is the national endowment for the arts?

[tubavil]

Is bush a closet socialist?

[pollywog]

Sick.....just sick!!

[Boiling point]

Talk about welfare for the rich! N.E.A. Is nothing but funding to allow the rich to indulge their hobbies at the expense of the taxpayers. At least that is what the left will call it now that a republican wants to fund it.

[dts32041]

Yup the pubbies are sure conservative aren't they big education increases, cfr, now this.

Oh well where are the conservatives going to go, conservatives have become the demo rat blacks of the pubbie party.

[faithincowboys]

I think he is trying to soften them, but he needs to understand that it's appeasement.

I actually think the libs will say this is irresponsible in a time of deficits. In some ways, I see the intelligence of this, but I think he could have put the money towards Pell grants.

[Beck_isright]

They need more money for the illegal alien undocumented worker artists to create more perverted art. Just doing the preverted things normal Americans don't want.

[Merdoug]

Just be a good little Bushbot and keep repeating:
"Bush can do no wrong,...."
"Bush can do no wrong,..."

[RaceBannon]

Because Bush is not a Conservative. He is a republican.

[freedomcrusader]

Just when I come around to the idea of voting for Bush again, he goes and does something I despise...

If this is true, then I give up on America.

[Old Fud]

Republicans have been working for at least 10 years to Kill this Department and De-Fund it.

Oldthink, Cap'n. We need to reach out to the aspiring Mapplethorpes, Annie Sprinkles, and Joel Peter Witkins and win 'em with a little tax funded compassion. Why art would cease to be produced without NEA funding; your mind ain't right.

Yeah, /sarcasm.

[yonif]

Shhh....

Its better then the Democratic opinion on the matter /sarcasm

[Peach]

Hopefully Congress will just say "no." Loudly and clearly.

[Sloth]

It's all part of Bush's shrewd strategy to shrink the federal government. Anyway, I suppose you'd like Kerry better? < /bot>

[rwfromkansas]

Alright, if this is true, I am not going to support Bush on this one. It will be disgusting if true.

What the hell will he do next, give the biggest increase in decades to PBS?

Golly.

[jgrubbs]

The 1996 GOP platform called for abolishing the Department of Education and ending "federal meddling in schools.", it also called for eliminating the departments of Commerce, Energy, and Housing and Urban Development and the National Endowment for the Arts.

They removed all of this from the GOP platform in 2000, and have been moving further to the left ever since.

The $56 billion in total discretionary funding for federal education is an all-time high. Under President Bush, in just three years the Education Department’s overall funding will have increased by $13.8 billion.

Federal education spending has increased by 118 percent from 1996 (the first fiscal year under a Republican majority in Congress) to 2002. The President’s FY 2004 builds on that increase.

[TheLibrarian]

Maybe it's a grant to CMT and the "Speed Channel."

[Mo1]

Oh Geez .. well here is one that I disagree with

Please tell me this doesn't this mean I lose my Bushbot status ... its been a bad day and I couldn't take any more bad news

[FixitGuy]

This is Crap (Of the same sort that showed up on a religious work masquerading as ART!)

I believe art is terribly important to us but in this PC world, if we have to accept and promote garbage....No Thanks!

[TheLibrarian]

We'll see, but this is a mistake if true.

[FRgal4u]

I bet the so called funding increase here is smaller than the 50 million dollar project for a "Rain Forest" build in the middle of Iowa! I'd rather to see the increase of NEA than to build a silly "Rain Forest" within a greenhouse in Iowa! What's next, a tropical fish museum in Alaska?

[Ron in Acreage]

This is just another reason I will NOT be voting for Bush again. I will stay home. At the rate he is spending our money, I will not be able to afford the time from work to go vote. More reasons are as follows..
Kennedy education bill.
Immigration amnesty plan.
Failure to protect our borders.
Failure to veto a single pork filled appropriation bill.
Failure to recess appoint his blocked judges.(except 1)
Failure to deport illegals when caught.
Rx drug plan for ALL seniors. Not just the poor as it should be.
Failure to reduce our energy depedence on the Saudis. A threat to our national security, in my opinion.
Failure to reverse Clintons executive orders of huge land grabs all over the country.
I could go on but i'm getting nauseous.

[Mad_Tom_Rackham]

So far, Bush hasn't encountered a spending cause that he didn't work to increase. With regard to discretionary spending, GW's administration will go down in history as the most profligate spenders of all time, besting the wildest dreams of the "tax and spend" democrats. What are they thinking? Who the hell knows. Conservatives they are certainly NOT.

[section9]

I love Bush, but this is one program I have to join the bashers on.

The NEA must go. Period. There should be no place for "state art" in America. Shades of Stalinoid paintings of Happy Factory workers. Besides, the arts crowd hates his guts and wants to send him back to Texas.

Tom DeLay! Kill this monstrosity. Now!

Be Seeing You,

Chris

[Righty1]

When the pudlickers fund raisers call me I tell them quit hispandering and spending. I haven't encountered one yet who can give any reason to vote for a pud except for their party affiliation. In NV we have a pudlickin senator named ensign who is trying to get hairy reid's son (who is to the left of Lenin) onto the bench. I was hit up for money to replace hairy but, the person calling didn't even know who the puds wanted to replace him with!

[Cicero]

This is stupid.

[RightWhale]

What is the actual size of the National Arts program? Are we looking at something significant? I don't approve of funding individual artists of either painting or sculpting with federal money. I don't mind the national symphony orchestra or the national ballet or even the national opera if we have those things.

[Scenic Sounds]

How much did we spend on the National Endowment for the Arts last year? How big a deal can this possibly be?

[searchandrecovery]

Hello, my name is George W. Bush, and I have a spending problem.

[Happy2BMe]

BUSH TO SEEK BIG BUDGET INCREASE FOR NATIONAL ENDOWMENT FOR THE ARTS!

CONSERVATIVE - MODERATE - LIBERAL - CINO - RINO - PING!

[NoControllingLegalAuthority]

I'm getting in line for money. I can draw stick figure people. I'm an artist and I need a million dollars to share my "gift" with the world. I can also stand back and throw globs of paint at a huge canvas and "express" my vision of color. I am worthy to receive a large check to pursue my artistic passion. You other people simply do not see what I see through my artist's eyes. For a mere seven figure check, I'll share it with you.

[spodefly]

NATIONAL ENDOWMENT OF THE ARTS
FINANCIAL SUMMARY

SUMMARY OF FUNDS AVAILABLE FY 2002
Program and State Grant Funds $78,835,000
Challenge America $17,000,000
Total Federal Appropriations $95,835,000


Fiscal Year Total Funds
1966 $ 2,898,308
1967 $ 8,475,692
1968 $ 7,774,291
1969 $ 8,456,875
1970 $ 9,055,000
1971 $ 16,420,000
1972 $ 31,480,000
1973 $ 40,857,000
1974 $ 64,025,000
1975 $ 80,142,000
1976 $ 87,455,000
1976T* $ 35,301,000
1977 $ 99,872,000
1978 $123,850,000
1979 $149,585,000
1980 $154,610,000
1981 $158,795,000
1982 $143,456,000
1983 $143,875,000
1984 $162,223,000
1985 $163,660,000
1986 $158,822,240
1987 $165,281,000
1988 $167,731,000
1989 $169,090,000
1990 $171,255,000
1991 $174,080,737
1992 $175,954,680
1993 $174,459,382
1994 $170,228,000
1995 $162,311,000
1996 $ 99,470,000
1997 $ 99,494,000
1998 $ 98,000,000
1999 $ 97,966,000
2000 $97,627,600
2001 $104,769,000
2002 $115,220,000
* In 1976, the Federal government changed the beginning of the fiscal year from
July 1 to October 1, hence the 1976 Transition (T) Quarter.

[Sunshine Sister]

THIS SUCKS!!!!!!!!!!! WHEN ARE THOSE JACKASSES IN WASHINGTOM GOING TO SEE THIS! WE ARE SICK AND TIRED OF SEEING OUR TAX DOLLARS GOING TO SUPPORT SMUT?

[Neenah]

I just came on line after hearing this news on the radio. I have not read the thread yet, but I can say one thing...I am MAD !!

Are there no standards left to fight for Mr. Bush ? Just WHAT DO YOU STAND FOR ?

The same old statements made in post after post on subjects questioning Pres. Bush, that it is better than the alternative, are getting more and more meaningless to me.

IS THERE ANY PERSON LEFT IN THE WORLD THAT WILL STAND FOR WHAT IS RIGHT?

....or should I just throw another $$ at the artist that took the cross and dumped it in a jar of URINE ?????????????

[The Old Hoosier]

Bush is insulting us, that's what's going on. He's apparently decided he doesn't need us.

To boost the NEA is not a major budget item, but it represents a direct slap in the face for conservatives, who have spent years demonizing it as the evil force it is.

[PhilipFreneau]

>> What is going on?

Bush has gone nuts.

[mhking]

The road to reelection is not paved with the pissed-off bodies of the core conservative constituency. I wish someone would tell the White House that....

At this rate, so many of us are gonna get pissed off that Bush will have to hang up any realistic possibility of reelection.

And if it happens, Bush will have no one to blame but himself.

[ambrose]

Bush is a Conservative Ping.

[Revolting cat!]

260 posts in 60 minutes! Who spilled the catnip around here?!

[freedom4me]

I think Ronald Reagan appointed Lynn Cheney as the director for the Nat'l Endowment for the Arts during his time in office. Perhaps, Dubya will increase the budget and put a patriotic conservative at the helm so that the money is used wisely.