Bush Is Said to Seek More Money for Arts [$15 million to $20 million for NEA]

New York Times ^ | January 29, 2004 | ROBERT PEAR

[yonif]

WASHINGTON, Jan. 28 — President Bush will seek a big increase in the budget of the National Endowment for the Arts, the largest single source of support for the arts in the United States, administration officials said on Wednesday.

The proposal is part of a turnaround for the agency, which was once fighting for its life, attacked by some Republicans as a threat to the nation's moral standards.

Laura Bush plans to announce the request on Thursday, in remarks intended to show the administration's commitment to the arts, aides said.

Administration officials, including White House budget experts, said that Mr. Bush would propose an increase of $15 million to $20 million for the coming fiscal year, which begins Oct. 1. That would be the largest rise in two decades and far more than the most recent increases, about $500,000 for 2003 and $5 million for this year.

The agency has a budget of $121 million this year, 31 percent lower than its peak of $176 million in 1992. After Republicans gained control of Congress in 1995, they cut the agency's budget to slightly less than $100 million, and the budget was essentially flat for five years.

In an e-mail message inviting arts advocates to a news briefing with Mrs. Bush, Dana Gioia, the poet who is chairman of the endowment, says, "You will be present for an important day in N.E.A. history."

Mr. Gioia (pronounced JOY-uh) has tried to move beyond the culture wars that swirled around the agency for years. He has nurtured support among influential members of Congress, including conservative Republicans like Representatives Charles H. Taylor and Sue Myrick of North Carolina. He has held workshops around the country to explain how local arts organizations can apply for assistance.

Public support for the arts was hotly debated in the 1990's. Conservatives complained that the agency was financing obscene or sacrilegious works by artists like Robert Mapplethorpe and Andres Serrano. Former Senator Jesse Helms, Republican of North Carolina, repeatedly tried to eliminate the agency.

Some new money sought by Mr. Bush would expand initiatives with broad bipartisan support, like performances of Shakespeare's plays and "Jazz Masters" concert tours.

Mrs. Bush also plans to introduce a new initiative, "American Masterpieces: Three Centuries of Artistic Genius." This would combine art presentations — from painting and literature to music and dance — with education programs. The program would give large numbers of students around the country a chance to see exhibitions and performances.

New York receives a large share of the endowment's grants. But under federal law, the agency also gives priority to projects that cater to "underserved populations," including members of minority groups in urban neighborhoods with high poverty rates.

The president's proposal faces an uncertain future at a time of large budget deficits.

Melissa Schwartz, a spokeswoman for the Association of Performing Arts Presenters, an advocacy group, said, "We'll be fighting tooth and nail for the increase."

Some conservatives, like Representative Tom Tancredo, Republican of Colorado, vowed to oppose the increase. Even without support from the government, he said, "art would thrive in America."

Representative Louise M. Slaughter, a New York Democrat who is co-chairwoman of the Congressional Arts Caucus, said she was delighted to learn of Mr. Bush's proposal.

"There's nothing in the world that helps economic development more than arts programs," Ms. Slaughter said. "It was foolish for Congress to choke them and starve them. We should cherish the people who can tell us who we are, where we came from and where we hope to go."

Mr. Tancredo expressed dismay. "We are looking at record deficit and potential cuts in all kinds of programs," he said. "How can I tell constituents that I'll take money away from them to pay for somebody else's idea of good art? I have no more right to do that than to finance somebody else's ideas about religion."

The agency has long had support from some Republicans, like Representatives Christopher Shays of Connecticut and Jim Leach of Iowa.

"Government involvement is designed to take the arts from the grand citadel of the privileged and bring them to the public at large," Mr. Leach said. "This democratization of the arts ennobles the American experience."

[Sabertooth]

LOL, Did'nt read yesterday's news, Congressional Republicans have said they will not support his plan,

Bush is going to push it anyway...

DENVER - Twenty-three congressmen warned President Bush in a letter yesterday that he risks an election-year backlash from Republican voters if he continues to press his guest-worker proposal.      

The Republican lawmakers said their congressional offices have received a flood of angry letters, e-mails and phone calls from Republican constituents vowing that they will refuse to vote for the president if his program is approved.      

"Since the President's speech, our offices have been inundated with calls from dismayed constituents expressing vehement opposition to the Administration's proposal," said the letter signed by several members of the House Immigration Reform Caucus.      

"It is a matter of great concern to us that these constituents politically active American citizens are so disillusioned by the proposal that many of them will become disenchanted with not only the Administration, but with Congress as well," said the letter, which also was sent to House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert, Illinois Republican. "If we do not listen to our constituents on this matter, our influence and effectiveness in Congress could be jeopardized."      

Most of the congressmen signing are conservatives who represent Western, Southern and Midwestern states, including California, Idaho, Texas, Tennessee and Kansas.      

The White House plan, released earlier this month, would give guest-worker status to undocumented aliens who have come to the United States to work. An estimated 8 million to 12 million immigrants live here illegally.      

But critics say the plan would give de facto amnesty to millions of illegal immigrants, exacerbating the social ills faced by many border states while reducing respect for immigration laws.     

 White House spokeswoman Claire Buchan said yesterday that she hadn't yet seen the letter, but stressed the importance of the president's proposal in controlling illegal immigration.     

"The president's temporary-worker program is a well thought-out aimed at improving border security, meeting our economic needs and being compassionate to those trying to improve their situation for themselves and their families," Miss Buchan said. "He looks forward to working with Congress to pass this legislation."
Republicans warn Bush on immigration policy
Washington Times - 1/28/04 - Valerie Richardson

but by proposing his plan, Today the democrats went ahead and proposed one even worse. Therefore the Democrats have been driven further to the left. But that's probably too hard for someone who had to take the little bus to school to comprehend....It's called Politics

It's neither good politics nor good policy for Bush to cut radically to the Left to drive the Democrats a little further over, when America is well to the right of both of them.

[MJY1288]

"He is still mucking around with a pair of 4th world countries that a courageous hard nosed President would have crushed in hours not years"

No need to read any further, that kind of Nickelodeon thinking is all I need to know about you...

Good Night

[Sabertooth]

Saber, would you be so kind as to post your clear as day point why Bush's proposal is amnesty?

Which one?

They aren't Amnestied yet, BTW.

[MJY1288]

Let him push it, results is what I'm worried about, not the possibilities. If the Democrats get destroyed while he pushes them further to the left with a proposal that has no chance of getting through Congress, WTF difference does it make? Let your plan or Tom Tancredo's get passed and the Democrats are left in the dust.

[KantianBurke]

lol! Take ur pick :> Ur posts on the "it is/isn't amnesty" threads are excellent at "cutting right to it."

[Texasforever]

Still trying for that refrigerator door I see.

[Map Kernow]

Ronald Reagan was a Film Star and considered an idiot, and became the POTUS. You're just a pouting pitchforker who is considered an idiot without any chance of being elected Dog Catcher

Yeah, well, even a Dog Catcher needs people to vote for him. Presidents, too. Even one like Reagan.

And usually you don't persuade people to vote for someone by insulting them, calling them names, threatening them, belittling them. Don't people in the GOP (now known among conservatives as the "GYP"--"Gut Your Principles") realize that?

[MJY1288]

And you flaming An*l orifices are quite amusing when you're exposed for the mental midgets you are. have a great life

I'm off to bed, it's late.. and the alarm goes off in 3 hours, and unlike you, I don't live in Mommies basement.

Cheers

[#3Fan]

What an absolute waste. Reading this sickens me.

It's one dime per year per citizen. You fret this much over a dime? lol

[k2blader]

You can't buy friends.

Despite lavishing compassion and grants on them, the Administration will mine as many votes from the leftist artsy-fartsy bloc as it will from the gimme-gimme immigrant bloc.

Nada.

Agreed.

So why the heck is the administration doing it??

[Texasforever]

aww, you bots are so cute when you get all defensive about the infallible fellow in the flight suit! :>

Funny that Kerry says the same thing. But you are a REAL conservative aintcha?

[Texasforever]

So why the heck is the administration doing it??

Because Laura wants something to advocate. It really isn't anything more sinister than that. Geeze.

[KantianBurke]

My mommy's basement is much more comfortable than your daddy's closet! G'night grandpa.

[k2blader]

If you really thought about your answer, you'd realize how ridiculous it is.

[Texasforever]

It's one dime per year per citizen. You fret this much over a dime? lol

They are afraid this is a backdoor attempt to put American artists out of work in favor of illegal immigrants.

[Texasforever]

If you really thought about your answer, you'd realize how ridiculous it is.

Explain? Laura will be announcing the request.

[KantianBurke]

Not sure what a "real" conservative is but I'm quite certain that the hero worship old biddy comments that's found on the dose as well as Dubya's arts boondoggle doesn't fall under even the most generous definition.

[#3Fan]

I supported Bush up until the moment I read about this proposal.

Wow, you survived CFR, "religion of peace", immigration reform proposal, education reform, health reform proposal, and it is this one dime per citizen that did it for you? lol Don't you guys have anything better than the "I've voted Republican since Lincoln, but nevermore" bit?

[#3Fan]

They are afraid this is a backdoor attempt to put American artists out of work in favor of illegal immigrants.

LOL Let's outsource our art work to India, that'll tee them off.

[Texasforever]

Why look at them. I don't. You sound a bit insecure in the old manhood department to me with your Alec Baldwin fetish and now flight suit envy.