Posted on 01/28/2004 8:29:35 PM PST by 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."
I said if it meant a return to conservative principles.
It's almost as if your saying a slow death is preferable to a quick one.
That means you are a liberal who wants Hillary Clinton as President. < /BushBot mode="fullscreen">
Nah, the useful idiots are outraged "true conservatives" who get mad at the littlest deviation of the "true conservative' dogma.
The demos and the media play you all like a violin.
I knew that would fly over your head. The irony is that you -- who embrace every socialist and neo-communist program Bush pushes -- speaks of "useful idiots".
And that choice will be brought about by electing Lenin's American disciples(demos)?
JMO, maybe you shouldn't worry about every little micromachination and focus on the big picture.
If Bush only deviated a little from Conservatism, none of us would be complaining.
He's raping Conservatism wholesale.
Let's see who the President is not pleasing since he took office.
He's not pleasing you... and if you listen to the conservatives, he's not pleasing them either.
He's not pleasing the left.
He's not pleasing the French.
He's not pleasing the Germans or the Russians.
He's not pleasing the Arabs.
He's not pleasing the pro-Israel cabal on Free Republic.
He's not pleasing the pro-life cabal either.
He's not pleasing the conservative Christians.
He's not pleasing the angry voters who tapped into the Dean campaign.
He's not pleasing the anti-war protesters.
He's not pleasing the socialists, communists, libertarians, or the constitutionalists.
He's not pleasing the NRA.
He's not pleasing the pro-abortion gals.
He's not pleasing the people who are afraid the Mexicans are taking over.
He's not pleasing those who think that the borders should be thrown wide open.
He's not pleasing the terrorists.
He's not pleasing the American Bar Association.
He's not pleasing the Teacher's Union.
He's not pleasing the Senate Democrats.
He's not pleasing John Kerry.
He's not pleasing the "artists" who will benefit from his 5 million dollar increase, cause they aren't going to vote for him anyway. That's just a waste of money if he thought he could buy their vote.
Yes... this President is trying to be all things to all people. I think there is a strong moral conviction in this man.
A 5 million dollar increase for the NEA is not neo-communist. Your helping the demos is.
We can disagree Dane without being disagreeable. I don't appreciate being labeled an idiot for taking a stand on Conservative values.
Here's a thought for you Dane...
If instead of making excuses and lavishing praise on every leftist action of the current administration, you actually mutsered the courage to level a criticism once in awhile.. maybe you wouldn't have to have leftist republicans OR leftist democrats in office...
Nah... couldn't be.
The NEA is a socialist program. That you cannot see that fact, speaks volumes.
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