[reelfoot]

So, the White House thinks its OK to confiscate taxpayer money for the "Arts" so long as the work product doesn't offend middle America? They miss the point--federal government support for the "Arts" is wrong in principle because it is unconstitutional. It is also wasteful. Why should taxpayers be forced to support ballet, symphonies, etc.? NASCAR makes it without government subsidies; why shouldn't the "Arts"?

[XRdsRev]

Actually one big subsidy that Nascar and other similar entities recieve is related off-site highway and road improvement. When a track is built, there are road improvements that must be made both locally and sometime regionally to handle the much larger flow of traffic. These road improvements are paid for by the taxpayers and often run in the millions of $$$ for a single venue. I know of at least 1 proposed Nascar track that was not built because the State & County involved demanded that the track pay the full of the cost of off site road improvements. The Nascar people refused to do it.

[NietzschesJoker]

"Why should taxpayers be forced to support ballet, symphonies, etc.? NASCAR makes it without government subsidies; why shouldn't the "Arts"?"

Simply, because the arts couldn't make it without them. I work for one America's big-five orchestras, and we've run deficits in two of the past three years, with another projected for this fiscal year. It's not mismanagement - people just aren't showing up. We're facing increased competition from the myriad forms of entertainment on which people can spend their disposible income. With the dumbing-down of society plaguing this country, the fine arts are losing.

[WaterDragon]

Congress is never going to dismantle the NEA, not in our lifetimes. So, to nudge it in a more American-traditional-culture direction makes VERY good sense.