Posted on 03/24/2018 10:24:22 AM PDT by Drango
For the second straight year, President Trump proposed to eliminate federal funding for arts programs and public media and broadcasting as part of the government's budget plan for the next year. And, for the second straight year, he failed -- and funding will actually increase for arts programs in the proposed spending bill the president signed on Friday (March 23), helping to avoid another possible government shutdown at the 11th hour.
The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) -- the latter of which funds public television and public radio stations -- will all receive full funding in the final version of the federal spending plan revealed this week, with the NEA and NEH each receiving $152.8 million and the CPB receiving $445 million. For the NEA and NEH, that represents a $3 million boost apiece from the prior year's budget.
The spending bill further allows $20 million for "costs associated with replacing and upgrading the public broadcasting interconnection system and other technologies and services that create infrastructure and efficiencies within the public media system." At a combined total of $465 million, the CPB's level of funding will remain flat year-over-year.
President Donald Trump in the Cabinet Room at the White House Jan. 9, 2018 in Washington, DC. READ MORE Trump's Budget Plan Again Calls for Slashing Arts, Public Media Funding In February, Trump released his proposed budget for the next year, which suggested slashing the CPB's funding from $445 million down to just $15 million, which CPB president and CEO Patricia Harrison said in a statement at the time would "devastate, and then ultimately destroy" the organization's mission. In another statement, PBS president/CEO Paula Kerger stressed that CPB's total funding amounts to "a modest investment of about $1.35 per citizen per year."
Elsewhere in Trump's February proposal, he put forward a plan with the ultimate goal of seeing the NEA and NEH "begin shutting down," slashing funding for the NEA to $29 million and the NEH to $42 million. Last year, he proposed similar cuts to funding for the arts and public media budgets; ultimately, Congress opted to fully fund the CPB and bump funding for the NEA and NEH up $2 million apiece. With this year's budget, those programs have seen their funding increase by $5 million apiece in the two years Trump has been in office.
The spending bill, which will fund the U.S. federal government through September, passed both houses of Congress on Thursday (March 22), leaving it up to the president to sign it and keep the government open. On Friday morning, the president tweeted about possibly vetoing the spending bill over its lack of funding for his border wall and blaming democrats for their failure to include a plan to deal with the 800,000 DACA recipients.
"There are a lot of things I'm unhappy about in this bill, there are a lot of things that we shouldn't have had in this bill, but we were in a sense forced if we want to build our military," Trump said at a White House press conference on Friday afternoon, vowing to "never" sign another bill like it again.
Regardless of the tweets, Trump is still expected to sign the $1.3 trillion Omnibus spending bill, which you can pore through here.
At least Trump called them out and suggested cutting funding to Congress.
Would any other candidate have even done that?
It’s not a budget which would force spending on line items, it’s a continuing resolution, which give the President very broad discretionary power, coupled with the 1985 law, and an emergency declaration, he is well within the area where he has total control of the spending authorized in this resolution.
Go to post#54 and follow jotto’s instructions. He is going to do with the funding as outlined in the plan.
+1
In a way, it might be better to reach that point sooner rather than later. There are still people around who remember the promise of freedom and who have the skills to survive.
I had steam, smoke and sparks spewing out of my ears when I first heard he’d signed it.
I’m a little cooler and more hopeful now.
The 1985 law works only when the nation or finances is in a state of emergency. What he wants them to do is get off this damnable pattern we have been financing our government by continuing resolution and submit a budget.
Yes, Trump suckered them again. A big fat military budget. Enough for the Army Corps of Engineers to build the wall, and the Congress powerless to stop him. Brilliant.
He didn’t want to take the blame for a shut down.
By your logic then any penny that goes to planned parenthood is 100% on Trump.
If so great this will make it easy to know what his priorities are.
Also this bill makes it illegal to build the wall.
> It’s not a budget which would force spending on line items, it’s a continuing resolution <
I see. Thanks for the reply.
Trump and the establishment are not fools but we are.
I did too but also the defense issues are way too hard to ignore. If he had the play room in the $$ side of DoD to play politics Mattis would have advised him to veto it and we would not be hearing any crying.He would be scoring political points with the base. The wiggle room just wasn’t there and I know for sure. But The enactment of the 1985 law which you eloquently explained turned the tide big time on this situation. It continues to push us in the right direction. Bottom line we need a budget which obeys and follows his national strategy.
Here’s the hammer ...
The process for determining the amount of the automatic cuts was found unconstitutional in the case of Bowsher v. Synar, (478 U.S. 714 (1986)) as an unconstitutional usurpation of executive power by Congress because the Comptroller General’s function under the Act is the “very essence” of execution of the laws, which is beyond the power of a legislative body. It was noted: “Once Congress passes legislation, it can influence only its execution by passing new laws or through impeachment.”
I would be okay if Trump did that. But how is that constitutional?
Everyone commenting on Trump’s signing this bill ought to watch the video before saying anything.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ZK9SwI2nyc
JMHo
The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) should be shut down.
Thanks for posting the link. You’re correct on your statement, everyone should watch it.
Did you manage to find the memorandum from the Director of the Office of Management and Budget mentioned in that statement?
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