A Plea to Congress- Why the National Endowments for the Arts and Humanities Benefit the Public not L
President Donald Trump and his congressional conservative contemporaries plan to clip the left leaning wings of Big Bird in order in order to cut back on federal spending.
The proposed discretionary budget plan will cancel more than a season of Sesame Street. Instead it will eliminate the National Endowment of the Arts, National Endowment of the Humanities, Institute of Museum and Library and Services. Each of the aforementioned organizations provide substantial benefits to each Congressional region of the United States through various arts engagement programming that increases academic performance in underserved and rural areas and necessary outreach services for veterans and disabled populations. Congress must stop potential provisions eliminating government endowments and encourage opponents to see the benefits these funds and organizations bring to the American public.
Opposition to arts funding claim that the government should not have to support liberal media outlets. Mick Mulvaney of the Office of Management and Budget would “effectively end federal involvement.” In order to balance the federal budget Mulvaney suggests a “hard power” plan cutting funding for the arts and other governmental agencies but increasing spending in both homeland security and defense sectors. It is clear, that Mulvaney’s argument is weak. He fails to acknowledge that federal arts funding expands further than the mere financial support of national broadcasting stations such as N.P.R. and P.B.S. Moreover, Mulvaney’s mediocre claims that, “we cannot continue to ask coal miner in West Virginia or a single mom in Detroit to pay for these programs, but we can and will ask them for defense, we can’t ask them to continue to pay for C.P.B.” are without merit. He fails to acknowledge that grant funding from both the N.E.H. and N.E.A. provide substantial benefits and services to low income families in both urban and rural areas and preserve historic narratives and artifacts from the coal mining sector in the Appalachia region.
Like Mulvaney, most conservative opponents believe that funding should be eliminated because federal allocation supports liberal media outlets. However, they fail to recognize the other organizations that bring about systemic economic, education, and creative benefits to every region of the United States. For instance, Dan Gainor of the conservative leaning Media Research center strongly holds that there is not a “legitimate reason” to monetarily support broadcasters that bolster “left wing media.”
Even though conservative opponents have a strong hold in Congress, their budgetary victory is not imminent. Support for the C.P.B., N.E.H., N.E.A., and Institute of Museum and Library Services extends from both liberal and conservative citizens and government officials. The Denver Post reports, “Poling from Democrat leaning Hart Research Associates and Republican leaning American Viewpoint found that 83% of voters including 70%” of Trump supporters will tell their representatives cut other aspects of the budget. The Trump Administration along with his likeminded adversaries in Congress may face a similar failure as their attempt to repeal Obamacare.
Republican representatives and their constituents are clearly voicing their opinions to maintain federal government funding for arts endowments. Former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee an avid proponent for the arts, reports that funding for the N.E.A. only accounts for .004 of the federal budget but provides “much needed” services to veterans, low income families, and the handicapped. Both Huckabee and Republican from New Jersey Leonard Lance plead with Trump and other conservative Congress members to recognize the “economic stimulus” generated by the arts. Lance reports to his conservative contemporaries that arts agencies spur job creation and retention in entertainment and tourism sectors. Additionally, The arts industry produces a $30 billion trade plus and represents 4.2% of the GDP. Other Conservative supporters such as Senator Shelly Moore Copito of West Virginia, also recognize the notion that “funding for the arts and humanities are important to our economics and communities.”
While President Trump may be the Commander and Chief of the United States of America, it is Congress who has the delegated “Power of the Purse.” A Republican controlled Congress has failed twice in prior decades to eliminate arts funding. However, both attempts failed. Conservative Presidents such as Nixon and Reagan understood the value of endowing federal money to the N.E.H. and N.E.A.
President Trump and his is congressional adversaries must realize that like their healthcare repeal failure, their attempt to eliminate federal funding to the arts may have the same fate. It is important for Congress to maintain the current level of funding to the C.B.P., N.E.H., N.E.H., and Institute of Museum and Library and Services in order to sustain the necessary benefits that these programs provide to the American public.
Sources
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2017/03/27/a-conservative-case-for-why-trump-should-fund-the-arts.html
http://www.denverpost.com/2017/03/28/cutting-funds-for-public-broadcasting-would-hurt-colorado/
http://fortune.com/2017/03/16/trump-budget-public-broadcasting/
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2017/03/15/federal-funding-for-public-broadcasting-faces-elimination-under-trumps-budget.html
http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/325359-mike-huckabee-urges-trump-to-keep-arts-funding-despite-proposed
http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/tv/la-et-st-pbs-cpb-npr-trump-budget-cuts-20170316-story.html
http://www.npr.org/2017/03/16/520401246/trumps-budget-plan-cuts-funding-for-arts-humanities-and-public-mediahttps://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/17/arts/nea-neh-trump-congress.html
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/mike-huckabee-a-conservative-plea-for-the-national-endowment-of-the-arts/2017/03/22/8d6d746a-0d94-11e7-9d5a-a83e627dc120_story.html?hpid=hp_no-name_opinion-card-c:homepage/story&utm_term=.58e4c96977d8