Vox

Musings, rants, rambling, general nonsense

Trim The Fat

Posted on | September 24, 2011 | No Comments

I asked previously about what government programs you were afraid to lose in the ongoing budget battles I got a bit of feedback elsewhere (the downside of social media, fewer blog comments) but no real discussion.

I’ll start with one of my pet grievances:
Why do we have a National Endowment for the Arts?

Public Art...art?I have nothing against art (some of my best friends are artists), but I cannot fathom why it was decided that the government should be in the art business. Not only in the financing of art, but in deciding what, in fact, passes for art – and what is worth “buying”

The human desire for beauty is undeniable and well documented. As is the practice of wealthy patrons supporting the work of artists they believed in. Private citizens making a personal decision about what they felt worthy of production.

Government has no business collecting tax dollars in order to distribute them to artists. No more than they would be right in distributing those dollars to dog groomers or window washers. There is zero Constitutional justification and no ‘public need’.

The annual NEA budget has been hovering around the $150 million mark (their request for 2012 is a mere $146,255,000) I realize that $150 million is a drop in the bucket when we are facing deficits in the trillions, but (to paraphrase) “A hundred million here, a hundred million there, pretty soon you’re talking about real money”

The beauty of a sub $200 million program like this, though, is how easy it would be to transition it to the private sector. You artsy-farsty types think public art is so important, put your money where your mouth is. Let’s put the NEA on a deadline; six months from now, the funding will no longer come from the federal government. In that time, superstars & supermodels should be able to pony up enough cash to ensure its continued existence – and find someone trustworthy and good with money to oversee it.

Heck, if they still want it to be a collective effort, why not set aside a percentage of their union dues and box office receipts? That way they could feel good about the work they are doing now paving the way for those still trying to get their break.

Warren Buffett thinks his contribution to the federal budget is too low, this is his chance. He could write a check tomorrow that would keep roadways and parks dripping with art installations for decades.

And we would be a baby step closer to reigning in the unnecessary spending by our government.

(UPDATE: Some of you have been directed here looking for an article on legal issues. While I feel there is certainly a case to be made that NEA spending is not Constitutionally legal, I doubt that is what you had in mind. I recommend this article to satisfy your legal curiosity and to beg the question, When did this nation of laws become instead a nation of regulations?)

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Category: personal, politics, USA

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