Don’t be a Hater, Tom
I knew we were in trouble when I read last week’s snarky, misinformed editorial in the Wall Street Journal. In attacking the stimulus bill as a big ol’ pile of pork, the editors at the journal included this gem:
We’ve looked it over, and even we can’t quite believe it. There’s … $50 million for that great engine of job creation, the National Endowment for the Arts[.]
Anyone who’s looked into the issue recognizes, first off, that this is misinformed. There are so many credible studies out there documenting the economic growth that comes from investing in the arts that I need not list them all here.
But it was the bitter, sarcastic, almost nasty tone that really struck me. This is dumping blood in the water for the culture warrior sharks on the right. And right on cue, here comes Senator Tom Coburn. He’s introduced an amendment to the bill that is so silly that I initially thought it was a hoax:
None of the amounts appropriated or otherwise made available by this Act may be used for any casino or other gambling establishment, aquarium, zoo, golf course, swimming pool, stadium, community park, museum, theater, arts center, or highway beautification project, including renovation, remodeling, construction, salaries, furniture, zero-gravity chairs, big screen televisions, beautification, rotating pastel lights, and dry heat saunas.
Seriously, Tom… Zero-gravity chairs? (I had to Google that to even figure out what it was.) Rotating pastel lights? Where do you get this stuff?
But when you get past the goofiness, you realize this is a pretty devastating little amendment, and not just for the arts. Presumably Senator Coburn’s intention is to ensure that stimulus dollars are spent exclusively on serious investments in infrastructure and that we need to be cautious and conservative about how we spend taxpayer dollars. Anyone who’s taken even an introductory macroeconomics course will recognize how dangerously misguided this perspective is. But don’t take my word for it; Nobel Prize winning economist Paul Krugman has been blogging about this for months.
I’ve written in the past that I think some arts advocates have unrealistic expectations of the stimulus spending. But the arts are an important sector of the economy that provides social and economic value - both direct and ancillary. We’re not just about “rotating pastel lights”, for Pete’s sake.
Here’s what you can do about this:
Call your Senators today and urge a NO vote on the Coburn “Limitation of Funds Amendment No. 175.” To reach your Senators, call the Capitol Switchboard at 202-224-3121 and ask for your Senators’ offices. Or, click here to find your Senator using your zip code.
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thanks fofr bringing this issue to my attention
[...] of artists. Perhaps this is something to keep in your back pocket the next time you meet a Tom Coburn disciple who claims the arts provide no long-term benefit to [...]