Dear Trump: Why Funding the Arts and Public Broadcasting Matters
Guest MINDSETTER™ Jim Wright
Dear Trump: Why Funding the Arts and Public Broadcasting Matters
Generally, I'm never at a loss for words. But, this subject is very dear and personal to me. I was fortunate to grow up with music. My Mom was a public school music teacher and my Dad played a host of instruments. From a very young age, music permeated my life and influenced my life choices. From Chopin etudes to Hendrix at Woodstock, I absorbed it all. Besides the birth of my two children, each of my most cherished moments in life has involved music. I graduated from UMass with a music degree, performed with Dave Brubeck, toured the US, Canada, Japan, Hong Kong and South Korea... anyway, I'm reminiscing.
The point is that music brought me there. Music made a difference.
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLASTThere is a correlation between the progress of a society and progress in the arts. Every great society in human history has been accompanied by advances in the arts. The age of Pericles was also the age of Phidias. The age of Lorenzo de Medici was also the age of Leonardo da Vinci. The age of Elizabeth was the age of Shakespeare.
My government, has spent over $245 billion bailing out banks and financial institutions. The National Science Foundation’s annual budget is $7 billion dollars. Just yesterday, my President announced that there will be a whopping 54 billion dollar increase in defense spending. Currently the US spends around 41 cents per citizen on federally funded programs for the arts. The National Endowment for the Arts and related federal programs amount to around .05% of the federal budget. The 150 million dollar budget of the NEA in 2016 is roughly equal to the arts budget of Sweden. The UK spent 772 million on the arts last year, Germany spent 1.3 billion, and France dedicated 10 billion dollars of their budget to the arts.
Now, President Trump plans to defund the NEA. Apparently, the 150 million yearly budget is a bridge too far. It makes sense, right? After all, those with true talent don't need a handout. Why should the federal government waste money on the arts?
I'll start with the hard data. Research shows art and music studies close the gap between high and low income students and not only improves numerical skills but promote creativity and social development. PBS programming has inspired generations of children and continues to play a pivotal role in the artistic and social development of American children. Plus, art and music is fun. It's inspiring. It's uplifting. And, it says a lot about who we are as a society.
The National Endowment for the Arts traces back to FDR's New Deal initiatives. Originally, arts and music were part of Roosevelt's most succesful New Deal program the WPA (Works Progress Administration). The WPA employed musicians, artists, writers, actors and directors in large arts, drama, media, and literacy projects. Arthur Miller wrote "The Crucible" and "Death of a Salesman" while Dean of the New York Federal Theatre Project, a WPA program.
Many conservative Republicans have been critical of the NEA and it's expenditures, often citing specific examples of art project they find objectionable that have received funding. Honestly, I find it absurb that taxpayers shouldn't be asked to pay for anything of which they disapprove. Many people don't like ICBMs.
As expected, I have ventured off topic. Anyway, it's my sincere hope that in between his, taxpayer funded, 5 million dollar trips to Mar-a-lago and considering the 300 million we've been asked to pay so Barron can finish up the school year in New York, that the President will reconsider his position on NEA funding.
Jim Wright is the National Director of Catch a Rising Star Comedy Clubs. He lives in Providence.
Trump's Win - What Does it Mean for Rhode Island?
Jennifer Duffy
Cook Report
"We don't really know what a Trump presidency means for the nation, never mind the smallest state. One of the unintended consequences of last night's results is that Sen. Jack Reed won't be chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee. Chalk that up as a loss for RI."
Pam Gencarella
Head of Ocean State Taxpayers' Association
"Trump’s win means that his signature issue, illegal immigration, could have a big impact on RI, hopefully reversing our course as a sanctuary state and saving the state taxpayer millions of dollars. While we agree with his 'repeal and replace' Obamacare stance, we have no idea what that means to the RI debacle known as UHIP. It is not a stretch to believe that federal funding for this kind of system will be off the table so, will RI be stuck with this massively expensive system that still doesn’t work and that is expected to cost another $124 million to fix?
Trump's belief that there is significant fraud in the Food Stamp program and the policies that may come from that belief could have a negative impact on RI's local economy since there are businesses in certain cities that rely heavily on this program, fraud and all. On the upside, we may be able to ditch the UHIP program if there is significantly less need for processing welfare program requests (ie. Medicaid and food stamps) resulting from fewer illegal immigrants and less fraud. While we are ambivalent about his touted child care policies, if enacted, it may force our legislators to revisit the ever growing state cost of subsidies in this area and possibly reduce the fraud and abuse in this system."
Kay Israel
Professor at Rhode Island College
"With a Republican President and Congress, Rhode Island will probably be excluded from the 'fruits of victory."
The congressional delegation will be able to vocally make their presence felt, but in the long term it's more symbolic than substantive.
For Rhode Island it's a matter of holding on and waiting until '18 or '20 and a surge in Democratic influence."
Jennifer Lawless
Professor at American University
"The RI congressional delegation just became even less powerful than it was. With unified government, Trump doesn’t need to quell Democrats’ concerns or acquiesce because he’s worried about a Democratically-controlled Senate.
His appointments will reflect that. His executive orders will affect that. And the conservative policy agenda he puts forward will affect that."
Len Lardaro
Professor at University of Rhode Island
"Well there's a few things -- because there's not going to be gridlock, that's a big difference if it had been Hillary and a GOP Congress, in which nothing would got done. We'll at least get a half a billion in infrastructure that's going to pass which will have an impact.
I think you'll see there will be reduced reliance on government nationally -- and that's where we'll stick out like sore thumb. We've relied way too much on government -- and our government is highly inefficient and ineffective. Maybe, just maybe, in this who cycle of things we might be forced to be small and more efficient for once.
A couple of other things -- interest rates jumped. The one to follow is the ten year government bond rate -- which is tied to mortgages. It went from 1.7% to 2.05% in one day. The point is -- if the ten year stays high, mortgage rates will start going higher -- and in the short time people will run to re-finance.
That's the short term impact -- but then if rates stay hight, that will make mortgages more out of reach. And we just passed a bond issue to limit open space -- housing has limited upside here.
The next thing -- the Fed Reserve will go ahead with tightening next month. A strong dollar will hurt manufacturing. When the dollar is strong our exports become more expensive overseas.
Our goods production sector -- manufacturing and construction -- in the near term will do a little better, but as time goes on will be more limited. But something you won't hear, is there are lags in fiscal policy, of six months to year. So we won't really see the effects until the third our fourth quarter of 2017, going into 2018."
Mike Stenhouse
RI Center for Freedon and Prosperity
"As the unbelievable turned into reality this morning, it struck me that the presidential election was not really all about Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton. It was about a fed-up people, revolting against a corrupt system - the "beast" - that relentlessly favors insiders. Hillary personified the beast, while Donald personified the slayer.
Sadly, based on election results in our state, Rhode Island's version of the beast lives on. I fear our political class has not learned the lessons from the Bernie Sanders and Donald Trump movements - and will continue with their government-centric, anti-family, anti-business status quo."
Kristina Contreras Fox
VP of Young Democrats of America
"A Trump Presidency means the validation of the ugliest part of America. In RI, as with the rest of the country, the hammer of his hatred will fall hardest on minority communities. Being a blue state doesn't make us immune from this danger.
Trump won over 35% (39.5) of the vote here! We need to look in the mirror, and not lie about what the reflection shows us. No more hiding underneath a blue blanket. I expect those who claim Democratic values to be true to those values. The gulf between words and actions have turned into fertile ground for Trump's message to grow here in RI. If you call yourself a Democrat, if you claim to stand in opposition to Trump, now is the time to prove it. Show up and fight back."
