NEA under fire. Again.

You'd think that the GOP would be tired of trotting out this old horse to beat on, but the NEA, along with the National Endowment for the Humanities, NPR, and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting are all being recommended for elimination by the Republican Study Group that includes 2/3 of all Republicans in the House of Representatives. This is yet another example of the GOP trying to prove how "fiscally responsible" they are, by cutting programs that don't really contribute significantly to the federal deficit problem.

This is the same GOP that feels that it's important to keep billions in tax loophole giveaways to the oil industry after they continue to bring in record profits and caused serious damage in the Gulf. This is the same GOP that had to bend their own rules on cost savings to pass a repeal bill in the House that would prevent 32 million Americans from getting health insurance. I don't buy this "fiscally responsibly" thing anymore (to be honest, I never did), and I hope you don't either.

I'm certainly glad that the rhetoric has toned down, both in debate and in the news cycles, but I want the lies and the obfuscation to stop as well. This is a war on culture that stems from the idea within the Republican party that the government shouldn't be involved in culture, that less government is better. And you know, if that's the principle that the GOP wants to push, I bet that lawmakers could find areas where less government would indeed be better, but culture isn't one of them.

It's unconscionable to think that a government that is willing to give subsidies and tax loopholes to hundreds of other industries should ignore culture. There's the oil mentioned above, but they're just the most egregious. The farming industry is heavily subsidized as well. Renewable energy is the new kid on the block getting help. The mortgage deduction is one of the most regressive tax credits out there, helping the real estate and finance industries extensively.

More than that, though, these agencies need a seat at the policy table. As it is, culture is not nearly present enough in domestic policy discussions or more opportunities would present themselves, but to take that seat at the table away permanently could lead us down a very dark road indeed, not just as the creative sector, but as an American culture.

I recommend highly that you write your Congressperson and your Senators. I feel pretty lucky in that I have Congresswoman Jan Schakowsky fighting for me (and sometime alongside me even) in the House, and I have two Senators, Durbin and Kirk, that despite being from different parties, both value the arts. I plan to make my concerns heard nonetheless to let them know that any move to harm the arts, humanities, NPR, and Sesame Street for pete's sake, is stopped cold.