A New Movement

There is a movement to strip billions of dollars from the stimulus bill led by Ben Nelson of Omaha (whose Democratic status is debatable) and Susan Collins (Republican) of Maine.

Included in the cuts are $50 million for the National Endowment for the Arts (of course), $14 million for cyber security research by the Homeland Security Department (that makes sense?), $1 billion for the National Science Foundation (are they kidding - when we're this close to ground-breaking stem cell research, understanding the nature of viruses, struggling to keep our oceans alive, not to mention the catastrophic potential ozone depletion - the model's still the same even though we've stopped emitting...), $400 million for research and prevention of sexually transmitted diseases (hasn't anyone thought about the amount we would be saving on health-care behind this initiative and how many jobs would be created by it?), $850 million for Amtrak (right, people should drive their own car to work and not take the train, or God forbid, carpool and coupled with the tax incentive to buy a new car, wonder who's lobbying for this one -- the only person this helps is GM and Exxon and the banking industry, God bless them), and $400 million for climate change research (oh, I forgot, we still don't believe it exists and we haven't signed the Kyoto Agreement...) Really, are they kidding?!!!!

And I realized there are only two collars in this country, white collar and blue collar. So, I'm suggesting a third collar. I thought about calling it black collar (because that's all we ever wear but that's sort of taken by the Priesthood). So I'm suggesting a gray collar movement of scientists, doctors, medical researchers, health-care professionals, lab technicians, security analysts (not the banking kind, the ones who keep our country safe), engineers, train conductors, publishers, writers, journalists, and the dreaded "A" word, artists. Why aren't those industries just as relevant for aid when it's their forward thinking and groundbreaking work that will take us into the future?

We're willing to write a blank check to the banking industry with no oversight, at all, when these checks have a name and an address and a significant impact on the economy, now, and in the future.

Comments

[fisharefreinds]

You left out cuts in Public Education! Oh, let them eat Chapin.

[stevendedalus3]

And the Republicans accuse Democrats of class warfare! The only sectors Republicans--I put Nelson in that party--care about apart from tax cuts are corporations and the so-called backbone of the economy, small businesses. Aren't artists, writers and garage style science researchers small business?
As for Ben Nelson, wouldn't it be glorious if we had the luxury of kicking him out of the party, along with Lieberman?

[hortonhearsawho2]

At this rate, well, funeral bailout may be the end all....

[larry278]

Now, what was Sen Nelson's nickname, Amy? You just gave Sen Nelson a new nickname that will stick. Rahm must love it. Pres Obama won't say till Sen Nelson riles him. Watching Pres Obama as he grows in office will be fascinating. It will be different, you bet.

[lwfky]

Absolutely right. The arts provide thousands of jobs and improve school performance in children. High speed trains would lessen our use of fossil fuels. And providing basic healthcare for everyone will decrease expenses for every employer, improve our nation's health and continue to provide hundreds of thousands of jobs at every level in the health care field (well, except maybe in the health insurance industry, but is that really bad?). If more people could see beyond their own back yard, they might realize what these things could do for our country.

[Doofus]

Funding taken out of the 'package' now can be put back in later, if
desirable, if possible. Urgency is important at this point, no?
We really cannot afford to keep futzing around with this.

[Maxbyte]

Nice post. And accurate, except that Nelson began asking for forgiveness shorty after your post hit the screen.

The looming question everyone needs to ask is, How silly is it to focus on less than one-half of one percent of the stimulus total (if it turns out to be $800 billion)?

That Republicans are suddenly finding "fiscal responsibility" after they led us into this mountain of debt and failure has a rather unpleasant smell.

[Dukedraven]

Art is very important, but when it comes to survival, it has to take a back seat. We're on the verge of collapse, so we may have to take drastic measures. When possible, I hope we put back the funding ASAP.

[AsISaid]

Roosevelt had a component to help the arts survive the Great Depression as part of the New Deal. Artists of all sorts need to survive and fourish - it's a quality of life issue for all of us.

[Proletarian101]

I think what you have missed is that the stimulus bill is supposed to be for economic stimulus, ON TOP of our current (and disgustingly bloated) yearly budget. By removing them from this bill does not cut funding to these programs, it just doesn't add more for economic stimulus. Also keep in mind that none of these programs have a direct impact on the economy, which is what the stimulus package is for. If you want to increase funding for these programs (good luck) then lobby your representatives to include it in the next budget.

[JustThisGuy]

Transportation investment has great effect on the economy, it reduces travel costs, causing people to go places and spend.

NSF spending goes into all kind of science and tech development, causing a new generation of products to be developed and sold. Jobs + investment in the future, sounds like my kind of stimulus.

[Doofus]

Long-term, you are exactly right. Unfortunately,
in the short-term, it looks like there's no long-term.

Let's put some money on the table NOW, come back
and do more with the long-term aspects once we can
figure out some decent priorities.

[ZsaZsa]

In the 1930s, as part of the WPA, Roosevelt created the Federal Art Project. It commissioned artists to paint murals and easel paintings for schools, airports, hospitals, and post offices, not because the government wanted art per se, but because it wanted to put people to work. Employees of the Project included Jackson Pollock, Mark Rothko, Willem de Kooning, and Adolph Gottlieb, who, a decade later, made the U.S. the center of modernist art.

We have the opportunity here to improve this country in two ways at once: put people to work and promoting the free expression of our American culture. Unlike in the 30s, we are blowing that opportunity.