Barack Obama's and John McCain's Arts Policies and Choices

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Permalink Reply by Bob Eggleton on September 7, 2008 at 4:36pm

The problem with "public funded"(grants) art is that it produces government-made art. I don't work on grants, which is why my output is half commercial and half fine art whereby one feeds another. I'm not against the government funding art but it's also a recipe for disaster, as one can't ever make money from sales of said art. I am however in favor of museums, PBS and so on recieving some kind of money.

That all said, the Republicans are anti-art from any standpoint. Even to the point of appreciating it because, the Neocon agenda of the last eight years has been to classify artists with academics and scientists as "progressives" and thus, not with "the American mainstream". Artists-like progressives- have been catagorized as "Self-absorbed" and people that do nothing for "God, Country and flag" when the so-called bugle blows. Should McCain get in, it will be like Bush's third term. Once a Chaffee-Republican moderate, he's pandered now to the extreme right-the wacko, Bible-thumping,speaking-in-tongues- Christian evangelicals- who, like the Taliban in Islam, give their religion a bad name(Believe me, as an Agnostic/Pagan myself, there's nothing wrong with any one religion but everything wrong when it becomes a enforced geopolitical agenda as the Religious Reich in this country would have it). It's not even McCain I fear, but his VP pick Palin-who seems to have marginalized him as people write him off as being too old to finish the office. We may be in for censorship the likes we've never seen in America and the completely fraudulent pseudo-science of "Creationism"-that earth is a mere 4000 years old-taught in schools-and of course any school who wises up and declines to do so will lose federal money. It's a scary view and makes me sick to my stomach thinking about it. We'll have four more years of wars, fear from "terrirists" that may not even exist in the terms they present them as, a worse economy all the while being fed this "We're doing this for your protection" (more duct tape and plastic!) propaganda which only causes more fear and anxiety which makes people extremely easy to manipulate and buy into $4 a gallon gas.

It'll still be a bad time for art but I'll keep on doing it until they have to pry the brush from my cold , dead fingers! Ha!

Bob "Tell us what you REALLY think!"

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Permalink Reply by Kathy Hodge on September 7, 2008 at 6:16pm

Speaking of censorship..

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-palin-book_bdsep...

Fahrenheit 451 anyone?

Kathy

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Permalink Reply by Krzysztof Mathews on September 7, 2008 at 6:47pm

My thoughts exactly, Bob.

I will refrain from my own comments, suffice it to say that a McCain/Palin ticket is no friend of art, culture, or any other higher virtue.

I teach middle schools and high school students. Anyone who votes for the McCain ticket ain't doing right by their kids future. That's all I'll say for now.

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Permalink Reply by Bob Eggleton on September 7, 2008 at 8:28pm

That's really true Krzysztof, but unfortunately people these days react out of unjustifed fear of the Boogie Man. They've even been "brainwashed" to thinking "ART" and artists are things created by and for the "Cultural Elite" and that "mainstream America" stands nothing to gain from it. All "talking points" that the right tends to operate on.

The coolest, best "campaign" speech-gives me chills each time- was from an 80's graphic novel turned 2006 movie-V FOR VENDETTA:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8TLD3Z6sJWA

Enjoy.

Bob

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Permalink Reply by SusiFranco on September 11, 2008 at 3:22pm

Hey you guys....I hope this doesn't duplicate what is already posted here, I don't think it does....I had to laugh, I logged in to post this to my blog and create a dialogue about it, guess I'm a day late and a dollah short. :):):):) I was all worried about offending someone's personal politics, but I see you guys just dove right in. :) Good on ya. :)
This does have a HUGE potential effect on the Arts Community, so we ought to factor that in at the polling pace. I'm appalled at what has happened to Arts funding ( not to annoy Bob :):):), ans to Arts programs in the schools, they've suffered across the board. Hoping to get someone in the Oval Ofice who gives a damn about us, about the legacy Art has historically had in history.
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Presidential Policies on the Arts -
Obama Has One, McCain Doesn't

Although history will judge the United States on the quality of our artistic expression, there has been almost no discussion of arts policy in the mainstream coverage of the current presidential campaign. When future generations look back at us, will the U.S. be honored for its cultural achievements? How will the candidates ensure that the U.S. is an enduring inspiration to the world?

There are substantial differences between the two candidates on this issue. Barack Obama has assembled a National Arts Policy Committee of 33 arts leaders (approximately half are women), and with their help he has drafted a two-page platform in support of the arts. (See http://www.barackobama.com/pdf/issues/
additional/Obama_FactSheet_Arts.pdf) The Democratic platform includes a plank that echoes Obama's views. (See the text below.)

In stark contrast, neither John McCain's website nor the Republican platform lists the arts as an issue. Even in the section of their platform that deals with education, the Republicans stress a "back to basics" approach and do not mention the arts. (See http://platform.gop.com/2008Platform.pdf )

Obama Promises More Money, More Favorable Laws

Obama promises to increase the budget of the National Endowment for the Arts, which has dropped from its peak of $175 million in 1992 to $125 million now. He specifically mentions that he will increase federal funding for arts education and for "cultural diplomacy" programs which would send U.S. artists to other countries as "cultural ambassadors."
Obama states that he will advocate for legislative changes to streamline the visa process (which has been very restricted since 9/11) to make it easier for artists and students to visit the U.S., and he supports a change in the federal tax code that would give artists a break by letting them deduct the fair market value of their work (instead of just the costs of their materials) when they donate their works to charity.

An Artist Corps in the Schools

One of Obama's most interesting ideas is his plan to form an "Artist Corps" of young artists trained to work in low-income schools and their communities. Programs like this that create jobs for artists have often been the most effective forms of arts subsidy in the U.S.

For instance, in 1935 President Franklin Delano Roosevelt launched the Works Progress Administration in response to the massive unemployment during the Great Depression. The WPA philosophy was to put people back to work in jobs that would serve the public and enhance the workers' skills and self-esteem. Although the program only lasted until 1942, it employed up to 40,000 artists a year and provided training to many who became the most distinguished artists of their generation.

Like many other citizens, U.S. artists are struggling to make ends meet as a result of rapidly increasing prices for the basic living expenses of housing, food, transportation, and health care. Both candidates claim that their programs will help all Americans address these issues, however the Republican policies over the past 8 years have made these problems worse. Obama's arts policy recognizes that finding affordable health care is a particular problem for many artists since they often work independently and are not eligible for employer-funded health programs.

McCain Has A Record of Voting Against the Arts

Although the Arts Action Fund has been working since the New Hampshire primaries in 2007 to obtain statements from each of the candidates about their arts policies, the McCain campaign has not addressed this issue. (For links to the arts policies of each candidate, see http://www.artsactionfund.org/artsvote/001.asp .)

Therefore, the only way to deduce McCain's attitude towards the arts is to review his voting record in the Senate, which reveals that he has voted to reduce arts funding twice. (See www.capwiz.com/artsusa/keyvotes.xc/?lvl=C">http://artsusa.www.capwiz.com/artsusa/keyvotes.xc/?lvl=C)

In 1999 he was one of 16 senators who supported the Smith-Ashcroft amendment which would have eliminated funding for the National Endowment for the Arts. (The amendment failed.) Then in 2000 he was one of 27 senators who voted to reduce the National Endowment for the Arts budget by $7.3 million. (This amendment also failed.)

Given this voting record it seems unlikely that McCain will lead any efforts to increase arts funding. However, prior to the Reagan years, Republicans were more supportive of the arts. In fact, the largest growth in the National Endowment for the Arts budget was during the Nixon adminstration when the agency was under the leadership of Nancy Hanks. Some Republicans remain interested in the arts. Former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee, who tried unsuccessfully for this year's presidential nomination, is a strong advocate of arts education, and Republican legislators now comprise 39% of the Senate Cultural Caucus and 20% of the House Arts Caucus.
(see http://www.artsactionfund.org/pdf/special_reports/2006/congressiona...)

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Permalink Reply by Bob Eggleton on September 12, 2008 at 5:02pm

I've named this ticket "Macko & Wacko". Even our own Linc Chaffee(who I voted for) called Palin a "Cocky wacko". Good for him. Unfortunately, the whole thing is not about John McCain or his policies, he's being sidelined. I even agree with some of his ideas-one of which, to help the US in some way "Get a job you love and don't retire". That just about describes what I do and what many of us do who make a living on art.
It bothers me that Palin has sidelined McCain where, to the point I can't even remember when or where I last saw him. And when I did, he seemed propped up and to be merely the mantle-piece. I hope his health holds up, I really do. She contradicts him on several very important-and even frightening aspects. Her view of war, books and "forbidden" information, foreign policy, et al. He seems to have just rolled over and wants to play to the Neocons, and Bible thumpers.

My fear of Palin goes beyond the Arts, grants or anything. My fear is we may not have much of a world to do anything in when you have this gun-toting, terminal PMS(sorry ladies, no slur) "Hockey Mom"(where all the charm comes from it seems) who has no clue about the world, or how it works.

And any discussion has descended now into personal insults from both sides(I credit Obama for being restrained and as for the "pig/lipstick" quote, she deserved that one. And if you notice-McCain and OBama are not insulting, kicking or slurring each other. They're QUITE civil, but McCain's two... female rotweilers seem to be doing the dirty work).

Believe me, and yep Susi I have lost FRIENDS over this whole mess and, even over the last 8 years, I am more with "blue" friends than "red" ones socially. I hate what it's turned into but our backs are against the wall.

As to the Arts. I am ALL for museums, PBS, arts programs for kids, etc all being funded. I'm even okay with most arts grants that a positive and good goal is resulted in. My issue is when they're government mandadated and doled out to "artists" who gain notice to their work from such things as digging holes in the ground and filling them with paper-the non-representational work that proliferated since the 1960's and 70's that sometimes asks for public funding but the public is the perplexed when trying to find anything they can even comprehend. It can also result in "Art welfare"-the artists get miniscule grants to support their work or themselves and, the art is then forbidden to be sold, marketed or whatever. It results in alot of art just piling up and adding to the myth that "artists shouldn't sell their works" which is total eltist thinking. That's the capitalist in me speaking what can I say???

But, in the real world, I prefer and would take Obama any day. The man even had "Artists for Obama" going wherein prints were donated for campaign funds.

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Permalink Reply by Bob Eggleton on November 11, 2008 at 10:25pm

All I can say to this topic, is our fears have been more or less, put to rest. Obama is in, America "graduated" and became one with the world. That's something to celebrate. Last Tuesday evening may have been one of the proudest nights, as an American I have experienced in my life. I'm sleeping easier and happier.

Despite what appears to be daunting news on the economy, as Howard Jones said in a song once, "Things Can Only Get Better".

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