Created by an act of Congress in 1965, the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that offers support and funding for projects exhibiting artistic excellence.
Between 1965 and 2008, the agency made in excess of 128,000 grants, totaling more than $4 billion. From the mid-1980s to the mid-1990s, Congress granted the NEA annual funding of between $160 million and $180 million. In 1996, Congress cut the NEA funding to $99.5 million. Funding has since partially recovered, with the budget set at $145 million in fiscal 2008 and $155 million in 2009.
The past 25 years have seen public financing for the arts under assault by a variety of conservative groups that object to funding that supports controversial artwork centering on sexual or religious themes.
Ronald Reagan intended to abolish the NEA completely over a three-year period upon entering the office in 1981. However, his plan was abandoned when the president's special task force on the arts and humanities, which included close Reagan allies such as conservatives Charlton Heston and Joseph Coors, concluded that continued federal support was important.
The Republican Revolution of 1994 cleared the way for House Speaker Newt Gingrich to lead a renewed attack on the NEA. Gingrich called for the NEA to be eliminated completely along with the other major source of federal support for the arts, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. However, his plans were also thwarted.
Also created by an act of Congress, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting promotes public broadcasting both in television and through support for National Public Radio. Historically, 15 to 20 percent of revenues of all public broadcasting stations have been funded from federal sources.
FACEOFF Question: Should government provide funding to support the arts?
Fraudulent schemes target millions of people each year leaving many with empty bank accounts. According to the United States Postal Service (USPS) most frauds carry common traits. In keeping with National Consumer protection week the USPS offers its customers helpful tips to spot common scams and prevent fraud.
Drug suspect arrested after car runs out of gas, one man is arrested for attacking senior citizen with tree branch, another man is charged with trying to hit a cop with a cane, and one town's war against artificial turf...all of that in this week's edition!
After much planning and a whole lot of work, the Jackson County Libraries will have their grand openings on Tuesday, March 30. The public is invited to attend both events, the first starting in Ravenswood at 9 a.m. and the second at Ripley at approximately 10 a.m.
A Ravenswood man was arrested late Wednesday afternoon on 117 criminal counts related to the alleged sexual assault and abuse of two underage family members during 2005 and 2006.
The office of State Tax Commissioner Christopher G. Morris is offering a series of tips to help West Virginians file their Personal Income Taxes this year.
A lawsuit was filed last week in Circuit Court against West Virginia Polymer, a Millwood manufacturing company, claiming that the company has failed to pay lease payments for several months and seeking to bar the company from selling any assets until payments are received.
“If it seems to good to be true, it usually is” can be the best advice to take when dealing with mail fraud. Criminals are currently using the U.S. Postal Service to bilk unsuspecting local individuals out of thousands of dollars.
The former Ripley Police Officer charged with sexually abusing a minor girl entered a plea of not guilty Friday morning in Jackson County Circuit Court.
A North Carolina man was arrested in Ravenswood last Thursday after a routine traffic stop allegedly uncovered a large quantity of prescription drugs in his possession.
Sen. Jim Bunning, R-Ky., was under a glaring spotlight over the past week, after single-handedly thwarting passage of a bill to extend unemployment benefits for 400,000 jobless Americans.
Bunning, 78, a Hall of Fame pitcher whom Time Magazine in 2006 named one of the nation's five worst senators, objected that the Senate had not identified corresponding spending cuts to offset the $10 billion measure. Democrats had agreed to the provision for all new spending bills, but waived the requirement for the unemployment bill, citing the need for swift passage.
Democratic leadership sought to pass the measure with the unanimous permission of all senators, a common tactic to speed non-controversial measures through the notoriously balky Senate. Otherwise it could take almost a week to slog through the procedural steps required to take up the measure and defeat Bunning's filibuster.
Eleven times, over the course of a week – beginning last Wednesday and continuing through Tuesday – Bunning rose when the bill came before the Senate, and registered his opposition, denying unanimous consent and unilaterally preventing the extension of benefits to tens of thousands of Americans. Also blocked was funding included in the measure for highway projects and Medicare payments to doctors.
Democrats railed against Bunning's maneuver, with numerous senators taking to the floor to denounce the denial of benefits to hard-pressed jobless constituents. Recognizing the political damage being done to their Party, Republicans pressured Bunning to relent, but their leveral was limited because he is not seeking re-election this year.
Late Tuesday night, after Senators mollified Bunning by allowing him to offer cost-cutting proposals after passage, the senator from Kentucky relented. The measure passed by unanimous consent.
Be sure to read what FACEOFF columnists Charlie Meyer and Steve Smoot have to say on this subject and If you have something to say about it, send us a letter-to-the-editor at: letters@newstribune.info. We want to hear what you have to say.
FACEOFF QUESTION: Was Sen. Jim Bunning right to unilaterally hold up a 30-day extension of unemployment benefits?
The office of State Tax Commissioner Christopher G. Morris is offering a series of tips to help West Virginians file their Personal Income Taxes this year.
One of the individuals indicted last summer on meth-related charges had her bond rescinded this week following her arrest Tuesday on DUI charges in Ripley.
Woman arrested for stabbing a man with a fork, thief swipes dough from cupcake shop, one man's effort to create the coolest laundromat ever, plus a recent Jackson Newspapers story all make headlines in this week's edition of Gatehouse News Service's This Week in Weird.
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