The National Endowment for the Arts IS Stimulative!

I just heard Representative David Dreier, Republican of California and Ranking Member of the House Rules Committee, say that the $50 Million in the Stimulus Bill allotted to the National Endowment for the Arts was "not stimulative."

I have to take issue here, and, as an example, I will point to my little village of Shepherdstown, West Virginia (at the last census with a population of 800). We're about an hour and a half from Washington DC or an hour from Baltimore, and our local Shepherd University is the home of a wonderful arts event, The Contemporary American Theater Festival (CATF) which will enter its nineteenth season this year.

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A very small percentage of Obama's $825 Billion Economic Stimulus Plan is supposed to be spent on the arts, primarily through the administration of the NEA and the NEH. Already there has been protest from the political right against such expenditures - primarily coming from places like the American Heritage Foundation and the Cato Institute.

The argument is that this is really "pork" money and does not stimulate the economy. Yet it has been pointed out by the NEA that the very small amount of money ($50 million for the National Endowment for the Arts) when compared to the overall $825 Billion is actually placed more efficiently into the economy and establishes over 6,000 jobs. While the arts organizations that are financed by NEA grants may have only 2 or 10 or 25 employees, there are hundreds of organizations and they add up to the same kind of impact as a large corporation like an airline or a bank.

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This week, the National Education Association, America's largest teacher's union at 3 million strong, is holding its National Conferences in Philadelphia. During part of the conference, Democratic Presidential Candidates had the opportunity to address the teachers about their visions for the future of public education in our country. Addressing the convention were Senator Clinton, former Senator Edwards, Senator Dodd, Representative Kuncinich, Senator Obama, and Governor Richardson. A lot of what was said was standard red-meat Democratic rhetoric (fully funding No Child Left Behind, increasing teacher pay, bridging the performance gap). These are very important goals, and it is great to see that they are pretty much universally agreed upon by our field of candidates.

However, Senator Obama struck a more interesting chord with his call for merit pay, a position widely regarded with suspicion amongst public school teachers.

Obama said teachers' salaries should be increased across the board, but he also said there should be fair ways of measuring teacher performance and compensating teachers accordingly.

"If you're willing to teach in a high-need subject like math or science or special education, we'll pay you even more. If you're willing to take on more responsibilities like mentoring, we'll pay you more," Obama said.

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Yesterday, I went to Philadelphia to see John Edwards speak at the NEA annual meeting, then later at the ACORN presidential candidates forum.  Today's diary focuses on the NEA event.  Tomorrow I will post one on ACORN.

Edwards gave a rousing speech on education that was well received by the NEA audience.  Follow me below the fold for video and some key points:

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Today, Labor Day 2006, American working families are struggling because the Bush White House and the most corrupt Congress in history have failed to keep their promises to the American people. They have broken their "Contract with America," and the basic promises of the American dream, the values we all share, are not being honored: honesty and integrity in our government, economic prosperity, a health care system that works for everyone, fiscal responsibility, and a strong public education system. I am totally committed to taking the bold steps necessary so that Texas working families can live the dream and see the promises fulfilled that are the heart of our democracy. Together we can stand for honesty, hard work, respect, and opportunity for all Americans. Together, working families in Texas can do better.

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