The Un-Funny Side of Removing Pastel Lights From the Stimulus
As we mentioned last week, Sen. Tom Coburn (R-OK) offered a successful amendment to the stimulus bill preventing any of its dollars from going to zero-gravity chairs, saunas, and rotating pastel lights.
The comic value of Coburn's crusade aside, his amendment also barred any money for parks, museums, theaters or any other arts organization that is struggling to survive the current economic downturn. And it looks like Democrats have kept that limitation after final conference talks on the bill.
As New York magazine reports, that's distressing news for cultural groups that call the Big Apple home -- and they're laying blame at the feet of Chuck Schumer (NY), the No. 3 Democrat in the Senate. Alliance for the Arts Randall Bourscheidt tells the magazine that Coburn's blanket limitation was
very prejudicial and, I think, intended to appeal to a constituency of Senator Coburn's which finds the arts an easy target for things they don't like. The surprising thing is that Senator Schumer voted for it.
Josh
Matt
Eric
I would be willing to bet that Sen Coburn has Art in his house, in his office in OK and in his office on the hill. I would also imagine that the Congressional gym has a sauna. So Sen Coburn something that good enough for Congressmen and women is not good enough for the American Public.
Fuck You Sen coburn, I will type on my zero-gravity chair with or without your support!
February 12, 2009 3:16 PM | Reply | Permalink
Depends on whether you consider pictures of Elvis painted on velvet to be "art"...
February 12, 2009 4:01 PM | Reply | Permalink
Coburn might have a few Kinkade art prints in his home.
http://www.thomaskinkade.com/magi/servlet/com.asucon.ebiz.home.web.tk.HomeServlet
If he doesn't, he should have.
To AdAdsurdum
Imagine the French Government revoking it's financing and maintenance of the Lauscaux cave paintings? Those paintings are an indication of the value of art. They were painted in dark caves with only the light of small oil lamps by a primitive people who had to spend most of their waking hours searching for food. How amazing is that?
February 12, 2009 5:44 PM | Reply | Permalink
Quite apart from the pastel-light issue, Elena (and yes, I'm sure Senator Coburn has plenty of Thomas Kinkade's work in his house and office), I'm very concerned about the fact that Nancy Pelosi demanded $30 million just so her pet mouse could get a haircut on Air Force One. Things like that can do great damage to bipartisanship.
February 12, 2009 3:46 PM | Reply | Permalink
This isn's a one shot deal. Can't funding for the Arts be included in another bill, at another time?
February 12, 2009 3:56 PM | Reply | Permalink
From the stim package document that was posted earlier, the NEA $50 Million is in the package. Not sure how they are going to square distribution of those funds with the Coburn amendment--kabuki theater?
February 12, 2009 4:03 PM | Reply | Permalink
Imagine the French government slashing the Louvre's budget during a downturn and cordoning off the Mona Lisa from public access, all this with its ensuing significant economic consequences. This is the sort of boneheaded thing that always happens in the United States whenever conservatives have a say in budgeting and spending. Did these medieval idiots not ever hear of the Renaissance and the role that culture has in society's economic blossoming? By medieval idiots I mean the Democrats who never stand up for the arts when the Republicans are ready to burn fiscally burn our books and paintings.
February 12, 2009 4:04 PM | Reply | Permalink
Sorry Michael, maybe you are being sarcastic but wasn't the whole Mouse thing a fabrication?
And yes Dorn, we could see arts funding in another bill, a smaller more focused bill hopefully. Let me say that I have a close relationship with education and it has been very sad over the years to see cuts continue year after year in the arts when it has been proven as a good outlet for kids and also good suppliment for main courses like math, science and english.
Are there really zero gravity chairs? If there aren't then why can't all the language that was submitted with it be rightly taken out for ridiculous-ness?
February 12, 2009 4:04 PM | Reply | Permalink
You're saying the mouse isn't tying up all air traffic in Los Angeles with a $30 million haircut?
February 12, 2009 4:14 PM | Reply | Permalink
I am sitting on a so-called zero-gravity chair from Ikea. Italian red leather on the front, pleather on the back. It is set on a small globe and it rocks back and forth and swings around 360 degrees. It also has a lever making it go up or down and it has casters. It's just a fancy office chair. Because the sitter never actually sits still, it's called 'zero-gravity.'
If they were used in government offices for all the workers, they would reduce stress and backaches. That could cut back on sick leave.
February 12, 2009 6:06 PM | Reply | Permalink
It's not the haircut that's causing the problems, it's the style - The little critter has a GREAT love of mousse; getting all that product from LA to SF is bound to cause a bottleneck or two.
February 12, 2009 4:29 PM | Reply | Permalink
Apparently I am dense. Are you saying that this proposed environmental spending which is being characterized by many as "Pelosi's Mouse" is an actuality a move by enviro groups to limit the air traffic at LAX?
February 12, 2009 4:31 PM | Reply | Permalink
No, I'm just saying that Republicans have been in the business of making shit up for quite some time now. They're quite good at it. Expect "Pelosi's mouse" to dominate Fox and Politico tomorrow, the way Clinton's haircut and Pelosi's jet were taken seriously by a credulous media willing to be spun by GOP spinmeisters.
February 12, 2009 6:56 PM | Reply | Permalink
Sorry Michael. And I totally agree, the GOP is great a throwing shit at the public and waiting to see what sticks. I really wish the mainstream media did a better job of vetting rationality and facts bur hey it's the culture we live in, right? This could be as good as when the GOP said Reagan was fiscally conservative, how FDR's new deal policies failed, Sarah Palin being qualified for VP let alone GOV (but I guess there's Blogoyavich, even though I'm pretty sure he would have been left out of the room as a possible DEM VP candidate though), waterboarding not being torture, etc.
February 13, 2009 12:40 AM | Reply | Permalink
The word 'mouse' must have confused Drudge, the stupid ignorant fool.
It's really sad because wetland restoration is very important.
February 12, 2009 6:31 PM | Reply | Permalink
I'm sure he has some tasteful statuary in his home. http://wearefishermen.com/splash.html It is a shame we can't eject some of these guys, like Cornyn, Vitter, Inhofe and this chuggnut from the senate for having I.Q.'s in the "moron/cretin" range.
February 13, 2009 3:14 AM | Reply | Permalink