Sarah Palin trashes National Endowment for the Arts

Television commentator and half-term Alaska governor Sarah Palin trashed the National Endowment for the Arts recently, describing the agency as "frivolous" in a Thursday interview on a Fox News talk show.

"NPR, National Endowment for the Arts, National Endowment for the Humanities, all those kind of frivolous things that government shouldn't be in the business of funding with tax dollars -- those should all be on the chopping block as we talk about the $14-trillion debt that we're going to hand to our kids and our grandkids," Palin told right-wing host Sean Hannity. "Yes, those are the type of things that for more than one reason need to be cut."

Palin did not elaborate on what the other reasons might be for chopping the NEA budget. But the government of every major civilization in world history has also prominently funded the arts.

The comment about the NEA came during a discussion of the ailing U.S. economy. Palin is certainly conversant with frivolous activity, but her grasp of the economy is weak.

Debt reduction would barely be affected by penciling out the small federal arts agency, which currently operates on a $161-million annual budget. Palin's support of a federal subsidy for the notorious "bridge to nowhere" in her state became a campaign issue when she ran for vice president on the 2008 Republican ticket. That local project carried a price tag of $223 million.

"Reality is we have 15 million Americans who are out of work," said Palin. Nationally, the nonprofit arts and culture industry supports 5.7 million jobs and generates $166.2 billion in annual economic activity, according to Americans for the Arts. The NEA is one linchpin in that sizable economy.

In the interview Palin made no statement advocating similar budget cuts to her home state as she recommended for the NEA, which is also in the cross hairs of Washington's Republican leadership. Palin's Alaska gets $1.84 in federal spending for every dollar its citizens pay in federal taxes.

 

ALSO:

Art review: 'William Leavitt: Theater Objects' at MOCA

Art review: 'Gods of Angkor' at the Getty

Art review: 'Thomas Gainsborough and the Modern Woman' at the San Diego Museum of Art

 

-- Christopher Knight

@twitter.com/KnightLAT

Photo: Sarah Palin. Credit: Justin Lane / EPA

Comments

[hairy carrion]

What was it Jon Stewart called her recently? My sentiments exactly.

[jeans and jacket required]

Boy we really seem to be a dirt-poor country if we can't support just a little bit for the Arts.

I have a great idea on how to save some coin -- defund the military!

[Mike Moon]

If Sarah could hunt down anyone that disagrees with her by helicopter and shoot them would she do it?

The only thing that woman creates is publicity for herself. Why do we care what she thinks?

[mogatoo]

During the Second World War, Winston Churchill’s finance minister said Britain should cut arts funding to support the war effort. Churchill’s response: “Then what are we fighting for?”

[christiane obrien]

Well Ms Palin, you and your reality show show be on the chopping block, obviously you have not a creative bone in your body and may well explain why you don't seem to finish what you start:) Maybe you should have paid attention to the economic impact of the Arts on our economy but again that may too creative for you.

[IrritatedLiberal]

Liberals are not the problem. Its the uniformed and uneducated.

Thinking that something is accurate because some public figure makes a soundbyte that seems to answer all the problems is ridiculous. Yes, let's take money out of the economy and create a higher unemployment rate and a higher welfare state because that will fix the deficit and the recession. (Dripping sarcasm implied) All the money the federal government puts into funding many of these programs actually helps the economy grow.

People having jobs and being able to eat and support themselves will help fix the economy. For every dollar that goes into the arts, $18.00 goes back into the local economy.

Tying up loopholes that corporations and the rich take so they pay a lower percentage in taxes than the average middle or lower class tax payer will help our economy. Trickle down economics is a failure. That is what created the recession to begin with.

Don't buy into the rhetoric. Look at the facts. Funding for the arts and other social programs are a large part of the recovery following the Great Depression. Look to History not sound bytes.

[woof-woof]

"Wanna know where debt comes from? the 1.1 trillion dollars spent on war since 2001" Posted by: yeahright | March 23, 2011 at 11:58 AM

Guess again. Our federal budget in 2009 was 3.52 trillion dollars. If your figure is correct, on average, our wars consume about 3% of our federal budget.

[mdvga]

I agree with Sarah Palin. I like her and the values she promotes.
Thank you LA Times for making us aware of what she says.

[Marvin McConoughey]

Ms. Palin did not "trash" the NEA. Instead she make an astute observation that NEA should not be publicly funded. And it should not. We are in the midst of an historic realignment of our economy. Out debt is vaster than most Americans can grasp, out trade imbalance is unsustainable, and we must import more energy each year.

Cutting non-essential government spending in a time of great economic weakness is wise and should be greeted with journalistic respect.

[Ron Galan]

If we fund sports, then we should fund the arts.

[JoAnn]

she is truly given women a bad name!
stupid, ill informed, ignorant and just plane narrow minded!

A disgrace to this day and age!

[Irene Rykaszewski]

IDIOT! My kids wouldn't be going to college if I didn't have a job in the arts/cultural sector.

[The Clandestine Samurai]

Damn....this report threw me off for a second. When it mentioned the "Bridge to Nowhere", I thought it was talking about the path to Palin's brain.