Trump Proposes Eliminating National Endowments For Arts And Humanities

United States President Donald J. Trump holds a joint press conference with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel in the East Room of the White House in Washington, DC on Wednesday, February 15, 2017. Credit: R... United States President Donald J. Trump holds a joint press conference with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel in the East Room of the White House in Washington, DC on Wednesday, February 15, 2017. Credit: Ron Sachs / CNP - NO'WIRE'SERVICE - Photo by: Ron Sachs/picture-alliance/dpa/AP Images MORE LESS
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In his budget blueprint released on Thursday, President Donald Trump proposed completely eliminating the National Endowments for the Arts and Humanities.

The endowments have long been targets of conservatives, but Trump is the first President to call for their elimination entirely.

The NEA had been under threat in the 1980s, under President Ronald Reagan, and again in the 1990s under President George H.W. Bush. In the 1990s, Republicans were aghast that the Corcoran Gallery funded a provocative project by photographer Robert Mapplethorpe and lawmakers successfully restricted the NEA’s grant making process.

The NEA and NEH have been funding targets as recently as 2014, when Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI), who now serves as speaker of the House, called for their elimination in his 2015 budget.

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Notable Replies

  1. Going forward, all works of art must feature approved likenesses of Dear Leader.

  2. Or Leonardo DiCaprio might call him next week and he’ll change his mind after a 10 minute phone call.

    Who the hell knows.

    Such is life with Thimble Thumbs.

  3. No degenerate “formalism” in the arts, “Trumpist Realism”, mindless reality teevee, and re-runs of “Hee-Haw”, that’s the ticket.

Continue the discussion at forums.talkingpointsmemo.com

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