A Strange Stimulus

An amazing transformation seems to be occurring around the country. The fluffy-clouded euphoria of “Obamination” seems to be clearing. Cutting through the obfuscation of campaign promises and mandates seemingly delivered by a Democratic landslide is the reality that America has taken on vast oceans of debt in the short tenure of the Obama administration with little or nothing to show for it. Folks rooting for both sides of the aisle are starting to realize that affordable energy and quality healthcare are in jeopardy if Obama and congressional leaders get their way. And, the hundreds of thousands of jobs to be “created or saved” have not appeared. A little digging has revealed some odd truths about the truckloads of stimulus money being heaped on the problem.

The Wall Street Journal reported this week that $80 million of the $787 billion Recovery and Reinvestment Act funds went to the National Endowment for the Arts. That was news to me and probably would be news to most Americans, if they ever heard about it. Orchestras, ballet companies, theaters, and film houses around the country—okay, truthfully a large number of them were in New York and San Francisco—got checks for $25k or $50k.

But the aspect of the story that will create the most rancor, assuming the information makes the mainstream news, is that the bucks went to fund projects that would certainly embarrass the congressmen who approved them. For example, San Francisco’s Frameline film house, which received 50,000 taxpayer dollars, recently released Thundercrack, billed as “the world’s only underground, kinky art porno horror film, complete with four men, three women, and a gorilla.” You just can’t make this stuff up. And then there is “The Symmetry Project”, a “study of the body's central axis” which apparently amounts to two nude people writhing on the floor.

It’s difficult to read about the recent exploits of the NEA and not remember photographer Robert Mapplethorpe. While Mapplethorpe received free publicity for his work, the NEA got hammered, and rightfully so, for funding his Cincinnati photography exhibit which included images of bullwhips installed in places where nothing was designed to be inserted and some misdirected urine. Speaking of urine, Andres Serrano’s photo of a crucifix submerged in the artist’s “own” brought national anger when Americans found out that NEA funds partially paid for a $15,000 award for Seranno’s “art”.

Perhaps a relevant side note to this story seems to be the long-standing battle of what is “art”. This goes beyond what constitutes a masterpiece. Americans seem to forever live in the shadow of our puritanical founding. The same images that capture some primordial imaginations also threaten the mores etched in us.

The arts are important. Funding the arts to provide opportunities for artists is important. Now maybe I’d see it differently if the NEA had sent me a big check to photograph the cast of Thundercrack. Whether it’s art or porn or something somewhere in between, forcing me to pay for it with my tax dollars is something I certainly can’t appreciate.

Budgeting--Washington Style

It’s been a tough Monday. A lot of people are hurting today. Some of them are very close to me. Most of them I don’t know. Another local employer announced it was closing, the third in a week’s time. And to make matters worse, I listened to Kenneth Heaghney, Georgia’s Fiscal Economist, speak at lunch. He presented a fresh set of U.S. and Georgia statistics—and they were very sobering. Georgia’s economy, much like the nation’s, continues to spiral downward. Surprisingly, the state’s unemployment levels have exceeded the nation’s.

It’s no surprise that Americans are conserving cash, sending the purchase of durable goods crashing downward. From cars to air-conditioners to washing machines, the choice to repair rather than purchase replacements seems obvious. Americans are frightened. Even those with seemingly secure jobs are cutting budgets, saving money for the unexpected. So why is it that our country’s leadership doesn’t see the same need?

Just days after signing a mind-boggling $787 billion stimulus bill, President Obama declared that it was time to begin work on the country’s budget deficit. To celebrate, he authorized a $275 billion mortgage plan. And today, while Obama was hosting a “fiscal responsibility summit”, Congress introduced an omnibus bill increasing spending over 2008 levels by 8.7%. And the Democrats are predictable--$1.2 billion more for WIC, $335 million for the FDA, $174 million for the EPA (read as “more regulation and higher energy prices”), and $77 million for the Department of Energy (read as “more government subsidies for those who don’t pay taxes”).

But spending is nothing new to Washington. There must be something that gets into the bloodstream of every politician when they reach DC. Spending bucks equates to votes, and votes keep them there. But if the first few days are any sign, this will be a very expensive four years. And somehow, all of us suddenly owe a few more trillion dollars. How many zeroes is that, anyway. And where’s my cut of the stimulus money?

And one last thought about stimulus money. Do you realize that between the bank bailout bucks, the stimulus plan, and the funds to shore up failing mortgages, Congress has spent nearly enough money to give every American a million dollars. Think about it.

Obama's History Begins Tomorrow

So history will be made tomorrow. At 11:30 AM, Senator Barack Obama will be sworn in as the 44th President of the United States. I suppose I always assumed there would be a woman president before an African American was elected to the oval office. In September of 2007, Representative Jim Marshall all but guaranteed to me that Hillary Clinton would be the next president. Nonetheless, her new boss takes office tomorrow.

The Obama campaign and inauguration have been purposefully aligned with Abraham Lincoln. From the announcement of his campaign for president on the steps of the old state capitol building in Springfield, Illinois, the same spot where Lincoln announced his campaign, to the use of the bible from Lincoln’s inauguration, Obama has made an overt effort to tie himself to Lincoln. And certainly there are clear threads connecting the two men. Being elected the first black president from the same state as the man who issued the Emancipation Proclamation does give Obama better claim to comparisons with Old Abe than many who come before him.

But comparisons of Obama to a past president might be better directed at FDR. Based on his intentions to spend billions on stimulus packages, infrastructure investments, and job creation programs, Obama certainly sees himself as brokering the next “New Deal” for Americans. Obama arrives on the scene at a critical time. Like every recession, America’s economy can and will recover on its own. But Democrats and the president elect are determined to spend billions that our nation doesn’t have in the name of economic recovery.

Perhaps nothing can foretell of how the new president and Democratic leadership will approach the country’s problems any better than the price tag of this inauguration. Four days of celebrating the coming of Obama , including the favorite foods of Abraham Lincoln, will costs all of us a significant chunk of $150 million, a new record by a considerable margin.

So unlike Clinton and McCain, Obama proved to be superior at campaigning. But promises made along the campaign trail, many to the masses expecting a democratic president and Congress to fix all of their problems, have now come due. Huge stimulus packages will create worse deficits that may well prevent the hundreds of billions needed to fulfill Obama’s campaign promises.

The St. Petersburg Times is counting Obama’s campaign promises, currently at 510, and tracking action on each at http://www.politifact.org/. Rather than leaning on memories of the sixteenth president, Barack Obama now gets to make history of his own.