McCain's attacking of allocation for the arts fails on at least one major front. A number of the institutions and organizations that received funding help to promote tourism, which again, generates income for the economy. In larger metropolises and resort areas, these tourists may well be foreign nationals with dollars to spend. Tourism to visit a tourist attraction stimulates the economy in terms of the secondary purchases that the tourists make in order to avail themselves of these things. Hotels, meals, other entertainment, airfare in some instances, car rentals/mileage, taxes that benefit the local governing entities. The list goes on.
________________________________
From: Judith Turner <[log in to unmask]>
To: [log in to unmask]
Sent: Thursday, March 5, 2009 3:18:46 PM
Subject: Re: [MUSEUM-L] Political Friends of Museums
Interesting list, Gayle.
It doesn't appear that funding for any of these projects benefited institutions or research efforts in Arizona -- sour grapes, perhaps?
Funding for science, the arts and the humanities, including museums, libraries and archives, really, really really needs to be re-rationalized in this country. Of course, attaching pet projects to something like the stimulus bill is not going to achieve that but after all the cuts in recent years some legislators felt the need to help their local constituents.
The months after 9/11, and even more dramatically the last 6 months, show how empty the assurances that the private sector would pick up the slack left by Federal cutbacks turned out to be. One could make the case that the U.S. is now in worse shape than it was going into the 1930's in terms of meeting its citizens' need for an intellectual and cultural life in an affordable manner.
People need assistance locally right now yet local institutions are failing and/or flailing about. Museums that were free or charged a few dollars for admission 10 or 20 years ago (when the overall economy was in much better shape), now charge double digit admission prices to come in the door and add a similar bill for the latest blockbuster exhibit once inside ...
Judy Turner
Whitefish Bay, WI
========================================================= Important Subscriber Information:
The Museum-L FAQ file is located at http://www.finalchapter.com/museum-l-faq/ . You may obtain detailed information about the listserv commands by sending a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "help" (without the quotes).
If you decide to leave Museum-L, please send a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "Signoff Museum-L" (without the quotes).
=========================================================
Important Subscriber Information:
The Museum-L FAQ file is located at http://www.finalchapter.com/museum-l-faq/ . You may obtain detailed information about the listserv commands by sending a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "help" (without the quotes).
If you decide to leave Museum-L, please send a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "Signoff Museum-L" (without the quotes).
|
