Wash Times: NEA Crossed Line From Persuasion to Coercion
by Big HollywoodWashington Times Editorial:
National Endowment for the Arts Chairman Rocco Landesman owes American taxpayers an explanation.
Last month, a top NEA official gathered artists and arts organizations in a conference call that also included a White House official and clearly asked the arts community to get behind the administration’s agenda, including the current top priority, health care. A mere 48 hours after the request, 21 art organizations led by an arts lobbying organization, Americans for the Arts, released the first of two public statements endorsing health care reform and urging Congress to act.
Rocco Landesman
Such a meeting would be disturbing enough — a grant-maker backed by the White House asking grant recipients to support the administration agenda crosses the line from persuasion to coercion. Artists and arts groups that want funding from the NEA to continue cannot help but feel pressure to comply with the administration’s wishes. That alone is wrong.
Health reform backers get seven-figure grants
However, when you add in the nearly $2 million the NEA handed out to those very arts organizations in the four months before the conference call — including more than $1 million in stimulus funds — it is time to start wondering whether a line has been crossed from merely unethical into the land of special prosecutors. Such an investigation might be the only way to get straight answers.
So far, the administration’s response has been a stonewall. Yosi Sergant, then NEA communications director, denied that the NEA had organized the call or that he even had a copy of invitations to join the call. That was not true. A copy of the e-mail invitation from Mr. Sergant himself through his NEA e-mail account is now available on the Web. After this episode, the NEA communications office no longer responded to phone calls or e-mail.
You can read the full piece here.
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33 Comments
Since the MSM are not doing their jobs and "reporting" this story and stories like Van Jones and ACORN, it's no wonder these types of corruptions keep happening.
The Administration is just trying to get artists to "unite to make America a better place", as suggested by Michael Moore. Only a racist would be against making "America a better place".
/sarc
The Obama administration stonewalls because they got the concepts of
Opaqueness and Transparency arse backwards.
"Woe unto those that call that which is good evil and that which is evil good. That put night for day and day for night and opaqueness for transparency and transparency for opaqueness.
It's time that the NEA went the way of ACORN and be cut off from WE THE PEOPLES money.
Just two words calls it:
Graft, corruption, intimidation…no wait…three words…Graft, corruption, intimidation and leftist agenda…five, five words, yes, that's it, five words, Graft, corruption, intimidation and leftist agenda!
(Apologizes to the Pythons boys).
Not Over.
"National Endowment for the Arts Chairman Rocco Landesman owes American taxpayers an explanation."
To hell with that he owes us our money!!!
"a grant-maker backed by the White House asking grant recipients to support the administration agenda crosses the line from persuasion to coercion."….The proof of "coercion" is in the fact that they did what the were told/asked to do. Believe me when I say this administration will go into the books as being the most corrupt in the nations history. It seems to me unscrupulous men always seem to gravitate towards the liberal side of politics because the people who live there are ideologs and are easy to fool. You can always be sure that when this administration says it wants something for the public ,it's goal is, it wants it "for themselves" and it wants it "from" the public
That's the issue right there: ==>> "…when you add in the nearly $2 million the NEA handed out to those very arts organizations in the four months before the conference call — including more than $1 million in stimulus funds — it is time to start wondering whether a line has been crossed from merely unethical into the land of special prosecutors…"
I am sure that I am not the only American citizen who thought it was a giant smoking cannon when the NEA was given so much of the taxpayers' money for the supposedly "shovel ready" "projects" that the Porkulus was alleged to be for.
I received a number of harassing comments on one of my websites soon after the Porkulus passed, also, from obviously leftwing "artists" harassing me as a Conservative, all linking or originated from a few "arts centers" which I looked up and found are connected to…horribly…ACORN and/or "community" groups of similar association (one in San Jose, CA, one in Colorado Springs, CO).
That's the issue right there: ==>> "…when you add in the nearly $2 million the NEA handed out to those very arts organizations in the four months before the conference call — including more than $1 million in stimulus funds — it is time to start wondering whether a line has been crossed from merely unethical into the land of special prosecutors…"
I am sure that I am not the only American citizen who thought it was a giant smoking cannon when the NEA was given so much of the taxpayers' money for the supposedly "shovel ready" "projects" that the Porkulus was alleged to be for.
I received a number of harassing comments on one of my websites soon after the Porkulus passed, also, from obviously leftwing "artists" harassing me as a Conservative, linking, referencing or originating from a few "arts centers" which I looked up and found are connected to…horribly…ACORN and/or "community" groups of similar association (one in San Jose, CA, one in Colorado Springs, CO).
And so, as with "community organizing" and "housing," what we see here is what sure looks to be a big circle of con artists using whatever tag or placard or name works in order to con more money out of the taxpayers.
Here's one of the culprits…"Art Ark" http://events.mercurynews.com/san-jose-ca/venues/...
Here's one of the culprits…"Art Ark" http://events.mercurynews.com/san-jose-ca/venues/...
…"artists" "housing community"…yaddayaddayadda…also associated with group in Colorado Springs, CO and as likely nationwide in other areas where they're burrowing in.
i'd offer them a shovel, but they're doing a fine job of digging their hole themselves…
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I wonder if we took all the money we send out to support these groups that don't have the best interest of America in mind when they act if we would have enough money to fund the health care program. Funding the arts to support a political agenda doesn't feel right.
I wonder just how much money we waste in Govt spending and how that money could be used for real value programs for the American people.
I wonder what would happen if we took back the bailout money and the funding for those groups/companies that did not act in Americas interest and instead spent that money on education. Do you think we might finally smarten up so another generation doesn't have to go through the bi-partisan bickering, pork spending, and bail outs?
hmmm… perhaps for my next zombie movie, I put in a scene of BO as a zombie, showing your US Gov' Healthcare at work. Maybe I can get a million or two in grant money that way.
Fairness would be to place a 90% tax on the net income of all those "we care for the little people" left-wing entertainers to pay for the NEA (which supports the poor, struggling "artists") as well as art programs in schools. However, because all taxes upon free enterprise operations are just passed on to the consumer, those greedy, hypocritical jerks would just pass on higher taxes to consumers of entertainment.
They aren't stonewalling, this is Chicago politics. Once power is obtained, nothing is off limits. Do what ever they can get away with, steam roll as many of their opponents as they can.
Lets see how Chicago politics plays out on the national level.
What we ought to do is take all the money being wasted on the NEA, and leave it in the pockets of the people who rightly earned it in the first place.
Do that and you'd see the economy pick up almost immediately.
Did they really think they could get away with this? Between this and ACORN – I really think it's time for a RESET of what we as taxpayers are really funding here. Now we really know why America is broke.
Well boys and girls it's too late the "fox' is already in the hen house. The only thing that will be left after the feathers hit the floor will be the debt those elitist leave us with. All the talk won't change the fact that our President has surrounded himself with corrupt unscrupulous men. The only thing that seems to slow them down is someone with a TV show that is willing to keep pointing out their thugery to the american people. The current administration is filling it's job openings with crooks, thieves, conmen, and cheats……I'm sick of it !!!!
Ha! Perfect!
I know, I know, you didn't expect it, but nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition! And let's not forget a fanatical devotion to the anointed one.
I don't think it's just Chicago politics. Remember that the Clinton administration did those same things, to the point that the Clintons were caught stealing items from the White House on their last day and had to give them back. It's Liberal/Democrat politics. As you said, do what ever they can get away with, steam roll as many of their opponents as they can.
The NEA basically supports films, art, etc. that no one will buy. The rest of us have to make films that we actually have to raise money for and make money from. Typical propaganda.
I agree, at its core, its politics, of the liberal persuasion. But there's a different flavor to this brand. The only adjective I can think of is "Chicago Politics."
The only way I can think to describe it so far is, they care less about what their opponents think or do. They seem to count more on their base feeling the same. Which is why tea parties and bid DC demonstration are being down played.
They don't care if they have to stand there and proclaim the sky is orange, as long as they can turn out enough people to convince the press, the sky is indeed orange. And screw the people who point and say "duh, it's blue."
I'm still working on a larger thesis, which no doubt, BH will be eager to post.
Landesman has a hideous sense of style. Good gawd. I wouldn't be caught alive in that clown costume.
So I'm currently working for a theatre company in a temporary management position. I was told, proudly I might add, that the company was waiting for some of Uncle O's stimulus money but I'm wondering now if it wasn't the NEA. Either way, if the company does receive the money from the government, I may have to disassociate myself from the company. I don't like propaganda and I refuse to be a part of the propaganda machine. Besides, there's the nausea factor in taking money from an administration with which I am absolutely opposed. My code of ethics won't allow it. Anybody out there have any work for a character actress with a great sense of humor, a relatively cheery disposition, and a work ethic the Puritans would be proud of?
This whole story makes me sick and it shows how conniving and manipulating this administration is.
Leftists are the most dangerous people in the world. They would stomp out free speech and have all of us listening only to state sanctioned media in a heartbeat if they could.
Manipulating the masses (what you say, do, eat, THINK) is their agenda. Freedom (except the freedom to kill babies) is the LEAST important thing to them.
test
socialist
Not mad about his tailor, either.
[...] September 4th I called the chairman of the NEA, Rocco Landesman, requesting a response to these inconsistencies as well as to request a statement from the NEA [...]
[...] September 4th I called the chairman of the NEA, Rocco Landesman, requesting a response to these inconsistencies as well as to request a statement from the NEA [...]
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