POTUS Requests $33.4M to Close National Endowment for Humanities | Hacker News Reader

POTUS Requests $33.4M to Close National Endowment for Humanities

neh.gov

13 pointsdrallison13 comments

The National Endowment for the Humanities does great work. https://www.neh.gov/our-work. Why should the White House want to close it down.

Is the endowment strictly apolitical? That's the only reason I can think of that they would want it closed.

Unfortunately, many things are political merely by association in the public consciousness.

Here's the explanation, from the OP.

"NEH initiatives such as A More Perfect Union are supporting national convenings on K–12 civics education and projects that advance civic engagement and promote a deeper understanding of American history and culture."

Civics education, civic engagement, and deeper understanding are things the current administration does not want. They want to erase the history of the principles they espouse, and even more so its victims. They thrive when the public does not understand what's going on around them and where current policies have historically led. Even aside from their personal animus toward what they doubtless see as a bastion of liberalism, as a strategic choice NEH is exactly the kind of organization they want to shut down.

Eliminating the NEH (and that National Endowment for the Arts) has been a talking point for Republicans since at least the 1980s.

>Per the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2020, approved by Congress and signed into law by President Donald J. Trump on December 20, 2019, NEH’s FY 2020 budget is $162.25 million, the agency’s largest appropriation since FY 2010.

Am I reading this correctly? Two months ago the government gave them their largest budget in 10 years, now they are shutting them down (or proposing to)?

The President proposes a budget, and I believe has proposed huge cuts to NEH’s budget every year. I believe congress has to pass the budget though, and apparently they disagree with him on the NEH.

You are correct.

Specifically, all government spending bills must originate in the House of Representatives (which is currently controlled by the President's opposition). They must then be approved by the Senate and signed by the President (or his veto must be overridden, etc.) Non-spending bills can originate in the Senate and followed by approval by the House, but budget stuff has to start in the House or it doesn't go anywhere.

The President's proposed budget is a suggestion, at best, even in cases where his party controls both houses. In the current situation, it's a non-issue, except perhaps as a campaign talking point.

Artists and scholars of the humanities are overwhelmingly left-wing, so when the right-wing is in charge they try to eliminate it. This dance has been going on for decades.

I'd rather see the NEH and NEA be set up as actual endowments. Let the government drop a large sum once and then walk away. This way the "endowments" can function without political intrusion.

Not sure why you're getting downvoted because this is patently obvious and true.

This administration has been far more egregious in punishing opponents than any I can recall. For example the tax "cuts" were tax cuts for the lower incomes of flyover states and the GOP donor class but a very deliberate tax hike for blue state professionals (those earning $200-500k who live in the coast). This tax bracket went up and the SALT deduction was mostly eliminated.

All while hedge fund managers who reside in the Virgin Islands were given a 90% tax break.

Why is it "patently obvious" that public monies should be permanently allocated to an organization with no public oversight?

It's important to remember that in negotiations, both sides strategically establish their initial demands to be much more extreme than what they ultimately expect to receive. That is the case here. The Executive branch is posturing for budgetary negotiations. The NEH will likely survive, perhaps with a diminished budget, as a concession.

Stand by for “Piss Christ” essays any minute now.

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