Sherwood Boehlert: “Despite a few mistakes, the National Endowment for the Arts has worked and continues to work remarkably well. It…”

“Despite a few mistakes, the National Endowment for the Arts has worked and continues to work remarkably well. It provides funds on the basis of excellence, not merely population. That is not an elitism, that is the time-honored conservative principle of giving money where it will be used most effectively. Under the Ehlers plan, the distribution of funds on population, every single State except one, every single State except one loses money. The discretionary grants are gone and the 37 percent distribution formula means every State loses money. The only place that came out on the plus side of the ledger is when you distribute money for students and then you give them 90 cents apiece to buy crayons and construction paper. Support the NEA.”