Its an election year, Tom, and the Republicans want to stay in power so they promise everybody the moon - paid for by a multi-trillion dollar deficit. They then tell you that they'll bet the budget balanced in five years - conveniently at the end of Mr. Bush's second term - assuming he gets one. Mr. Bush and his GOP buddies in Congress have made the federal government bigger than ever because its how they preserve power.

The problem is that there are no checks and balances between Congress and the Executive branch. A Republican Congress made Clinton's two terms a better Presdency. And Republican Presidents serve the country better when there is a Democratic Congress. But when one party dominates these two branches dysfunction sets in.

That being said, I don't have a particular problem with a small amount of federal funding devoted to supporting the arts, so long as the private sector dominates. Publically-funded support for the arts does leverage a net positive economic benefit and improves community quality of life, in spite of some of the isolated examples and anecdotes of bad choices made by the NEA.