Tuesday Asshat Trifecta, Part 3: Nikki Haley

So, our governor down here in lil ole South Carolina went to the opening of the 10th Anniversary Artisphere in Greenville recently, and while standing on the stage at the arts event, reiterated her lack of support for government funding of the arts.

Seriously. I half expect this woman to speak at a library and reaffirm her lack of support for knowledge.

Now, Haley did acknowledge the positive impact that events like Artisphere have on both the local community, and local economy, and did recognize that art adds to the quality of life, but when she was asked about her support of state funding for the arts through the South Carolina Arts Commission she said No.

No.

Let me get this queer: art is good for the community, art is good for the economy, art is good for quality of life, but, no, don’t ever expect the government to fund art programs.

And to make it all the more laughable that she would attend this event and once again state her aversion to funding the arts is the fact that Artisphere receives almost $20,000 annually from the South Carolina Arts Commission [SCAC; this year the event received another $5,000 from SCAC to help fund the installation of a new public art piece commemorating the 10th anniversary of the festival.

All told, $24,000 taxpayer dollars went directly into the very event that The Transparent Nikki Haley thinks is solely supported by the names of the sponsors on the banners surrounding the event.

But then Nikki Haley has never been a supporter of the arts. Every year during her first three years in office, Haley has either eliminated the SCAC in her Executive Budget Proposal, cut their funding, tried to put them in another part of the budget, and/or vetoed their funding.  And every single year, advocates, both the South Carolina House and Senate, in a bipartisan effort, has overturned her vetoes.

One more reason, my South Carolina readers, to vote Haley out of office? Her opponent in the race, State Senator Vincent Sheheen has been a champion for the arts in SC; he has lead bipartisan efforts to save arts funding, co-chaired the Senate’s Arts Caucus, and voiced his support on many public occasions.

One sees what art can do for the state, one doesn’t see at all.

source

That's Our Nikki: Haley Gets A Bipartisan Smackdown

You know, down here in South Carolina—or up here, over here, back here, depending on where you live—politics is all about the party. It’s the ‘R’ and the ‘D’ and, used to be, never the twain shall meet. But then South Carolinians elected Nikki Haley, the Transparent Nikki Haley, to the governor’s office and now, at least for the moment, the ‘R’s and the ‘D’s are on the same side.

See, last month Nikki tried to zero out money for the arts in her state budget plan and both parties said ‘No.’

The South Carolina House and Senate, both controlled by the GOP, worked together to override Haley’s veto of $1.9 million in funding for the South Carolina Arts Commission. The House vote was 105-8; the Senate 32-6.

“We had strong, solid bi-partisan support,” said Democratic Congressman James Smith, Jr., who started the legislature’s arts caucus. “It’s a smart investment for our state. It means jobs and economic opportunity and a better quality of life.”

South Carolina is just one of many states that have tried to severely cut arts programs in the past year; thirty-one states ultimately cut their art funding, and in Kansas, GOP governor, Sam Brownback, actually eliminated all funding for the arts.

So, seeing that the mood nationwide seemed to be leaning toward eliminating funding for the arts, it appeared that Haley’s plan to do the same would be foolproof, and fighting it off might be next to impossible. Until the ‘R’s and the ‘D’s decided to work together.

Betty Plumb, executive director of the South Carolina Arts Alliance: “It was very emotional. The people spoke up and said the state should take a leadership role in funding the only agency that provides access to the arts for everyone.”

Robert Lynch, president and chief executive of Americans for the Arts, calls the arts “big business in South Carolina.” Well, not really big; the arts funding accounts for just .032 percent of South Carolina’s $6 billion budget, but keeping the funding for the arts commission helps the state to develop its creative industries, which return more than $9.2 billion to South Carolina and supports more than 78,000 jobs. That’s a pretty great return on investment, something Guv’nah Nikki don’t understand. And she also didn’t understand that nearly all South Carolinians—some 92%—favor public funding for the arts.

It’s not all good news, however; funding levels for the arts in South Carolina are 16% lower in this budget than in last year’s, and 55% lower than in 2008. So the arts do, and did, take a hit this year as in years past, but it wasn’t completely eliminated.

But, while I am a huge proponent of arts funding, and I see what a difference it can make, even in my own small town, the greatest thing of all was seeing the Republicans and the Democrats—in freaking South Carolina of all places, one of the reddest states out there—work together to keep the arts going.

And smacking down Nikki Haley in the process was just a bonus.

A brilliant bonus.

via NYT