Dem Stimulus Funds Puppets and Explicit ‘Arts’ Shows, But Not Jobs

July 28, 2009

Dem Stimulus Funds Puppets and Explicit ‘Arts’ Shows, But Not Jobs
With Middle Class Families Struggling, Democrats Literally Spend Taxpayer Money on Puppet Shows, ‘Lawyers for the Arts’, Alternative Documentaries in San Francisco

Washington- The National Endowment for the Arts recently unveiled an astounding rundown of how they plan to spend their piece of the stimulus pie – and American taxpayers can thank Nancy Pelosi for directing their money to the latest round of government waste. After Pelosi and her Democrat foot soldiers caused an uproar over the need for taxpayer dollars to stimulate the economy, Americans are left with a trillion dollar tab and two million jobs lost. And what exactly did these taxpayer dollars contribute to? According to the NEA, $50 million were allocated to various projects ranging from puppet shows to pornography – many of which in Pelosi’s own backyard.

“We’ve always known that Nancy Pelosi likes to be a puppeteer, but spending taxpayer money on puppet shows and theaters that preview pornography seems particularly egregious even for San Francisco,” said NRCC Communications Director Ken Spain. “Democrats promised results with the stimulus package, but they continue to gamble with billions of taxpayer dollars on frivolous expenditures while middle-class families are suffering. If this is the Democrats’ standard of accountability, how can Americans trust their plan for a massive government takeover of the healthcare system?”

There are about 120 American metropolitan areas struggling with unemployment rates higher than San Francisco’s 9.7 percent. While money is being funneled to Pelosi’s district with 9.7 percent unemployment, where are the jobs promised to areas such as Kokomo, Indiana, with 18.8 percent unemployment or El Centro, California, with 26.8 percent unemployment? The question needs to be asked – is it because Pelosi is pulling the strings?

Background:

Nancy Pelosi enjoys being a puppeteer to the House Democrats, or Pelosi Puppets, in her current rubber stamp Congress, but are puppet shows the best use of taxpayer dollars at this time?

$50,000 to the Center for Puppetry Arts in Atlanta, Georgia. The Center’s website is spotlighting “the Emperor’s New Clothes,” described as an “… interactive adaptation of Hans Christian Andersen’s The Emperor’s New Clothes” in which the “tailors are crafty foxes, the prime minister is a near-sighted camel, the councilor is a befuddled old walrus, and the Emperor is a pig” that is “big and pink and loves to dress up in fancy.”

Pelosi’s hometown of San Francisco is receiving stimulus funds for a number of art projects. Isn’t there a better use of these funds to create much-needed jobs in California or anywhere else in the country?

$50,000 to Frameline in San Francisco, California which describes its mission as: “Frameline’s mission is to strengthen the diverse lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community and further its visibility by supporting and promoting a broad array of cultural representations and artistic expression in film, video and other media arts.”
$50,000 to “California Lawyers for the Arts, Inc.” which describes its mission as: “Aligning arts and environmental interests, our goal was to find ways to build a platform for a larger role for the arts in raising public awareness of the pressing environmental concerns that threaten our global well being.”
$25,000 to CounterPulse in San Francisco, California, that just held a “Perverts Put Out” event on July 25^th which urged one to “Join your fellow pervs for some explicit, twisted fun!”
$25,000 to “The Marsh, a breeding ground for new performance” in San Francisco, California. The first two performances listed under the Marsh’s “playing now” calendar are: “East 14th: Tales of a reluctant Player” and “Lettuce Town Lies.” East 14th is described with the blurb: “Back in 1970’s Oakland, his stepfather forced him to be a straight A, God-fearing church boy – but he wanted to be just like his dear old Dad. Too bad he didn’t know dear old Dad was a pimp.” The blurb for “Lettucetown Lies” states: “He’s Gay. He’s Asian. He’s coming of age in Lettucetown, aka Salinas. If that’s not bad enough, he’s got a crush on a hick. If that’s not bad enough, his friends think fun is blowing up a field of lettuce. If that’s not bad enough, he has to sneak to the high school bathroom to buy drugs and Donna Summer records. Adolescence! It’s fun, its lies. In Lettucetown.”
$25,000 to the “San Francisco Cinematheque” in San Francisco, California. The Web site’s News Tab describes recent co-presentations such as a documentary on “the legendary underground filmmakers Mike & George Kuchar” and their film “Thundercrack” of which a reviewer raves: “Witness if you dare, the world’s only underground kinky art porno horror film, complete with four men, three women and a gorilla. Ecstasy so great that all heaven and hell becomes just one big old Shangri-La!”
$25,000 to Jess Curtis/Gravity, Inc. in San Francisco, California. One of their most recent works is the Symmetry Project, where nude couples are mounted on each other in various poses.

To view the NEA’s distribution of stimulus funds, click here http://www.nea.gov/recovery/grants/ARRA-direct-grants.php.

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