President’s funding cuts just don’t add up

I’m basically a numbers guy. I’ve been a partner in a local CPA and financial-services firm for more than 30 years, so when President Donald Trump’s budget was revealed, I focused on the numbers. The suggested $54 billion increase for defense and public safety spending would be balanced by an equal amount of cuts everywhere else. Among the many independent agencies destined for funding elimination are the National Endowment of the Arts, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, and the National Endowment for the Humanities.

Federal funding for the CPB amounts to $445 million, with the majority of those funds going directly to public stations like WOSU in Columbus and more than a thousand others nationwide. As American citizens, we pay on average $1.35 annually to support free, noncommercial public-media programming and services. In contrast, the average consumer pays more than $840 annually for pay television.

Here’s the arithmetic crown jewel: Eliminating funds to public media and federally funded cultural agencies would reduce the federal budget by less than

percent. Let’s make things clear from the outset. The budget is merely a first draft. The president and the Office of Management and Budget director cannot enact their vision without the assistance of Congress. There will doubtless be much discussion about various facets of the blueprint. Some of the predicted dire budgetary consequences simply won’t happen. That being said, there is a broader assertion here which should be addressed.

Military strength in any country is important, but to promote safety and security at the expense of things that make up the fabric of a society cannot be endorsed. Might simply doesn’t make right. The NEA, CPB, and NEH, as mentioned above, would have all funding eliminated if the budget is adopted in anything close to its present form. What local repercussions would these cuts have?

At WOSU, federal funds help with the purchase of national programming like NOVA and PBS Kids. In addition, these dollars create local programming like “All Sides with Ann Fisher,” “Columbus On The Record,” “Broad & High,” and “In The Know.” (Full disclosure — I’ve hosted “In The Know” for 34 years). The point is, eliminating these funds won’t kill PBS or National Public Radio, but it will devastate many locally owned and operated public stations.

Ohio Humanities spends the lion’s share of its federal funding on grants that enable museums, filmmakers, authors, musicians, universities, scholars, and artists to enhance cultural experience across our state. These grants are the lifeblood of the individuals and organizations that receive them. Lack of support for the arts, public broadcasting and the humanities would potentially hurt the underserved most of all.

Rural public TV and radio stations simply do not have the donor support to keep operations going without federal assistance. The Ohio Humanities Chautauqua Tour for 2017 will visit Burton, Clifton, Warren, and Milan this summer. With no federal funding, smaller areas like these would miss out on five days of exciting education and historical entertainment opportunities. The numbers quoted above amply demonstrate that the proposed cuts will neither save the government much money nor fund greater defense spending.

The call for axing funding for our cultural agencies is a pointed attack on the value that we put in understanding the world through the arts, humanities and noncommercial public media. They help us to interpret our past, understand the present, and imagine the future. New fighter jets and warships cannot do so.

The subtle irony in the budget is that many of the people who voted for Trump will be marginalized. Access to programs that help the underserved in rural America and the urban working poor will be reduced or eliminated entirely. As an example, in 2016, Ohio’s public TV stations successfully collaborated to seek a special Corporation for Public Broadcasting grant to develop a new statewide emergency alert system, using the signals of the stations themselves. This effort is now a national model, and we are all the safer for it.

Our lives will simply be less meaningful if these draconian cuts are passed by Congress. Having an understanding and appreciation of our world through the arts, theater, literature, and media is a vital part of being an American. Preserving and even enhancing funds to our cultural agencies should be our goal.

Like I said, I’m a numbers guy. Trump’s budget numbers simply don’t add up.