Free museums, music for furloughed US workers
It may not put a meal on the table for furloughed federal employees, but some U.S. museums and symphonies are supplying food for the mind in free admission for workers affected by the longest partial federal government shutdown in U.S. history.
With the shutdown in its fourth week with no end in sight, cultural institutions from Massachusetts to Oregon are moving to help unpaid federal workers spend some of their otherwise idle hours with loved ones enjoying art, science history or music. Museums in at least 27 states, along with at least 19 orchestras, offered free admission to federal workers who have unpaid time on their hands. Institutions range from The Metropolitan Opera in New York to the San Diego Air & Space Museum, home of the Apollo IX Command Module, which helped pave the way for man to walk on the Moon.
Nearly 200 furloughed employees have taken advantage of an offer from the Philadelphia Museum of Art, which waived its admission fee for each furloughed worker plus one guest, said museum spokesman Norman Keyes. Fine art highlights at the museum, whose front steps were made famous in the “Rocky” movie series, include Van Gogh’s “Sunflowers” and an array of Rubens and Renoirs.
“Museums can offer a place both to get away from the fray and to recharge, and to gain perspective,” Keyes said. “It will not solve the shutdown crisis, but it can help build positive experiences during a difficult time.”
Chicago’s Museum of Science and Industry has also waived admission fees for each furloughed worker plus two guests for the duration of the shutdown. Star attractions include a German U-boat submarine seized in 1944, the only one captured during World War II. It is the length of a city block, the museum boasts on its website.
Symphonies from Boston to Akron, Ohio, offered no-cost concert tickets to ease the stress of wondering when your next paycheck will be issued. “Great music has the power to inspire, reduce stress and ease burdens,” said Joseph Giunta, who conducts the Des Moines Symphony.
“We invite federal employees to join us as our guests for an upcoming Masterworks concert,” said Giunta, noting each worker was offered two tickets which otherwise sell for $20 apiece or more. Much of the federal workforce lives in or around Washington, D.C., but these people may be out of luck. That is because premiere cultural institutions such as the Smithsonian’s museums, galleries and zoo, which are always free to the public, remain closed to all for the remainder of the shutdown. REUTERS
Entering the 28th day on Friday, America continues to feel the pain of the longest ever government shutdown and with no political resolve in sight, it only threatens to get worse and give its citizens nightmares.
Politically, it has started to get worse, with President Donald Trump cancelling his World Economic Forum visit to Davos and postponing House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s trip to Brussels, Egypt and Afghanistan, escalating a war of words with the latter.
Later, he moved on Friday to limit travel by Congress members during the partial shutdown by barring them from using government planes without prior written approval.
A bitter political divide has set in, hinting at no resolve to this logjam.
While much has been in the public domain—about the unpaid 800,000 Federal workers, tourism taking a hit at museums and national parks, about many departments facing closure or having closed shutters and a large section of American citizenry not being able to avail the public benefits due to the shutdown; one surprise casualty—many marriages have been hanging fire, as these could not be certified!
Worse, these apart, now think-tank experts and media have started to look ahead and fear “long-term pains”, including a spiral effect on low-income households, investment scenario and the country’s overall economic growth rate taking a dip in the end.
An opinion poll in the New York Times said that the government shutdown and a lateyear slump in the stock market have eroded Americans’ optimism for the economy and support for President Trump’s economic policies. “The decline in confidence is widespread—among Democrats and Republicans, high and low earners—and it suggests mounting danger for Mr. Trump and the economic expansion that he claims as a strong point of his presidency. Sustained drops in confidence often signal dampened consumer spending in the months ahead, and can be the precursor to broader economic downturns,” the NYT survey wrote.
Washington Dc-based Center for American Progress (CAP), a leading think-tank, has come out with a report reflecting on “long-term effects of the shutdown on low-income families”.
Talking to The Sunday Guardian, Donovan Hicks, CAP’S research associate and lead author of the report said: “President Donald Trump recently claimed that he can relate to the strain experienced by federal workers living paycheque-to-paycheque. However, his efforts to prolong the current government shutdown—already the longest in US history—suggest otherwise. In addition to furloughed federal workers, this cruel, manufactured crisis has added immeasurable uncertainty to already stressed low-wage workers and families, disproportionately harming low-income families with children, people with disabilities, and seniors.”
Worse, says Hicks: “The credit ratings of these lowincome families who plan the month according to their wages have already got into jeopardy, with salaries and wages getting affected.”
The CAP report says “what’s even more concerning is that public safety is being compromised”. Says Hicks: “As the shutdown persists, a number of domestic violence programs are preparing to curtail services as funding dries up. On a single day, over 70,000 survivors access lifesaving services from domestic
Think-tank experts and media are fearing “long-term pains”, including a spiral effect on low-income households, investment scenario and US’ overall economic growth rate taking a dip.