There’s Irony in the Fate of NEA

Regarding “Why the NEA Deserves Full Support” (Counterpunch, July 7), I find it sadly ironic that our government wastes a lot of time and taxpayer dollars trying to control and censor what we should or shouldn’t be exposed to on television and CDs when they could be putting their energy and resources into supporting, rather than eliminating, an arts agency that promotes broader forms of entertainment and healthier arts alternatives.

By abolishing the National Endowment for the Arts, Congress will effectively increase viewership of every kind of TV programming, which many of them so loathe, as, one by one, community arts organizations and programs dependent on federal funding (and, yes, some of the best of what TV has to offer), will quickly fade away.

ANDY CHUKERMAN

Los Angeles