Politico: File this under: Did Harry Reid just say that?
In the middle of his tirade against House Republicans' "mean-spirited" budget bill on the Senate floor Tuesday, the Senate Majority Leader lamented that the GOP’s proposed budget cuts would eliminate the annual "cowboy poetry festival” in his home state of Nevada.[...]
“The mean-spirited bill, H.R. 1 … eliminates the National Endowment of the Humanities, National Endowment of the Arts,” said Reid. “These programs create jobs. The National Endowment of the Humanities is the reason we have in northern Nevada every January a cowboy poetry festival. Had that program not been around, the tens of thousands of people who come there every year would not exist.”[...]
For the record, the National Cowboy Poetry Gathering is in Elko, Nev., next January. The 28th annual festival, a “week-long celebration of life in the rural West, featuring the contemporary and traditional arts of western ranching culture,” is expected to draw thousands of people, according to the festival’s website.
- Who knew there was even such an animal as "Cowboy Poets"?
- If "tens of thousands" of people are coming to see the Cowboy Poets, then why not charge a little extra at the door and skip the government funding all together?
- If Republicans cannot cut such a silly and needless waste of taxpayer dollars like this, then this once great republic is lost.
- Harry Reid's big mouth can be like Christmas in July.
Via: Politico
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5 comments:
If cowboy poetry is responsible for "tens of thousands of people" existing, maybe we should just export a few good gunslinging limericks to help reverse the European population decline.
Can the cowboy poets gather without federal aegis?
Somehow the concept of cowboy poets reciting cowboy poetry without federal underwriting make sense from a 'cowboy' perspective.
Or is it just me?
I used to live in Nevada, but I'm so glad to have escaped the state that is or recently was dead last in the nation in just about every measurable way. Thank you Harry Reid.
Course no state is immune. The state I live in now has a dedicated Poet Laureate that gets paid only through government funds. And I can’t think of a person I know he even knew this guy existed.
I hate to admit this, but I've attended the Cowboy Poetry event in Elko. There's more to it than just poetry. That being said, it shouldn't be supported financially by the govt. Charge more for admission and concessions.
I enjoy Cowboy Poetry, but I think if it's really important to the economy, like the Strawberry Festival or the Pumpkin Festival in Ohio, then the supporters of it can . . . support it.
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