Seeing as how I can get at least 15 of you to vote on my blog, I want to extend my powers of persuasion onto a more significant poll.
Dear Texas artists and artist supporters,
Elections are the one time when politicians need us therefore we need to take advantage of our power and our vote. The arts industry receives significant financial support from the federal and state government. We need to ensure the support maintains or strengthens through our strength as a united Texas arts industry. Please take the following steps to help the arts industry in Texas. Please forward this e-mail along to all your artist colleagues.1. U.S. Senatorial Candidates Noriega and Cornyn have not recognized the Texas Arts industry. E-mail their campaigns asking why?
E-mail Sen. Cornyn at info@johncornyn.com and Rick Noriega at lillie@ricknoriega.com with the following message:
The 2 million Texas artists would like to know your platform on the $190 Billion Texas Arts industry. Please respond and post your platform on the following blog:
http://mayrichard.wordpress.com/2008/10/07/cornyn-and-noriega-small-business-knows-your-no-answer-is-an-answer/2. Vote. But, before you vote for your U.S. House of Representative, please review the following Americans for the Arts report card grading your Texas U.S. House of Representative at:
http://mayrichard.wordpress.com/2008/10/08/please-vote-with-the-2008-congressional-report-card-for-the-arts-as-a-guide/3. Contact your state House and Senate candidates as The Texas Commission on the Arts budget has been in jeopardy for the past years and Texas artists need to unite for state officials to support the arts. Use the following blog to ask their support and platform for the arts in Texas:
http://mayrichard.wordpress.com/2008/10/09/texas-elections-what-is-your-platform-regarding-the-texas-arts-industry/There are strength in numbers and we need to show our strength through numbers. Please go to these blog postings as the blog program will show how many persons visit the site. Forward the blog to your artist colleagues to do the same. We will use the blog visit numbers to prove grassroots support for the arts in Texas to our state and federal elected officials. You have been very successful in representing and promoting the arts to Texas’ elected officials. Please keep up the great work as each of you have made a difference in helping the arts politically in Texas. Look what you have accomplished:
http://mayrichard.wordpress.com/the-arts-alliance/http://wordpress.com/tag/arts-alliance-arts-politics/
I’ll tell you ’bout what I sees.
Filed under: Uncategorized
I’m a bit more concerned about who our next President will be. Obama has said a lot of great things about the arts and funding. But he also has Shepard Fairey as his official artist. Fairey is a known art thief and copyright violator. Obama won’t make a stand against the orphan works bill. Add up the facts and it could equal the rights of artists being stripped.
We, the people of the United States of America, are not a democracy. We are a constitutional republic.
I understand all the hoopla about the presidential race. After all, it is a chance to “kill your father”: Powell Endorses Obama, “I think we need a president who is a generational change.”
I’m cool with that, but the president is only one of the officials we can elect. We get 2 Senators and 32 Representatives in the US Congress for Texas. That’s 3 legislative reps to 1 executive rep.
Sometimes the Federal government is too big to see the smaller things that matter to us. That’s okay because your state also has laws and representatives for you. There are 31 Texas Senators and 150 Texas Representatives. You elect one of each plus the Governor and Lt. Governor. That’s 2 legislative reps to 2 executive reps.
Maybe our state can lead the way in protecting appropriate rights copyright and otherwise. Just look at California, Massachusetts and Connecticut.
Don’t count on just one high ranking official. Get as many people on your side as you can.