Arts Funding

Re the Sept. 14 Opinion interview with Sidney Yates, “Fighting for Arts Funding in America”:

Rep. Yates just doesn’t get it after 50 years. It is not the art or the controversy of the art--it’s my (the taxpayer’s) money.

Anyone who tries to make a comparison of the Department of Defense to the National Endowment for the Arts is clearly out of touch with the big picture. If NEA money goes to a string quartet so they can have fun and play music in Jepson, Iowa, that’s nice. But I work hard all day. I have so much money taxed out of my paycheck for these pet programs I am beginning to think I should go out and take some violin lessons and get a grant from the NEA. That would sure beat slugging it out in the traffic every day.

JOHN N. ENGELS

Northridge