MORE ON THE STIMULUS BILL FROM THE NY TIMES

One would be hard pressed to argue that a call from Robert Redford to the speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi, helped salvage money for the arts in the economic-stimulus bill last week. But it certainly didn’t hurt as arts-friendly members of the House and Senate struggled to preserve $50 million for the National Endowment for the Arts in the final version of the recovery package, approved by both houses on Friday…

“We had the facts on our side,” said Representative Louise M. Slaughter, a New York Democrat who is co-chairwoman of the Congressional Arts Caucus. “If we’re trying to stimulate the economy, and get money into the Treasury, nothing does that better than art.”

Among the legislators pushing the conference committee to include the arts money were Ms. Pelosi; Representative Norm Dicks, Democrat of Washington, chairman of the House Interior Appropriations and the Environment Appropriations Subcommittee, which oversees the arts endowment; Representative David R. Obey, Democrat of Wisconsin, chairman of the House Appropriations Committee and a member of the conference committee; and Ms. Slaughter, who as chairwoman of the Rules Committee has clout over amendments. Read More.