The federal spending bill HR244 was passed by the House of Representatives earlier this week, and not only were the NEA and NEH not cut to zero as the president proposed, their funding was increased, much to the chagrin of the conservative Heritage Foundation, which had this to share among their encouragements to vote no on the bill:

Coupled with these two bailouts, the omnibus spending bill also funds liberal priorities and initiatives. H.R. 244 includes millions in increased funding for Department of Energy (DOE) pet projects, national parks, Amtrak, Head Start, college tuition assistance, the National Endowments for the Arts and Humanities, the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), and even a Bureau of Land Management (BLM) sage grouse conservation project.

I’m still not sure how the arts, the humanities, parks, commuter trains, pre-K, and the sage grouse all became “liberal priorities.” I wonder whether anyone has told the sage grouse community about this, and whether their feathers will be ruffled by it.