Nothing better to spend it on, other than a portrait of a war criminal?
"The cost of official portraiture varies, but can cost taxpayers nearly $50,00o; Watchdogs call for picking up a camera instead" by Christopher Lee, Washington Post | October 26, 2008
WASHINGTON - Behind every great man or woman in Washington there is a great painting. As the Bush presidency draws to a close, portrait artists can expect a surge in business from Cabinet secretaries and other elite political appointees who want to preserve their legacies - and their images - for posterity.
The Commerce Department, for instance, recently requested artists' bids to paint a likeness of Secretary Carlos M. Gutierrez, who has served since early 2005. The contract pays up to $35,000, and Gutierrez gets to select the winning painter, said Rick Dubik, the department's director of administration.
They think it is THEIR MONEY, folks! Not YOUR MONEY, their money!!!!
If this doesn't REEK of ELITISM to you, then you can't smell anymore!!!
The Coast Guard in August awarded a $12,000 contract for a portrait of Admiral Thad W. Allen, a drop from the $23,500 it spent in 2005 for a likeness of Allen's predecessor as commandant, Admiral Thomas H. Collins. "We have a very strong sense of history, and this is a critical part of it, having that formal tie to the past," said Coast Guard spokeswoman Angela Hirsch.
But investing taxpayer money in the time-honored art of official portraiture has become increasingly controversial. In a throwback to the Jimmy Carter era, fiscal watchdogs and government scholars suggest that high-quality photographs would be a more cost-efficient way to honor departing dignitaries, especially because most portraits are largely inaccessible to the public.
The price of original portraiture ranges widely. In a sampling, The
At the upper end of the scale, the Defense Department awaits the expected February completion of a $46,790 portrait of controversial former secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld. It will grace a Pentagon hallway lined with portraits of his predecessors, as well as one from Rumsfeld's first stint as defense secretary from 1975 to 1977, officials said.
"Thirty to $35,000, believe it or not, is actually cheap," said Dubik, who has overseen portrait commissions for several of the Commerce Department's 34 past secretaries. "Most of the artists out there, if you look at some of them and what their charges are, it's basically anywhere from $50,000 to $75,000."
Especially when the TAXPAYER is picking up the TAB for this SELF-AGGRANDIZING and EGOTISTICAL GARBAGE!!!
But you are SAVING $ on the deal!!! PFFFFFTTT!
By comparison, the $25,000 that NASA paid for a portrait of former administrator Daniel S. Goldin and the $29,500 that the Environmental Protection Agency spent for one of the outgoing administrator, Stephen L. Johnson, look like bargains.
Officials offer many rationales for spending to create original art, a tradition that has encompassed not only Cabinet agencies, but also the White House, Congress, and Supreme Court.
All paid for by YOU, taxpayers! Haven't they ripped you off enough?
And now, someone who DESERVES a PORTRAIT!
Former transportation secretary Norman Y. Mineta said the public should have more opportunity to view these works because they can be inspirational. He said he sometimes lingered in a hallway lined with portraits to consider his predecessors' accomplishments.
"As I go down the hallway looking at these, I just sort of thank and salute these former secretaries for the job they did," Mineta said. "And, hopefully, as some future secretary is looking at my portrait, either in transportation or commerce, they might say, 'Hey, Norm. Thanks for the job you did.' " --more--"
