January 15, 2019 3:20PM 

# Welfare Cowboy 

By [Chris Edwards](https://www.cato.org/people/chris-edwards) 

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A reporter called the other day to ask what I thought about the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) giving subsidies to the [National Cowboy Poetry Gathering](https://www.nationalcowboypoetrygathering.org/) in Elko, Nevada. The government appears to have given the cowboy poets hundreds of thousands of taxpayer dollars over the years.

As the symbol of rugged individualism in the American West, I’m surprised cowboys aren’t embarrassed to take government hand-outs. The amount of money is not large, but when private groups get hooked on subsidies they become tools of the state. They lose their independence and may self-censor.

From the government’s perspective, subsidies placate dissent and encourage subservience. I’m not just talking about cowboys, but recipients of all the federal government’s more than 2,000 subsidy programs.

The NEA [launched](https://www.arts.gov/about/40th-anniversary-highlights/western-folklife-center-cowboy-poetry-gathering-revives-traditional-art-form) the poetry subsidies in 1985 to fix the negative image of cowboys as “strong, silent types.” Bikers and gun owners also have image problems, so we might expect the NEA to next sponsor poetry at the [Sturgis Motorcycle Rally](http://sturgismotorcyclerally.com/) and the [Crossroads of the West Gun Show](https://www.crossroadsgunshows.com/).

I’m not receiving any NEA subsidies, but I nonetheless crafted a song sung to the tune of [Rhinestone Cowboy](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8kAU3B9Pi_U):

> “Welfare Cowboy”
> 
> 
> *I’ve been studyin’ the budget so long*
> 
> 
> *Complainin’ about the wasteful mor-ons*
> 
> 
> *I know every hand-out in the dirty hallways of Congress*
> 
> 
> *Where money’s the name of the game*
> 
> 
> *And our taxes get washed down the pork-barrel drain*
> 
> 
> *There’s one program so surprisin’*
> 
> 
> *On the road Elko, Nevada*
> 
> 
> *That’s where NEA shines a light on its inanity*
> 
> 
> *Like a welfare cowboy*
> 
> 
> *Writing poetry for a subsidized gathering*
> 
> 
> *Like a welfare cowboy*
> 
> 
> *Getting hand-outs from people they don’t even know*
> 
> 
> *And offers gained from a* [*lobbying*](https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1995/02/06/neas-voice-backed/88d4e862-1262-4da0-b3e0-2403c638e9a2/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.7164d694bf47) *lasso*

Note: the cowboy poets appear to have received [about $35,000](https://www.arts.gov/sites/default/files/FY18_GrantAnnouncement2.7.18_Statev3.pdf) every year or two from the NEA since the 1980s. They also receive support from the [Nevada government](http://nvculture.org/travelnevadabiz/wp-content/uploads/sites/14/2018/08/TravelNevada-FY17AR.pdf) and [City of Elko](http://www.elkocity.com/2018%20Elko%20Final%20Financial%20Statement.pdf).

##### Related Tags 

[Tax and Budget Policy](https://www.cato.org/tax-budget-policy) 

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