In a speech to the National Press Club, national Endowment for the Arts chief Dana Gioia takes a stab at artciulating an “overarching philosophy and vision for the once-embattled agency.” After “assailing the European subsidy system, Gioia defended the NEA’s budget even as he declared his intention to have the agency ‘fully funded’ within the next few fiscal years. Still, Gioia’s singling out of Italy (“some of these lavishly supported houses [have] not staged a single production in the previous year because of organizational problems, labor issues, or reconstruction”) could be seen as a reflection of Republican party orthodoxy: ‘Government support does not solve all artistic and organizational problems, or guarantee that an institution serves its local community’.”