Edward J. Rollins was White House political director from 1981-1985 and served as Ronald Reagan’s campaign manager in 1984
WASHINGTON — Polls show that record numbers of Americans think the country is on the wrong track. Anxious voters find no shortage of corroboration. Seeming proof of national decline is everywhere–the savings-and-loan bailout, an imperial Congress, overpaid executives at the top of underperforming companies, record murder rates in cities, declining school quality, an intractable drug epidemic, spiraling health-care costs and a flat economy riddled with deep pockets of regional recession. We haven’t felt good about ourselves, our country or our future since the Gulf War.
President George Bush’s decline in the polls mirrors this trend. As long as voters were concerned about foreign policy, his high standing compensated for lower ratings on domestic affairs. The Cold War’s end has changed the issue mix of presidential races forever.
The recession is an immediate problem, but that will decline in importance when the growth most economists predict resumes this spring. But the recession masks a deeper fear that our post-Cold War inheritance is a declining standard of living, with high-paying jobs and prosperity flowing overseas. That fear will not recede quickly.
With the recession ending by spring, campaign planners will be tempted to heave sighs of relief and run a status-quo candidacy against the uncertainties of a switch to the Democrats. That would be a serious mistake.
For Bush will never have more fertile ground to lay out a new GOP agenda that addresses the deep fear voters have about the future of America. He can capitalize on the public’s thirst for certainty by laying out a set of ambitious goals–in government, in jobs, in schools and in social progress.
He can start with government. A recent Gallup poll shows 20% blame Bush for the economy’s condition, but 54% blame Congress. Support for term limits and a Trumanesque campaign to fix what’s wrong with Congress will not only pay political dividends, but give him a governing coalition for a second term. Beginning with this week’s State of the Union, Bush should challenge Congress to pass his economic recovery program within 100 days and return it to him for signature. He should also push legislation on health-care reform, education and crime by similarly challenging Congress. To dramatize the push for excellence, he might consider national middle-class merit scholarships for college.
Nor should he give up on trade, despite the Japan trip. Presidential involvement in a few trade confrontations will make his claim to fight for American jobs more credible. Where unfair trading practices are found, executive action on import relief should be swift.
By establishing his vision for the post-Cold War future, contrasting his own activism with Democratic and congressional obstruction, showing that he thinks free trade should benefit us as well as our partners and fighting hard for the middle class–in essence charting a course the country thinks takes us in the right direction and gets us off the wrong track–he’ll win not only reelection but a mandate.
It’s also important to understand this is not the 1984 reelection. Compression of the primary calendar means there are fewer days between the first Iowa caucuses, Feb. 10, and Super Tuesday, March 10, and the Democratic winner-take-all rules could give a front-runner enough momentum to be the apparent nominee by April. There is little prospect for a protracted Democratic primary battle like 1984’s between Gary Hart and Walter F. Mondale.
Because the Democrats won’t be tearing each other apart as long, Bush should engage the Democrats early. But he needs to shore up his own vulnerabilities before he begins to contrast with the Democratic nominee. He needs to sharpen his middle-class message, starting with the economy and people’s fears about the future.
This should be done well before the summer Democratic convention, when the Democratic ticket will have a solid week of national television coverage to engage in Bush-bashing.
It’s also critical to understand this is not 1988. The Democratic nominee will also have learned a lesson from Michael S. Dukakis–define your candidacy before your opponent gets a chance to define it negatively for you. It’s highly unlikely the ’92 Democratic nominee will be kept on the defensive for months as was Dukakis.
This year’s presidential election takes place in politically uncharted territory. It is the first contest of the post-Cold War era, probably the last election with a World War II veteran running for President. World events, from Eastern Europe’s velvet revolutions of 1989 to last summer’s failed Soviet coup, have irrevocably reshaped America’s political landscape.
Foreign policy and defense no longer matter much to voters. Communism’s death also buried anti-communism as an issue. With few external threats, Americans see old relationships through a new prism. They supported the post-war alliance with Japan for mutual security; without the Cold War, that same relationship looks one-sided.
To win reelection, it’s critical to understand what this dramatic shift means. The old rules are gone–now is the time for a new political order in American campaigns. For four decades, we’ve elected presidents against a Cold War backdrop. Now that we’ve won the Cold War, we need a new presidential agenda that’s relevant for the ‘90s.
Eaton wildfire survivors’ anger about Southern California Edison’s burying of electric wires in Altadena boiled over Tuesday with residents calling on government officials to temporarily halt the work.
In a letter to the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors, more than 120 Altadena residents and the town’s council wrote that they had witnessed “manifest failures” by Edison in recent months as it has been tearing up streets and digging trenches to bury the wires.
The residents cited the unexpected financial cost of the work to homeowners and possible harm to the town’s remaining trees. They also pointed out how the work will leave telecommunication wires above ground on poles.
“The current lack of coordination is compounding the stress of a community still reeling from the Eaton Fire, and risks causing further irreparable harm,” the residents wrote.
The council voted unanimously Tuesday night to send the letter.
Scott Johnson, an Edison spokesman, said Wednesday that the company has been working to address the concerns, including by looking for other sources of funds to help pay for the homeowners’ costs.
“We recognize this community has already faced a number of challenges,” he said.
Johnson said the company will allow homeowners to keep existing overhead lines connecting their homes to the grid if they are worried about the cost.
Edison’s crews, Johnson said, have also been trained to use equipment that avoids roots and preserves the health of trees.
The utility has said that burying the wires as the town rebuilds thousands of homes destroyed in the fire will make the electrical grid safer and more reliable.
But anger has grown as work crews have shown up unexpectedly and residents learned they’re on the hook to pay tens of thousands of dollars to connect their homes to the buried lines.
Residents have also found the crews digging under the town’s oak and pine trees that survived last year’s fire. Arborists say the trenches could destroy the roots of some of the last remaining trees and kill them.
Amy Bodek, the county’s regional planning director, recently warned Edison that a government ordinance protects oak trees and that “utility trenching is not exempt from these requirements.”
Residents have also pointed out that in much of Altadena, the telecom companies, including Spectrum and AT&T, have not agreed to bury their wires in Edison’s trenches. That means the telecom wires will remain on poles above ground, which residents say is visually unappealing.
“While our community supports the long-term benefits of moving utilities underground, the current execution by SCE is placing undue financial and planning burdens on homeowners, causing irreparable harm to our heritage tree canopy, and proceeding without adequate local oversight,” the residents wrote.
They want the project halted until the problems are addressed.
Edison announced last year that it would spend as much as $925 million to underground and rebuild its grid in Altadena and Malibu, where the Palisades fire caused devastation.
The work — which costs an estimated $4 million per mile — will earn the utility millions of dollars in profits as its electric customers pay for it over the next decades.
Pedro Pizarro, chief executive of Edison International, told Gov. Gavin Newsom last year that state utility rules would require Altadena and Malibu homeowners to pay to underground the electric wire from their property line to the panel on their house. Pizarro estimated it would cost $8,000 to $10,000 for each home.
But some residents, who need to dig long trenches, say it will cost them much more.
“We are rebuilding and with the insurance shortfall, our finances are stretched already,” Marilyn Chong, an Altadena resident, wrote in a comment attached to the letter. “Incurring the additional burden of financing SCE’s infrastructure is not something we can or should have to do.”
Other fire survivors complained of Edison’s lack of planning and coordination with residents.
“I’ve started rebuilding, and apparently there won’t be underground power lines for me to connect with in time when my house will be done,” wrote Gail Murphy. “So apparently I’m supposed to be using a generator, and for how long!?”
Johnson said the company has set up a phone line for people with concerns or questions. That line — 1-800-250-7339 — is answered Monday through Saturday, he said.
Residents can also go to Edison’s office in Altadena at 2680 Fair Oaks Avenue. The office is open Monday to Friday from 8 to 4:30.
It’s unclear if the Eaton fire would have been less disastrous if Altadena’s neighborhood power lines had been buried.
The blaze ignited under Edison’s towering transmission lines that run through Eaton Canyon. Those lines carry bulk power through the company’s territory. In Altadena, Edison is burying the smaller distribution lines, which carry power to homes.
The government investigation into the cause of the fire has not yet been released. Pizarro has said that a leading theory is that a century-old transmission line, which had not carried power for 50 years, somehow re-energized to spark the blaze.
The fire killed at least 19 people and destroyed more than 9,400 homes and other structures.
It’s not only easy to get lost in the Los Angeles County Museum of Art’s new David Geffen Galleries, it’s inevitable, intentional — and one of the best things about the place.
The museum has deconstructed the traditional, boxy narrative of art history and rendered the story itself a matter of curves and continuities. Art in the collection is freed from its departmental silos and put into conversation across genre lines, place and time.
The museum has physically invalidated the binaries of center and periphery, major and minor arts. In a startling and largely gratifying way, LACMA has done what the poet Audre Lorde, alluding to a different but not unrelated aspect of patriarchal dominance, deemed impossible: used the master’s tools to dismantle the master’s house.
The change goes far beyond a remodel. It’s a reinvention, a recalibration, a revisionist fever dream.
The vision conceived by museum director and Chief Executive Michael Govan and architect Peter Zumthor is not perfect, and brings with it a modest set of frustrations, but as a whole, the installation registers as ravishing and bracingly fresh. It thrusts us midstream into the ageless, ceaseless flow of makers worldwide reckoning with life, earth and being.
It prompts us, as we bob about, to reflect on our own proclivities and preconceptions, our patterns of reception and perception.
It compels us to recognize that what matters is not just what we see in the museum but how we see, what pulls us close and why, what private histories we bring to the occasion, what expectations, what tools.
Over two visits to the new building, getting my physical bearings mattered less and less as I surrendered to the generative sensations of not knowing. The museum has produced a dense guidebook to the new galleries, whose title, “Wander,” doubles as invitation and imperative. Even at 430 pages, the book is only minimally useful as an orientation device. For help with that internal navigation, Rebecca Solnit’s moving 2005 book, “A Field Guide to Getting Lost,” proved a better compass.
LACMA’s guidebook to the David Geffen Galleries, called “Wander,” doubles as invitation and imperative.
(Museum Associates / LACMA)
Solnit, citing the cultural critic Walter Benjamin, writes, “to be lost is to be fully present, and to be fully present is to be capable of being in uncertainty and mystery.” She goes on to recall how roaming freely as a child was key to developing self-reliance, which feels apt to the LACMA strategy. We are put in charge of making our own way, through tapestries and tea sets, past ancient jug and contemporary sphinx, without heavy-handed authoritative direction.
The history of art reads here as one long, free verse poem-in-progress, gorgeous and absorbing. Even so, many of the most memorable moments come in the form of cogent micro-essays, smartly curated ensembles of work bearing a legible, lucid premise. Some of these are contained within four (rectilinear) walls; some occupy less demarcated spaces. “Tonal Variations: Photography and Music,” for instance, gathers images by Paul Caponigro, William Eggleston, Lisette Model and others. These artists were also serious pianists, attuned, no matter which instrument they were using, to the qualities of rhythm, pattern and progression.
Lisette Model, “Window at 5th Avenue,” 1940, Los Angeles County Museum of Art
(Museum Associates / LACMA)
In a section headed “The Global Appeal of Blue-and-White Ceramics,” a long display case houses a timeline articulated sculpturally. The sequence advances from a 9th century bowl made in Iraq to a 13th century vessel from China, a 14th century example from Thailand, another from 15th century Syria, up to work by a 20th century German artist who transformed a functional vessel into personal adornment by cutting a string of beads out of the planar surface of the bowl.
Dish, Turkey, Iznik, c. 1530-35, Los Angeles County Museum of Art
(Museum Associates / LACMA)
On the wall facing this display is a huge vitrine containing an 18th century Talavera jar from Mexico, paired with a 2025/26 color photograph by Brooklyn-based Stephanie H. Shih. In the still-life composition, a cheeky visual lesson on the collision and convergence of cultures, the jar holds flowers, cactus and edible Mexican treats influenced by Chinese and Filipino flavors.
Top, Stephanie H. Shih, 梅國 “(Still life with chamoy and Dirty T Tamarindo),” (2025- 26); bottom, Jar (c. 1700-50)
(Museum Associates / LACMA)
Shih is one of a handful of artists commissioned to create new work using the museum’s collection as muse. L.A.-based Lauren Halsey is another. Her formidable, untitled 2026 sphinx regally commands its space among ancient Egyptian and Roman sculpture, a marvel of the cross-temporal and cross-spatial, spiked with specific references to Black self-determination.
Setting recent works among older ones is an effective element of LACMA’s overall plan to shed outworn hierarchies. It recasts every piece of art by every artist throughout the single-story space as equally relevant. The seamless integration of old and new feels stealthy, and a touch subversive, a doubling-down on the museum’s approach to time as nonlinear, sinuous and delightfully slippery.
Lauren Halsey’s untitled 2026 sphinx.
(Museum Associates / LACMA)
That said, a few words readily available would help connect the dots without undermining the provocation. Text — where and how it appears, or doesn’t — is my only major complaint about the installation of the new galleries.
Text panels announce, in one or two paragraphs, the themes of each given section: “Images of the Divine in South Asia”; “The Evolution of Abstract Painting in Modern Korea”; “Textile Conversations: Africa and Black America.” Individual object labels are kept minimal, containing only basic identification about each work, no commentary. When asked about this decision during my first walkthrough, Govan replied that more time reading means less time looking — “and we have the internet.” Every thematic text panel has a QR code that links to the Bloomberg Connects app, an aggregate guide to museums and other cultural sites that offers selected, augmented entries.
Determining how much didactic information is insightful and sufficient, and how much constitutes excessive artsplaining, is a delicate, ongoing challenge for museums. Where LACMA landed on this contested plain strikes me as unfortunate and counterproductive.
A few lines of explanation or context on a wall label can add perspective for even the most informed visitor, and provides crucial support to those with less foundational exposure and access to art.
You can take or leave text on a wall without breaking your stride, but text accessed via QR code is another matter. (Never mind that connectivity is spotty inside a sprawling concrete shell, and several times when I tried to get information from the app, I couldn’t.) Encouraging us to shift our gaze from the wall to our devices — to assume that accursed downward tilt of the neck when splendors abound before our eyes — is simply detrimental. It breaks the spell of being fruitfully lost in the present, and retethers us to the digital distractions that dominate our days.
Wall text beside Francis Bacon’s “Three Studies of Lucian Freud” (1969), at Los Angeles County Museum of Art.
(Museum Associates / LACMA)
Shouldn’t the imaginative minds that created this space, this opportunity to revel in direct sensual experience, want us to keep our attention where our bodies are? Why this fallback to current convention, when the rest of the experience is about radical reinvention? This feels like a missed opportunity. I’m hoping a more experimental, exploratory approach to providing information, context and interpretation, in keeping with the rest of the enterprise, might yet come.
Does the new structure serve the art? Mostly, very well.
The lighting is varied, treated as another texture in the space, palpable and rich. There’s a generous amount of natural sunlight, but some spots are noticeably dim. Some gallery walls are glazed in deep hues (reddish and eggplant), and the intensity of the color is jarring at first. But neutral, white-box viewing spaces (with even, predictable lighting) can be found elsewhere on LACMA’s campus and pretty much anywhere art is shown. Here, the very irregularity of the interior environment, including the concrete surfaces — richer and more textured than I expected — heightened my alertness. And keener senses tend to make for more consequential experiences.
In deciding how to organize roughly 2,000 works of art across 110,000 square feet of exhibition space, LACMA devised a conceptual schema that isn’t apparent in the galleries themselves. The “Wander” guide maps out the division of the space into four regions correlating to bodies of water: the Indian, Atlantic and Pacific oceans, and the Mediterranean Sea. While the zones and their boundaries aren’t indicated by obvious signage, and I caught one laughable categorization (Ansel Adams’ photographs of the Pacific shoreline landing in the Atlantic section), this schema at least doesn’t get in the way.
And what does work about the propositional structure is its comprehensive realignment. It moves to retire art historical frameworks of the past, dependent on borders between places and times.
Throughout this installation, we are repeatedly reminded of the impact of trade and migration, the fluid movement of resources and belief systems. We’re reminded of porousness and simultaneity, and that all art histories are, in the end, propositional structures.
Here’s a new one, the Geffen Galleries say. Try it out. You might get lost. Indeed, you will get lost. And what wonders await you in the uncertainty and mystery.
Kylie Jenner is being sued by a former housekeeper who claims she was harassed and discriminated against while working for the makeup mogul.
Angelica Hernandez Vasquez filed a lawsuit against Kylie Jenner Inc., Tri Star Services and La Maison Family Services on Friday alleging that she was subjected to “severe and pervasive harassment” throughout her employment.
According to court documents obtained by The Times, Vasquez worked for the reality TV star from September 2024 to August 2025, and from her first day on staff at Jenner’s Hidden Hills residence, she was treated with “hostility and exclusion” by the head housekeeper, identified only as Patsy, and another supervisor, identified as Elsi.
Vasquez, who states that she is a Salvadoran woman and practicing Catholic, claims she was routinely assigned the more unsavory tasks involved in housekeeping and excluded from the housekeeping team. According to the suit, she was humiliated by fellow staff members and belittled due to her race, country of origin, religion and immigration status.
The former housekeeper for Jenner further claims that she was mocked for her accent and degraded. She claims that supervisors snapped their fingers while shouting at her, demanded to inspect her phone, made statements including “Catholics are horrible people,” and forced her to perform other staff members’ duties.
According to the court documents, Vasquez reported the mistreatment after Thanksgiving 2024, and in response, the harassment escalated. She also alleges that her scheduled hours were reduced. When Vasquez complained again in March 2025, she claims that a supervisor threw hangers at her feet and threatened her.
Although the “Keeping Up With the Kardashians” star was not personally accused of bullying behavior in the filing, Vasquez alleges that the defendants failed to pay her in full, paid her late, failed to pay overtime wages, and failed to reimburse business expenses, among other claims.
Vazquez is seeking damages “in the form of unpaid wages, meal and rest period premium pay, unreimbursed business expenses, unpaid sick leave, and all other compensation unlawfully withheld.”
Representatives for Jenner have not yet responded to The Times’ request for comment.
Eddie Murphy is celebrating not just his lifetime achievement award, but also the arrival of his third granddaughter, perhaps the funniest baby alive.
Murphy’s son Eric and Martin Lawrence’s daughter Jasmin have welcomed their first child together, baby Ari Skye.
On Saturday, Murphy was honored with the 51st AFI Life Achievement Award at a gala in Hollywood and told reporters that he had recently celebrated back-to-back milestones.
“I just had my first grandson two months ago, and I had my third granddaughter two weeks ago. And I turned 65 a month ago,” he told “Entertainment Tonight” ahead of the gala. “It’s raining blessings on me.”
The ceremony celebrated his storied career across comedy and film, and featured tributes from fellow funnyman Dave Chappelle and “Shrek” co-star Mike Myers. The special will premiere May 31 on Netflix.
The “Dr. Dolittle” star also gushed about his new grandbaby to E! News, and told the outlet that being honored for his work was “a wonderful thing” but that his legacy wasn’t his work.
“My legacy to me is my children,” he said.
Asked whether he or Lawrence offered their kids any parenting advice as they prepared to welcome Ari Skye, Murphy said he’s more of a lead-by-example kind of dad.
“You don’t give advice like that,” he told the outlet. “Your kids don’t go by your advice. Your kids go by the example you set. They watch you. Stuff you be saying, they don’t even pay that no mind. They watch and see what you do.”
In March, Jasmin and Eric posted photos from their lavish baby shower on social media. The shindig included a three-tiered pink cake, pink cocktails garnished with meringue that looked like clouds and balloons galore. “The most beautiful and special celebration for our baby girl,” the couple captioned the post. “Thank you to our parents and everyone that made this day so magical! Ari Skye Murphy, you are SO loved already!!”
Excitement around Ari Skye’s arrival had been brewing in the media long before the couple even announced they were expecting. Murphy joked about a potential grandbaby when Jasmin and Eric were dating back in 2024, during an interview with Gayle King.
“They’re both beautiful,” he said. “They look amazing together. And it’s funny — everybody’s like, ‘That baby gonna be funny!’ Like our gene pool is just going to make this funny baby.”
Murphy agreed, saying: “If they ever get married and have a child, I’m expecting the child to be funny.”
Tens of thousands of readers of all ages, from toddlers clutching picture books to longtime fans carrying armfuls of paperbacks, fanned out across the USC campus Saturday for the opening day of the 31st Los Angeles Times Festival of Books, packing panels and lining up to see favorite authors and celebrity guests.
It was too early to know how many people attended the first day of the event, billed as the country’s largest literary festival, though organizers said they expect between 150,000 and 155,000 attendees over the weekend. By late morning, the campus was already bustling, with strong turnout expected for appearances by author T.C. Boyle and actors Sarah Jessica Parker and David Duchovny, among others.
Founded in 1996 and spread across eight outdoor stages and 12 indoor venues, the festival has become a fixture on Los Angeles’ cultural calendar, bringing together more than 550 storytellers for panels, author interviews, book signings, performances and screenings spanning a wide range of genres, from children’s story times to cooking demonstrations.
This year’s lineup features a broad mix of writers, performers and public figures, including comedian Larry David, musician Lionel Richie, multihyphenate businesswoman (and Beyoncé’s mother) Tina Knowles, author and social critic Roxane Gay and scholar Reza Aslan.
Under sunny skies, actor and reality TV personality Lisa Rinna brought humor and a bit of bite to a 10:30 a.m. conversation on the festival’s main stage. The “Real Housewives of Beverly Hills” alum released her second memoir, “You Better Believe I’m Gonna Talk About It,” in February, chronicling her time on the show and her recent turn on Season 4 of Peacock’s reality competition series “The Traitors.”
Reflecting on her approach to “Traitors,” Rinna said she wanted to strip away the conflict-driven persona she had cultivated on “Real Housewives” and present a more unfiltered version of herself. “I was like, ‘Self, listen. You’re gonna go in there and just be you. No housewife s—, none of that reactionary stuff.’ ”
In conversation with Times senior television writer Yvonne Villarreal, Rinna also spoke candidly about the loss of her mother, Lois Rinna, in 2021 and how her grief manifested in a feeling of rage while she was filming Season 12 of “Real Housewives.”
“It really took me by surprise,” she said. “And you have to give space for it because you can’t make it go away. … They always say time heals, but time makes everything just a little less intense.”
At a noon panel titled “Fire Escape: Wildfires and the Changing Geography of Southern California,” moderated by Times climate and energy reporter Blanca Begert, author and former wildland firefighter Jordan Thomas said the scale and frequency of California wildfires have shifted dramatically in recent decades.
“The vast majority of the largest wildfires in California’s recorded history have happened just in the past 20 years,” said Thomas, author of last year’s National Book Award finalist “When It All Burns: Fighting Fire in a Transformed World.” “While I was a hotshot, there were three of those fires burning simultaneously, including a million-acre fire — more than used to burn across the entire American West over the course of a decade.”
In the early afternoon, former Georgia Rep. Stacey Abrams spoke with moderator Leigh Haber about artificial intelligence and voter suppression in front of an enthusiastic, packed crowd at USC’s Bovard Auditorium.
Abrams’ latest Avery Keene novel, “Coded Justice,” came out last year and explores the role of artificial intelligence in the healthcare industry. AI has already become enmeshed in everyday life, she said, asking audience members to raise their hands if they had used TSA PreCheck or a streaming service.
“AI is a tool … but it is created by someone, it is programmed by someone, it is controlled by someone,” she said. “Regulation is not about slowing down progress. It is about asking questions and saying that in the absence of answers, we’re going to put on reasonable restraints that we can revisit.”
Abrams also revealed that her next book, the fourth in her Avery Keene thriller series, will focus on prediction markets.
“I write Avery Keene novels to tell stories about social justice, but I put it in a form that’s accessible to people who don’t think that they are social justice people,” Abrams said. “I want to meet people where they are, not where I want them to be.”
She also encouraged audience members to push back against voter suppression and defend democracy by volunteering at polling places — even in reliably blue districts — warning that she believes masked paramilitary groups will be allowed to patrol voting locations and target people of color in the upcoming midterm elections.
The festival kicked off Friday evening with the 46th Los Angeles Times Book Prizes ceremony at Bovard Auditorium, emceed by Times columnist LZ Granderson, recognizing both emerging voices and established writers.
Winners were announced in 13 categories for works published last year. Find a full list of winners here.
Oakland-born novelist Amy Tan, whose work often explores identity and the Chinese American immigrant experience, received the Robert Kirsch Award for lifetime achievement, and the literary nonprofit We Need Diverse Books received the Innovator’s Award for its work promoting diversity in publishing.
Accepting her award, Tan, author of the 1989 bestseller “The Joy Luck Club,” said that as a birthright citizen, she had never questioned her place in the country until recent debates over citizenship and belonging led her to reconsider whether she is, in fact, a “political writer.”
“My birthright and that of millions of others is now being argued before the Supreme Court, and no matter what the outcome is, it’s been a kick in the gut to know that those in the highest echelons of government and those who support them believe that we don’t belong.”
Tan said that as an author, “I imagine the lives of the people I write about,” and that act of compassion “reflects our politics and our beliefs. And so yes, I am a political writer.”
Addressing the attendees, Times Executive Editor Terry Tang pointed to the breadth of the weekend’s programming as an opportunity for connection and discovery. “If you take in just a fraction of these events, it will expand your mind,” she said. “This weekend gives all of us a chance to celebrate a sense of unity, purpose and support.”
The festival runs through Sunday. More information, including a schedule of events, can be found on the festival’s website.
Bombs are in and art is out as the Trump administration’s proposed 2027 budget requests $1.5 trillion in defense spending (up 44% from last year), while again attempting to snuff out the National Endowment for the Arts and the National Endowment for the Humanities, as well as the Institute of Museum and Library Services.
The budget proposal released earlier this month calls for just enough money to permanently wind down the operations of each agency: $29 million for the NEA (down from $207 million); $38 million for the NEH (down from $207 million); and $6 million for the IMLS (down from $291.8 million).
Congress has the final say about whether or not these cuts actually get made, and Sept. 30 is the deadline to pass next year’s budget. (Failure to do so could result in yet another government shutdown.) It’s worth remembering that Trump tried to defund these organizations last year and was thwarted by Congress. But the administration did successfully choke off funding for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, which ceased operations in January.
It’s hard to know how this renewed threat to agencies that collectively support thousands of arts programs and initiatives across all 50 states, Puerto Rico and Washington, D.C., will play out, especially because the only constant in this administration is its mercurial temperament. Plus, Congress doesn’t have a great track record of keeping Trump in check (see Venezuela, Iran, the White House East Wing, the Kennedy Center, etc.). The ongoing war in Iran, which pundits warn could last until the midterms, may also impact how Congress decides to vote.
In times of conflict and chaos, we need the arts — a sentiment so obvious it normally goes without saying. But this moment somehow feels different. There were many alarming moves that Trump wanted to make during his first term that the so-called adults in the room allegedly kept him from achieving. Those adults are gone and he is now surrounded with enablers. This means the unthinkable is now possible — as we have seen time and again over the past 15 months.
In a country without the NEA, NEH and IMLS, hundreds of small local arts groups would likely cease to exist entirely — and with them, the community, education and enlightenment that underpin our increasingly fragile, fractured society. We can close our eyes until it happens, or we can start urgently ringing the alarm bells. I vote for the latter. Here’s a link to get you started.
I’m Arts editor Jessica Gelt banging a gong. This is your arts and culture news for the week.
Dispatch: mots take on AI at Flux Festival
A participant experiences “The Pledge,” part of artist duo mots’ acclaimed “AI & Me” series, on view April 25 at Blum Gallery, Culver City, as part of Flux Festival.
(mots / Daniela Nedovescu and Octavian Mot)
Artist duo mots is staging one of its exploratory AI-centered exhibits — “The Pledge” — at the upcoming Flux Festival at Bloom Gallery in Culver City (April 24 and 25). Last year, mots received quite a bit of attention for its U.S. premiere of “AI & Me,” part of Tribeca Festival’s Immersive Program. That piece, according to mots website, “dives into the weird dynamics between humans and artificial intelligence,” by placing people in a confessional style booth while AI tells them exactly what it thinks of them.
“The Pledge” takes that concept further by inviting participants to stand on a stage while AI-generates a statement about them— one that is solely based on appearance. The person then must decide whether to read the AI feedback aloud into a microphone or leave. If you decide to share, you become part of the permanent video installation.
In this moment of deep AI anxiety, the mots’ work is tapping into more than just a playful back and forth between man and machine.
“On one hand, we’re thrilled to see people lining up to interact with the pieces we build; on the other, we’re trying to gather the courage to destroy them and stop this madness before it’s too late,” the mots write on their website.
— Jessica Gelt
Dispatch: Monster Party
The adult-centric interactive melodrama “Monster Party,” at Rita House through April 25.
(Clint Keller)
“Monster Party” starts with a moment of ecstasy. Then the adult-centric interactive play gets demented — a bit demonic, even. We meet characters shrouded in mystery. Guests at a cocktail party, there’s a writer working on a book about supernatural creatures, a vacuum salesman with a closely guarded secret, a repressed religious fanatic and more. None of them can remember how or why they ended up at this soiree, hosted by the confidently cryptic Baroness, a character who clearly delights in creating sin and madness. We’ll soon find out this isn’t an event for the lucky.
But that’s not just what makes “Monster Party” special. Remounted after a short theatrical run in 2024, the work from immersive creator Matt Dorado intermixes the personal and political. Lurid, humorous and sexy, “Monster Party” is also a scathing critique of how political systems can drive one mad.
Set during the Lavender Scare, the anti-communist purge of LGBTQ+ people from the U.S. government in the 1950s, “Monster Party” opens with camp and then descends into very real horrors of life in the United States. You’ll drink, play parlor games and gradually uncover one dark skeleton after another.
The intimate production is limited to 50 guests per showing, and cocktails are included in the $159.45 ticket. Come ready to socialize.
8 p.m. Thursdays and Friday; 3 and 8 p.m. Saturdays, through April 26. Rita House, 5971 W. 3rd Street monsterpartyshow.com
— Todd Martens
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The week ahead: A curated calendar
FRIDAY Chaya Czernowin Monday Evening Concerts presents the U.S. premiere of the Harvard-based Israeli composer’s “Poetica,” which she describes as “a journey of one into themselves,” performed by percussionist Steven Schick and the percussion ensemble Red Fish Blue Fish. 8 p.m. Zipper Hall at the Colburn School, 200 S. Grand Ave., downtown L.A. mondayeveningconcerts.org
The Last Days of Judas Iscariot O.C. theater companies the Wayward Artist and Larking House team up for Stephen Adly Guirgis’ bold, darkly comedic courtroom drama set in Purgatory. Directed by Lizzy McCabe. 7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday and April 23-35. Irvine United Congregational Church, 4915 Alton Pkwy., Irvine. thewaywardartist.org
Harry Fonseca “Portrait of the Artist as a Young Coyote,” an exhibition of more than 30 paintings, prints and works on paper, follows the path of the late Native artist’s alter-ego, the Trickster Coyote, an exploration of his own identity and a means of challenging existing narratives. Also being exhibited is “Sedej Tuulémisé (Blood Relations),” featuring paintings by emerging artist Deerstine Suehead. Noon-5 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday, through July 3. PDC Design Galleries, 750 N San Vicente, West Hollywood. pacificdesigncenter.com
Ryan Bancroft will conduct the L.A. Phil this weekend at Walt Disney Concert Hall.
(Carlin Stiehl/For The Times)
Shostakovich & Sibelius Ryan Bancroft conducts the Los Angeles Philharmonic with cellist Alisa Weilerstein playing one of her specialties, Shostakovich’s “Second Cello Concerto.” 8 p.m. Friday; 2 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. Walt Disney Concert Hall, 111 S. Grand Ave., downtown L.A. laphil.com
Liu Xiaodong For the work presented in the exhibition “Host,” the figurative painter trained his eye on a Detroit tattoo artist with a penchant for medieval battle recreations. 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Tuesdays-Saturday, through June 13. Lisson, 1037 N. Sycamore Ave., L.A. lissongallery.com
SATURDAY Back to Oz MUSE/IQUE salutes a truly American fairy tale through music with pieces from “The Wonderful Wizard,” “The Wiz,” and “Wicked,” performed by Carmen Cusack, LaVance Colley, Nathan Granner, DC6 Singers Collective and the MUSE/IQUE Orchestra. 5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday; 7:30 p.m. Thursday and April 24; 2:30 and 7:30 p.m. April 25; and 2:30 p.m. April 26. Mark Taper Forum, 135 N. Grand Ave., downtown L.A. muse-ique.com
Colored People’s Time: A History Play From Civil War to civil rights, Leslie Lee’s drama, directed by Ben Guillory, examines the lives of Black Americans through a century of struggle. 8 p.m. Thursday-Saturdays; 3 p.m. Sundays, through May 17. Los Angeles Theatre Center, Theatre Four, 514 S. Spring St., downtown L.A. therobeytheatrecompany.org
The Expanding Field: MOCA’s Collection from the 1940s to 1970s Works by Mark Rothko, Luchita Hurtado, Piet Mondrian, On Kawara, Robert Rauschenberg, Betye Saar, Anne Truitt and others illustrate the breadth of the museum’s holdings. Saturday through Sept. 20. Museum of Contemporary Art, 250 S. Grand Ave., downtown L.A. moca.org
Falstaff Craig Colclough stars in LA Opera’s production of the energetic Verdi comedy about two wives turning the tables on an unwanted suitor in merry olde England. 7:30 p.m. Saturday; 2 p.m. April 26; 7:30 p.m. April 30, May 2 and 6; 2 p.m. May 10. Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, 135 N. Grand Ave., downtown L.A. laopera.org
Steven Culp and Joey Stromberg in “For Want of a Horse” at the Echo Theater Company.
(Cooper Bates)
For Want of a Horse Olivia Dufault’s comedy about an unusual love triangle involving a horse opens Echo Theater Company’s 2026 season. Directed by Elana Luo. Opening night, 8 p.m. Saturday; 8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays; 4 p.m. Sundays; 8 p.m. Mondays, through May 25. Echo Theater Company, Atwater Village Theatre, 3269 Casitas Ave. echotheatercompany.com
Hear Now Music Festival A chamber concert doubleheader (separate admissions): The matinee features Lyris Quartet, Brightwork Ensemble and HEX performing Hugh Levick’s “No Pasaran” for brass quintet; Ania Vu’s “Small Tenderness” for vocal ensemble and string quartet; Liviu Marinescu’s “String Quartet No. 1”; Bryan Chiu’s “Anthology” for piano and horn; and Tom Flaherty’s, “Recess” for string quartet. Lyris Quartet and Brightwork Ensemble return for the evening show with mezzo-soprano Peabody Southwell, and the music of Peter Knell, “Canciones de Agua” for mezzo-soprano and violin; Sean Heim, “there is no such thing as time” for mixed ensemble; Vera Ivanova’s “The Firebird’s Feather,” for flute solo; and Jordan Nelson’s “Join” for string quartet. Chamber Concert 1, 3 p.m. (2 p.m. preview); Chamber Concert 2, 8 p.m. (7 p.m. preview). First Lutheran Church of Venice, 815 Venice Blvd. hearnowmusicfestival.com
Claudia Keep In the exhibition “Water, Water, Everywhere,” the painter finds fascinating details in the life-giving liquid and all its forms, including rivers, ocean waves, clouds and afternoon coffee. Opening reception, 4-6 p.m. Saturday; the exhibition runs through May 30. Parker Gallery, 6700 Melrose Ave., L.A. parkergallery.com
Kinship & Community: Selections from the Texas African American Photography Archive The exhibition, a collaboration between Art + Practice and the California African American Museum, shares the work of Black photographers who documented life in the urban neighborhoods and rural villages of eastern Texas from 1944 to 1984. Saturday evening, exhibition curator and NYU professor Nicole R. Fleetwood and Getty Research Institute curator LeRonn P. Brooks will discuss the exhibition and the volatile time of great change that it captures. The exhibition opening is 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Saturday and runs through Sept. 5. Art + Practice exhibitions space, 3401 W. 43rd Pl. L.A. Conversation, 6-7:30 p.m. Saturday. Art + Practice programs space, 4334 Degnan Blvd., L.A. artandpractice.org
Majestic Tango Directed and produced by Miriam Larici and Leonardo Barrionuevo, this program features 13 dancers and six musicians using music, movement and storytelling to convey the passionate energy of Buenos Aires. 8 p.m. Irvine Barclay Theatre, 4242 Campus Dr. thebarclay.org
Richard Mayhew, “West Bay,” 2004 Oil on canvas 36” x 48’.
Richard Mayhew “Understory” surveys the artist’s work created between 1960 and 2023, when he saw his expressive landscapes as “an artistic reclamation of the land stolen from his Black, Shinnecock, and Cherokee-Lumbee ancestors.” Opening reception, 6-8 p.m. Saturday; exhibition runs through May 30. Karma, 7351 Santa Monica Blvd., L.A. karmakarma.org
Natural HERstory Drag performance meets real science in this 30-minute STEAM musical, developed by Drag Arts Lab and the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, and designed to engage elementary-aged learners. 11 a.m. Annenberg Community Beachhouse, 415 Pacific Coast Hwy., Santa Monica. eventbrite.com
Parsons Dance David Parsons’ New York City-based troupe marks its 40th anniversary with a program set to the music of Milton Nascimento; Giancarlo De Trizio; Champion, Four Set & Skrillex (featuring Naisha); Miles Davis; Sheila Chandra; and Yusuf/Cat Stevens 7:30 p.m. Saturday; 2 p.m. Sunday. BroadStage, Santa Monica College Performing Arts Center, 1310 11th St. broadstage.org
The Storyteller of East LA The Latino Theater Co. has the world premiere of Evelina Fernández’s magical realist drama about a 90-year-old woman with dementia and the challenges faced by her family and caregivers. Directed by Jose Luis Valenzuela. 8 p.m. Thursdays-Saturdays; 2 p.m. Sundays, through May 17. Los Angeles Theatre Center, 514 S Spring St., downtown L.A. latinotheaterco.org
Verdi in España The Verdi Chorus performs sequences from the composer’s operas “Don Carlo,” “Il Trovatore,” “La Traviata” and “Ernani,” alongside Bizet’s “Carmen” and selections from Spanish composers Catán, Granados, Giménez, Torroba and De Falla. 7:30 p.m. Saturday; 4 p.m. Sunday. First Presbyterian Church, 1220 2nd St., Santa Monica. verdichorus.org
SUNDAY Mozart’s Requiem Grant Gershon conducts the Los Angeles Master Chorale in Mozart’s final masterpiece, plus the West Coast premiere of Fanny Mendelssohn’s “Oratorio on Scenes from the Bible.” 7 p.m. Walt Disney Concert Hall, 111 S. Grand Ave., downtown L.A. lamasterchorale.org
TUESDAY Yuja Wang and Mahler Chamber Orchestra The celebrated pianist continues her long-standing collaboration with MCO for a program featuring works by Segei Prokofiev and Alexander Tzfasman. 8 p.m. Tuesday. McCallum Theatre, 73000 Fred Waring Dr., Palm Desert; 8 p.m. Wednesday. Segerstrom Center for the Arts, 600 Town Center Drive, Costa Mesa; 7 p.m. Thursday. Granada Theatre, 1214 State St, Santa Barbara; 8 p.m. April 25. The Saroya, 18111 Nordhoff Street, Northridge. mahlerchamber.com
WEDNESDAY Khorus Harmonia Katey Sagal and Kurt Sutter are producing ten performances of this choral concert to benefit the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights and The Wounded Warrior Project. 8 p.m. Wednesdays-Saturdays; 4 p.m. Sundays, through May 2. Hudson Backstage Theatre, 6539 Santa Monica Blvd. onstage411.com
This Ends Badly The theater collective Frank’s presents an evening of short plays by Frank Demma, Marlane Meyer, John Pellech, John Pollono, Benjamin Weissman and Sharon Yablon. 8 p.m. Wednesdays, through May 13. Echo Theater Company, Atwater Village Theatre, 3269 Casitas Ave. echotheatercompany.ludus.com
Arts anywhere
New and recent releases of arts-related media.
The British Museum in London.
(Kin Cheung / Associated Press)
British Museum As excitement builds for the opening of the new Geffen Galleries at LACMA on Sunday (for priority members; May 4 for the general public), one’s appetite may be whetted to visit other museums. Why not start in London with the British Museum? The sprightly 273-year-old institution boasts a collection of eight million works and draws more than six million visitors each year. But there’s no need for a plane ticket or a Tardis to see it. Google Arts & Culture offers virtual tours that allow you to wander the halls and grounds for free (and it won’t rain!). artsandculture.google.com
Philip Glass
Two opportunities to see the work of one of the finest American composers will soon be available with the click of a button or a tap of a screen. First up is “The Complete Philip Glass Piano Etudes featuring 10 Pianists” (which was performed at Walt Disney Concert Hall in 2024) streaming live from the 3,500-seat Hill Auditorium on the campus of the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. 4:30 p.m. Saturday and on demand through April 28. youtube.com
Six days later, the Paris Opera offers its current, sold-out production of “Satyagraha,” Glass’ revelatory, triptych portrait of Gandhi. Directed by choreographers Bobbi Jean Smith and Or Schraiber, with a cast including Anthony Roth Costanzo and Davóne Tines — all four members of AMOC*, American Modern Opera Company — the show will be presented live on the Paris Opera Play streaming platform (for $14) at 10:30 a.m. April 24. POP’s live broadcasts are typically available on demand for 30 days following transmission. play.operadeparis.fr
— Kevin Crust
Culture news and the SoCal scene
Pooya Mohseni, from left, Ava Lalezarzadeh, Tala Ashe and Marjan Neshat in “English” by Sanaz Toossi at the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts.
(Joan Marcus)
With the U.S. at war with Iran, “This is an important moment to experience ‘English,’ Sanaz Toossi’s Pulitzer Prize-winning drama, set in an English-language classroom outside of Tehran in 2008,” writes Times theater critic Charles McNulty. “The play, now having its L.A. premiere at the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts, reminds us of the lives — the hopes, the dreams, the sorrows — on the other side of the headlines.”
It’s been an anxious journey for Bob Baker Marionette Theater since 2019 when it was forced out of its downtown home of 55 years. After a lengthy search, the nonprofit signed a 10-year lease for a former cinema-turned-Korean Church in Highland Park. With that, however, came the accompanying stress of being renters in L.A. But good news has arrived: the beloved theater “has entered into an agreement to purchase its [current] home at the corner of York Boulevard and North Avenue 50,” reports Times features columnist Todd Martens.
The Samuel Oschin Air and Space Center is a major expansion of the California Science Center.
(Myung J. Chun/Los Angeles Times)
California Science Center has completed construction on its new $450-million Samuel Oschin Air & Space Center, which houses the Endeavor shuttle. Staff writer Malia Mendez headed onsite to get the scoop on the, “sleek 20-story, 200,000-square-foot new building rising over Exposition Park,” nearly doubling the museum’s exhibition space.
Architecture writer Sam Lubell put together a fascinating Q&A with Peter Zumthor in which the Geffen Galleries’ architect addresses a number of ongoing criticisms about his creation, including its loss of square-footage.
In case you missed it: Pop singer Pink has will host the 79th Tony Awards. “The award ceremony returns to New York City’s Radio City Music Hall on June 7, with nominations announced May 5,” writes Times reporting fellow Iris Kwok.
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It’s been a decade since the Mike Kelley Foundation for the Arts began awarding Infinite Expansion Grants to local contemporary arts organizations. The money has always mattered, but means even more during a time of great uncertainly about federal support for the arts (as I wrote in my newsletter intro). This year’s round of grantees was just announced, with nine L.A. contemporary arts groups sharing $400,000 in support. These groups, a news release says, “exemplify risk-taking, critical inquiry, and community engagement,” and include Art in the Park Community Cultural Programs; Color Compton; Cal State University, Northridge Foundation on behalf of CSUN Art Galleries; Barnsdall Art Park Foundation on behalf of Los Angeles Municipal Art Gallery (LAMAG); Los Angeles Performance Practice; Monday Evening Concerts; Clockshop; Institute of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles (ICA LA); and the Vincent Price Art Museum Foundation.
Big change is coming to the Soraya and California State University, Northridge. Artistic and Executive Director Thor Steingraber, is leaving his position after 12 years to become president and chief executive at Vivo Performing Arts in Boston. The Soraya has also announced Steingraber‘s replacement: Chad Hilligus. Hilligus arrives at CSUN from the Gallo Center for the Arts in Modesto where he served as chief executive and curated more than 100 multidisciplinary live performances.
And another leadership shakeup has come to the Los Angeles Master Chorale, which announced that its current president and chief executive, Scott Altman, will step down on June 5 to become executive director of Miami City Ballet. Master Chorale board member William Tully will serve as interim president while the group launches a national search for a replacement.
The elephant in the room for the Lakers as they enter the playoffs has been, and will continue to be, the status of their starting backcourt, Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves.
Both are out because of injuries — Doncic with a grade 2 left hamstring strain and Reaves with a grade 2 left oblique strain — and neither is expected to play in the best-of-seven, first-round playoff series against the Houston Rockets that begins Saturday at 5:30 p.m. at Crypto.com Arena.
After practice Friday, coach JJ Redick was quick to say “there’s not” when asked about an update on Doncic and Reaves.
After Doncic and Reaves were injured on April 2 at Oklahoma City, the Lakers said both would be out until the end of the regular season. According to people not authorized to speak on the matter, both are expected to be out four to six weeks.
Doncic went to Spain to get treatment, and Reaves has been working diligently in L.A., with the hope that they can return sooner.
The Lakers miss their combined output of 56.8 points, 13.8 assists and 12.4 rebounds per game. Doncic led the NBA in scoring (33.5) and was third in assists (8.3); he was second on the Lakers in rebounding (7.7).
During the week of practice, Reaves was around his teammates and seen shooting after a few practices. He appeared to be in good spirits. Doncic was supposed to be back by Friday.
“We love having Austin here and we’re glad he is in a position to do his return-to-play [work], however long it takes with us,” Redick said. “Excited to get Luka back and be around the group. Austin and I talk just about every day about different things. So he’s … just being a part of this. …
“The mindset for our team and for those two guys, like we’re gonna try to make this season as long as possible so that we can get those guys back at some point. We don’t know what that is, and that’s just our job. And their job is to do everything they can to be in a position to come back at some point. It may not work, but that’s what we’re trying to do.”
The theme of the Lakers’ week at practice was to “elevate” their work.
Yes, they won’t have Doncic and Reaves, but that didn’t mean the Lakers couldn’t work harder.
When they worked on box-out drills in preparation for the way the Rockets attack the offensive boards, the Lakers went hard. When they watched film and had practice sessions, the Lakers worked with a purpose.
“The word we’ve used all week is ‘elevate.’ I think that’s what it is,” Redick said. “We all know the playoffs are different. They’re harder. There’s no easy matchups, and you have to be able to elevate your play. But beyond that, it’s elevating your recovery, your attention to detail, your preparation.
“I talked about that with my coaches as we started this week on Monday morning. It was an off day for the guys, but we were in there for six hours and we’ve all collectively gotta elevate. And particularly when you’re missing two of your top guys, part of elevating is elevating each other and the belief that the group as a whole can be great.”
The Rockets are a tough and rugged team that is good on defense and at rebounding.
They ranked fourth in the NBA in points given up (110.0) and tied for fifth in opponents’ field-goal percentage (46.0). They were tops in rebounding (48.1) and offensive rebounds (15.0).
That has the Lakers’ attention and is why they worked so hard during practice.
“It’s been great. The level of focus and attention to detail, the communication, everything has been elevated,” forward Jarred Vanderbilt said. “We’ve got a lot of guys that’s been to the playoffs and know what it takes.
“Like you said, everything elevates around this time and having a veteran group that’s kind of been there and had a taste of the playoffs, we all know what it takes to win games in the playoffs. It’s everybody going out and doing their job and paying attention to the game plan.”
In this week’s presidential debate, Mitt Romney fleshed out an idea he had previously mentioned briefly as a way to pay for his proposed tax cuts – setting a cap on itemized deductions.
“I’m going to bring rates down across the board for everybody, but I’m going to limit deductions and exemptions and credits, particularly for people at the high end,” the Republican presidential nominee said.
“One way of doing that would be to say everybody gets – I’ll pick a number – $25,000 of deductions and credits. And you can decide which ones to use, your home mortgage interest deduction, charity, child tax credit and so forth. You can use those as part of filling that bucket, if you will, of deductions.”
The cap, Romney said Tuesday night, would ensure that the wealthy would not receive an outsized tax break. “I am not going to have people at the high end pay less than they’re paying now” as an overall share of U.S. taxes, he said.
Moreover, he insisted, the cap would allow him to pay for his proposed tax cuts without increasing the size of the deficit.
“Of course they add up,” he responded when Candy Crowley, the debate moderator, asked him about whether his numbers penciled out.
Politically, a cap on deductions provides an attractive solution to raising tax revenue because it avoids having to wage fights over individual deductions.
Unfortunately for Romney, however, the cap does not come close to covering the full cost of the tax plan he has proposed, according to a new analysis by the Tax Policy Center, a specialized Washington think tank. The Romney tax plan would reduce federal revenue by about $5 trillion over 10 years in addition to the cost of the Bush-era tax cuts that he would extend.
“These new estimates suggest that Romney will need to do much more than capping itemized deductions to pay for the roughly $5 trillion in rate cuts and other tax benefits he has proposed,” wrote Roberton Williams, an analyst at the nonpartisan center, which is a joint operation of the Urban Institute and the Brookings Institution.
The Tax Policy Center analysis suggested that Romney’s proposed cap would raise revenue in a “highly progressive” way because upper-income households benefit more from itemized deductions. The center found that the cap would provide considerable revenue to offset the cost of the tax cut, but would still leave a huge gap.
The center’s staff consists of former government tax experts from both Republican and Democratic administrations. Romney and his aides cited the center as an authoritative source during Republican primary debates but since then have objected to the center’s analyses of shortcomings in their tax plan.
According to the center’s analysis, a $25,000 cap would raise about $1.3 trillion over a 10-year period. That would cover roughly a quarter of the 10-year cost of Romney’s tax plan.
If Romney made the cap tighter – allowing just $17,000 in deductions and credits – he could raise $1.7 trillion. A $50,000 cap would bring in about $760 billion. At various times, Romney has cited each of those figures as a proposed cap.
The tighter cap would hit many more taxpayers. If the cap were $50,000, for example, almost all the revenue that it would raise, about 80%, would come from taxpayers with income above $500,000 a year, and less than 4% would come from taxpayers earning less than $100,000, according to the center’s analysis. That’s because very few taxpayers other than the very wealthy have deductions that total more than $50,000.
By contrast, a cap of $17,000 would get about 40% of its revenue from that top group, and about 17% from the taxpayers earning $100,000 or less.
Romney has said that he expects part of his tax cut would be paid for by additional revenue flowing into the treasury as the result of faster economic growth. Economists disagree about whether a tax cut such as the one Romney has proposed – a reduction of current tax rates by one-fifth – would significantly increase economic growth.
In response to the center’s report, the Romney campaign issued a statement that did not dispute the math, but reiterated Romney’s position that “the President and Congress working together can make the tax code simpler, more efficient, and more pro-growth.”
[For the Record, 9:51 a.m. PST Oct. 18: This post has been updated to include the Romney campaign’s response to the Tax Policy Center’s report.]
