What Is a Hard Credit Check

What Is a Hard Credit Check What Is a Hard Credit Check? What Is a Hard Credit Check?Hard credit inquiries occur when you are applying for new credit and can only be run with your express permission.No credit check loans can help people with poor credit and meager savings obtain short-term financing when their car breaks down or they find themselves hit with a surprise medical bill. Unlike standard personal loans, these are bad credit loans that don’t perform a “hard” check on an applicant’s credit.For those who have bad credit, hard credit inquiries are something that they can come to dread, as it often means that their application is about to be denied and their score is going to get dinged even further. If you’re not familiar with the ins and outs of hard credit checks, here’s what you need to know.Credit scores: an overview.In order to explain credit checks, it helps to explain how credit scores work in the first place. Your credit score is a three-digit number that summarizes your creditworthinessâ€"basically, how likely y ou are to meet your financial obligations, whether that be a personal loan, a credit card, a rent check, a mortgage, etc.The most common kind of credit score is also the oldest: Your FICO score. Created by Fair, Isaac and Company in 1989, the FICO score is graded on a scale from 300 to 850. The higher your score, the better your credit, with 680 being a rough cut-off point for “good” credit.Credit scores are created using the information from your credit reports. These are documents maintained by the three major credit bureausExperian, TransUnion, and Equifaxthat track your history as a credit user.  Most of the info on these reports will drop off after seven years, though some informationâ€"like bankruptcies, for instanceâ€"sticks around for longer.In addition to the public record, credit reports rely on businesses like banks, credit unions, landlords, and debt collectors to report information. Some businesses do not report to all three credit bureaus, which means that your sc ore can vary slightly depending on which report was used to create it.There are five main factors used to create your FICO score: payment history (35 percent), amounts owed/credit utilization (30 percent), length of credit history (15 percent), credit mix (10 percent), and recent credit inquiries (10 percent). We’ll talk a little bit more about that last category in the next section.Here’s how hard credit checks work.Hard credit inquiries occur when you are applying for a loan, credit card, or other forms of credit. The prospective lender will pull a copy of your credit report to review whether or not your credit application should be approved. Hard credit inquiries can only be run on your report with your express permission.These hard inquiries get reported on your credit report under the “recent credit inquiries” category. Depending on your credit score, a single hard inquiry could ding your score by five points or not at all. These inquiries stay on your report for two ye ars but generally aren’t included in your score longer than one year.Why are hard inquiries reflected in your credit score? Well, hard credit inquiries represent a request for new credit. And any request for new credit could mean that you are encountering costs beyond what you could normally afford. While a single hard inquiry might just ding your score, several inquiries within a short period of time will have a greater negative effect.There is one exception: Lenders and credit bureaus do not want to discourage borrowers from shopping around when applying for a loan. But shopping around means multiple hard inquiries. This is why all credit inquiries within 45 days for mortgage, auto, and student loans are bundled together and counted as a single hard inquiry.If a business requests permission to run a hard inquiry on your credit, you do not need to grant them permissions. However, it is often the case that declining permission will result in your application being automatically de nied. Still, if you do not want that inquiry recorded on your report, the decision is ultimately up to you.Soft credit checks exist as well.Have you ever checked your own credit score or received a “pre-approved” credit card offer in the mail? If you have, then that means a soft inquiry has been run on your credit. Unlike hard inquiries, these soft checks do not affect your credit score.If hard credit checks represent instances where a lender is evaluating your request for more credit, then soft credit checks represent … pretty much any other instance where a credit pull is being requested on your report.It’s often said that soft credit checks don’t show up on your credit report, but this isn’t exactly true. Soft pulls are recorded on your report, but they are visible only to you, not to any other businesses or entities that might run a credit check. More importantly, soft inquiries do not affect your credit score.With a soft check, companies will often get a less clear picture of your overall creditworthiness: A solid overview, not a detailed analysis. This is why you can receive a pre-approved offer for an online loan or credit card and then still be denied when you submit an application and a hard inquiry is run.Unlike hard credit inquiries, soft inquiries can be run with or without your permission. So if you are applying for a new apartment and a landlord runs a soft check on your application, then they don’t need to ask for permission before doing so. However, if the landlord does request permission, then you know it is a hard check.Some loans use soft credit checks.If you have bad credit and you’re applying for a loan, you should consider the benefits of a soft credit check loan over a no credit check loan. While neither one of these loans performs a hard inquiry, soft credit check loans do indeed run a soft inquiry when evaluating their loan applications.Running a soft check allows the lender to determine a borrower’s ability to repay the loan they’re applying for. It’s pretty much exactly the same reason that traditional personal lenders run hard inquiries. If a soft credit check lender determines someone cannot afford a loan, they will decline to lend to them.No credit check lenders, on the other hand, will approve a loan regardless of whether the borrower can afford it or not. This means that it’s all too easy for no credit check loans to trap borrowers under a mountain of high-interest debt that they have little hope of ever paying off on their own.Common no credit check loans include payday loans, title loans, and cash advances. Soft credit check loans, meanwhile, most often come in the form of bad credit installment loans. Some soft credit check lenders even report payment information to the credit bureaus; this means that paying your loan off on time could help you build a better credit history.To learn more about how you can improve your credit, check out  these other posts and articles from OppLoan s:How to Raise Your Credit Score by 100 PointsWill Closing a Credit Card Affect Your Credit Score?Have Bad Credit? Here Are Two Things You Should Do6 Great Reasons To Check Your Credit ReportDo you have a personal finance question youd like us to answer? Let us know! You can find us  on  Facebook  and  Twitter.  |Instagram

Legalizing Marijuan Dangerous, Unhealthy And A Bad Message...

Legalizing Marijuana Legalizing MariJuana can be dangerous, unhealthy and a bad message for kids. For a substance considered unhealthy cannot be produced and distributed with the help of the state, because the goal of the state is to protect citizens’ health and not to expose them to risk. Also the easy availability of drugs will create new consumers rather than rescue the current ones. It can also be dangerous because a drug user cannot make an informed and rational decision to continue using drugs because the use of the drug eliminates that user’s ability to think logically. Nor can they disseminate themselves from drug taking. Furthermore, legalizing marijuana can be a bad message to children. In the â€Å"rise of health care costs† state, violence associated with the use of drugs, neglect of children by drug-addicted parents, and other third party effects. And the frequent use of drugs will give a message to the children saying it s acceptable. Therefore, making the child do the same as his/her parents. In conclusion, legalizing marijuana can be dangerous, unhealthy and a bad message for kids. Legalizing marijuana can be dangerous, unhealthy, One way legalizing marijuana can be dangerous is that it can affect your respiartory system according to leaf science.com believe it or not, â€Å"marijuana smoke contains 50 to 70 percent more carcinogenic hydrocarbons than tobacco smoke, which means it has a much higher potential to cause cancer of the lungs and respiratory

The Great Depression Severe Economic Crisis - 1724 Words

The Great Depression was a severe economic crisis that began after the stock market crash in 1929. Afterwards, laws were put into place to prevent the depression from happening again. The Great Depression had a major impact on the economy and the people who experienced the event. The people began to buy products only when the money was available, and became conservatives for the remainder of their lives. The United States was pushed into having a better economic system because of the Great Depression. Previous to the Great Depression, the governments usually took little or no action in the times of the downturn of businesses, instead they relied on neutral market forces to attain the necessary economic corrections.Yet, market forces had†¦show more content†¦The crash of the stock market in October brought the economic expansion of the 1920s to an emblematic end. Wall Street’s tremendous crash caused billions of dollars in equity to dissolve into thin air. On October 24, 1929 a reported 12.9 million contributions were exchanged and that day became known as â€Å"Black Thursday†. On October 29th agitated traders sold off 16,400,000 shares of stock, this became known as â€Å"Black Tuesday†. The government came to a realization that investors in the markets had lost approximately 40 billion dollars. Millions of the shares that had been bought ended up becoming worthless, investors who had bought the stocks â€Å"on margin† had been wiped out entirely. Farmers couldn’t afford to harvest the crops and were then forced to leave them in the fields to rot. Millions of people ended up losing jobs and businesses and many farmers went bankrupt. Wages fell and the buying power decreased for those who were fortunate enough to remain employed. Many American that had been forced to purchase on credit ended up falling into debt and foreclosures and repossessions steadily increased. The Depression hit the hardest for the nations that had been most greatly indebted to the United States, Great Britain and Germany were among these nations. Unemployment increased sharply for Germany in late 1929, by early 1932 unemployment had reached 6Show MoreRelatedThe Great Depression : Economic Growth And Prosperity1438 Words   |  6 PagesAmerican history, the Great Depression ranks second as the longest and most severe crisis ever experienced only dislodged from the first position by the Civil War. The Great Depression marked a period of economic downturn that resulted in severe declines in output, acute deflation, financial insecurity and severe unemployment rates. This was a sharp contrast from the early 1920’s when the country was experiencing a period of tremendous economic growth and prosperity. The Great Depression was brought aboutRead MoreAmerica s First Great Depression : Economic Crisis And Political Disorder Essay856 Words   |  4 Pages Alasdair Roberts book entitled America s First Great Depression: Economic Crisis and Political Disorder After The Panic of 1837 introduces the reader to challenges the United States dealt with in terms of economic and political crisis. He thoroughly entails the drastic decline the nation witnessed shortly after The Panic of 1837 which he coined the start of America s first Great Depression. Alasdair Roberts is a well known Canadian professor at the Truman School of Public Affairs. He frequentlyRead MoreThe Great Depression Of The 1930s Essay1689 Words   |  7 PagesGlobal Crisis of 2008 in Comparison to the Great Depression of the 1930s Introduction The economic crisis’ of the 1930s and 2000s greatly impacted the United Sates (U.S) and the world. 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There were many contributions to this severe economic crisis such as the overproduction of crops and technologies, installment p lans, stock speculation through buyingRead MoreThe Great Depression and Unemployment: Discussion Questions1271 Words   |  5 Pages________________________________________________________________________ Q. 2: The Great Depression The Great Depression started in 1930 and lasted until 1939. It can be regarded as the worst depression the world has ever seen in the history. Spread across various nations, the Great Depression badly hampered each and every aspect of the economic, business, political, and social life. The most affected regions due to this economic slump were North America, Europe, and other industrialized Western countriesRead MoreThe Role of Banks in Economic Recessions1644 Words   |  7 Pagesbanks in economic recessions 05.05.2009 In today’s wavering global economic context, the word `crisis` is omnipresent, taking the media by assault and infringing into the population’s daily life, although many countries haven’t even officially entered recession yet. Although recession is generally referred to as a negative Gross Domestic Product growth for a period of at least two consecutive quarters, other important economic change variablesRead More The Impact of the Great Depression Essay926 Words   |  4 PagesThe Impact of the Great Depression The stock market crash of 1929 sent the nation spiraling into a state of economic paralysis that became known as the Great Depression. As industries shrank and businesses collapsed or cut back, up to 25% of Americans were left unemployed. At the same time, the financial crisis destroyed the life savings of countless Americans (Modern American Poetry). Food, housing and other consumable goods were in short supply for most people (Zinn 282). This widespreadRead MoreEssay Relief Efforts During The Great Depression1492 Words   |  6 Pages The Great Depression was a time of hardship for many. People lost their jobs, home, money and almost half the population were under the poverty line. As the rising number of unemployed men and women grew, the states and private organizations took it into their own hands to provide aid for those who needed it. However, the rigorous efforts of these charities and government did not provide much â€Å"relief† in the long term. Many people ha d been taking advantage of these charity organizations and soonRead MoreThe Worst Economic Depression Ever Felt Theu.s. Essay1249 Words   |  5 PagesThe worst economic depression ever felt in U.S. history was not only felt in north America, but this also became a worldwide economic slump. The Great Depression caused by many factors raised a question of how will the we take a step into recovery. The Election of president Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1932 was the beginning of the shaping of the U.S. government interaction with American citizens. Roosevelts campaign helped him win the election of 1932 with his laudable ideas of how to combat the effectsRead MoreTaking a Look at the 1920s1642 Words   |  7 Pagescoordinating authorities or public bodies was weak. Prior to 1930, there was a degree of freedom of business activity, protected from state interference, without any parallel with the business environment, which was more regulated after the Great Depression. The First World War was beneficial to the North American economy. They were separated by the Atlantic Ocean from the conflict, and became the major suppliers of essential supplies for survival and support for their allies. But the American society

Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration Free Essays

GHANA INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT AND PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION (GIMPA) MBA (PROJECT MANAGEMENT OPTION) GMBA 799 STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT STUDENT NAME: EMMANUEL SESSOU STUDENT ID NUMBER: MBAE 10040217 Question: Write a short note on the Balanced Scorecard Balanced Scorecard  Basics The balanced scorecard is a  strategic planning and management system  that is used extensively in business and industry, government, and nonprofit organizations worldwide to align business activities to the vision and strategy of the organization, improve internal and external communications, and monitor organization performance against strategic goals. It was originated by Drs. We will write a custom essay sample on Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration or any similar topic only for you Order Now Robert Kaplan (Harvard Business School) and David Norton as a performance measurement framework that added strategic non-financial performance measures to traditional financial metrics to give managers and executives a more ‘balanced’ view of organizational performance. The balanced scorecard has evolved from its early use as a simple performance measurement framework to a full  strategic planning and management system. â€Å"The balanced scorecard retains traditional financial measures. But financial measures tell the story of past events, an adequate story for industrial age companies for which investments in long-term capabilities and customer relationships were not critical for success. These financial measures are inadequate, however, for guiding and evaluating the journey that information age companies must make to create future value through investment in customers, suppliers, employees, processes, technology, and innovation. The balanced scorecard suggests that we view the organization from four perspectives, and to develop metrics, collect data and analyze it relative to each of these perspectives: The Learning Growth Perspective, The Business Process Perspective, The Customer Perspective and The Financial Perspective The Learning Growth Perspective This perspective includes employee training and corporate cultural attitudes related to both individual and corporate self-improvement. In a knowledge-worker organization, people — the only repository of knowledge — are the main resource. In the current climate of rapid technological change, it is becoming necessary for knowledge workers to be in a continuous learning mode. Metrics can be put into place to guide managers in focusing training funds where they can help the most. In any case, learning and growth constitute the essential foundation for success of any knowledge-worker organization. The Business Process Perspective This perspective refers to internal business processes. Metrics based on this perspective allow the managers to know how well their business is running, and whether its products and services conform to customer requirements (the mission). These metrics have to be carefully designed by those who know these processes most intimately; with our unique missions these are not something that can be developed by outside consultants. The Customer Perspective Recent management philosophy has shown an increasing realization of the importance of customer focus and customer satisfaction in any business. These are leading indicators: if customers are not satisfied, they will eventually find other suppliers that will meet their needs. Poor performance from this perspective is thus a leading indicator of future decline, even though the current financial picture may look good. In developing metrics for satisfaction, customers should be analyzed in terms of kinds of customers and the kinds of processes for which we are providing a product or service to those customer groups. The Financial Perspective Kaplan and Norton do not disregard the traditional need for financial data. Timely and accurate funding data will always be a priority, and managers will do whatever necessary to provide it. In fact, often there is more than enough handling and processing of financial data. With the implementation of a corporate database, it is hoped that more of the processing can be centralized and automated. But the point is that the current emphasis on financials leads to the â€Å"unbalanced† situation with regard to other perspectives. There is perhaps a need to include additional financial-related data, such as risk assessment and cost-benefit data, in this category. Reference Robert S. Kaplan and David P. Norton, â€Å"Using the Balanced Scorecard as a Strategic Management System,† Harvard Business Review (January-February 1996): 76. How to cite Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration, Essay examples

Jane Smileys A Thousand Acres tells a dark tale o Essay Example For Students

Jane Smileys A Thousand Acres tells a dark tale o Essay f a corrupt patriarchalsociety which operates through concealment. It is a story in which the charactersattempt to manipulate one another through the secrets they possess and thesubsequent revelation of those secrets. In her novel, Smiley gives us a verysimple moral regarding this patriarchal society: women who remain financially andemotionally dependent on men decay; those able to break the economic and emotionalchains develop as women and as hum ans. Roots of A Thousand Acres can be seen in numerous novels and plays, themost obvious of which is King Lear. The parallels are too great to ignore. Smiley is successful because she fills in so many of the gaps left open in theplay. She gives us new an d different perspectives. One of the particular strengths of the novel lies in its depiction of theplace of women in a predominantly patriarchal culture. In this male dominatedculture, the values privileged in women include silence and subordination. Ginnyis acceptable as a woman as long as she remains oblivious (121). She is allowedto disagree with men, contingent upon her doing so without fighting (104). Ultimately, her opinion as a woman remains irrelevant. Ginny remarks, of courseit was silly to talk about my po int of view. When my father asserted his pointof view, mine vanished (176). When she makes the mistake of crossing herfather, she is referred to as a bitch, whore, and slut (181, 185). It could be argued that many of the male characters in the novel aresuffering from a type of virgin/whore syndrome. As long as the women remaindocile receptacles they are good; when they resist or even question masculineauthority, they are bad. Rose complains, When we are good girls and accept ourcircumstances, were glad about it.When we are bad girls, it drives us crazy(99). The women have been indoctrinated to the point that they initially buy intoand accept these standards of judgem ent. The type of patriarchy described bySmiley simply serves to show the inscription of the marginalization of women bymen in the novel and in our society. Another strength of the novel is its treatment of secrets and appearances. Like characters in a Lewis or Bellow novel, the characters in A Thousand Acres aremore concerned with maintaining a veneer of social respectability than withaddressing reality. Life, for them, becomes some kind of facade. Nearly everyone has a secret andnothing is as it seems. Our narrator tell us, They all looked happy (38); andlater, Most issues on a farm return to the issue of keeping up appearances(199). Amid all of the sub-plots and mini-themes (and there are many) in AThousand Acres, the one recurring theme which stands out is Smileys criticism ofa masculine-dominated culture. The one element clearly valued in a woman by thispatriarchal society is silence. The girls sat quietly (95) and they are goodgirls. For a woman to express her own feelings in the novel can lead to harmfulrepressions. So it is that Ginny suppresses her voice. Her inability andunwillingness to stand up to her father, and even to Ty (in reference to thebabies especially), shows that she allows herself to remain marginalizedthroughout much of the novel. In A Thousand Acres, Smiley tries to capture the tensions of real everydayliving in her representation of a dysfunctional rural family steeped in apatriarchal tradition. She shows the effects of the unreasonableness of ourpatriarchal society and indi cts it in the process. Ginny is defined within adouble set of cultural constraints. She is confined not only by prevailingexpectations regarding social behavior but also by those governing the properbehavior of women. Reticence is an essential part of the code of feminine decorumbased on the idea of womans inherent weakness and the need to defer to and relyupon masculine strength and protection. By allowing Ginny to break the chains ofreticence and flee, literally, to a new life, Smiley turns w eakness into strengthas she envisions a more reasonable (and perhaps more feminized) social order. Sheforces us to ask what ideals we are being sacrificed to patriotism? Maintaining appearances? Maintaining patriarchal standards? Smiley speaks for all who have been marginalized when she states (through Jess), Maybe to you itlooked like I just vanished, but I was out there (55)!

Two Non

People always long to have some perfect life and perfect society, since the ancient times and until now writers from all over the world write about their ideal societies. Two of the most famous works depicting this theme – non-existing worlds -are Utopia by Tomas More and 1984 by George Orwell, though they represent two opposite worlds.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Two Non-Existing Worlds specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More First, I’d like to point out that More’s Utopia became more than the name of his book and his non-existing country, it became a name for every ideal world. People use to say now that an ideal society is Utopia, meaning that it is impossible. Returning to More’s Utopia it is necessary to stress that this book reveals his ideas about the basic principles and laws which should rule in each human society. More criticizes the laws of the contemporary European society; h e highlights that other countries, in the East for instance, have more fair laws; and after that he starts depicting Utopia, where all people live and work in the ideal society. One of the main religious principles in Utopia is â€Å"that the soul of man is immortal and that God of His goodness has designed that it should be happy† (More 47). Thus, More states that the main idea of every society should be happiness and satisfaction of its citizens. On the contrary, Orwell’s people live in â€Å"Negative Utopia†, where people live in fear and unjust society. Ruling totalitarian party of Orwell’s society keeps people in fear and ignorance, to make them work for the sake of the party. The majority of people should â€Å"always look cheerful†, they should â€Å"never shirk anything† and â€Å"always yell with the crowd†, because this is â€Å"the only way to be safe† (Orwell 122). It is very remarkable that Orwell’s people only look cheerful, though they are miserable; moreover they cannot express their real needs and wishes, for in that case they will disappear. People of this society are presupposed to feel hatred rather than happiness, they even have â€Å"Two Minutes Hate† (Orwell 9), it is during this time all people gather in front of the big telescreen and express their hatred towards non-existing enemy. In Orwell’s society everything is assigned from the above. People are to do some definite, even mechanic and often useless work, like deleting yesterday news and making out some new ones, which better fit to the new environment. Thus, people were turned to machines lacking any emotions and thoughts. Contrariwise, in Utopia people knew all kind of work and could ask to prolong the term of working in the area they liked. For example, agriculture is paid great attention and is â€Å"so universally understood among them, that no person, either man or woman is ignorant of it† ( More 33). People spend some definite period of time in agriculture, and then shift to other areas, for example, trade. People could stay in agriculture more, if they liked working in the field and could do it the best. Thus, in Utopia people could do every necessary work, and they also could dedicate their life to the labor they preferred.Advertising Looking for essay on comparative literature? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Another remarkable point to consider is the perception of war in both worlds. First, I’d like to consider Utopia where â€Å"they detest war as a very brutal thing† (More 64). Here war is unacceptable, though they have trained warriors; they try to prevent any war. Utopians seek for peace; they understand that the appropriate state of any society is peace, not war. They understand that only peace can bring happiness and satisfaction to the citizens of Utopia. Orwell’s society, on the contrary, lives in war, they constantly have wars, at least the ruling party says so. They have powerful Ministry of War, where all the issues of war are considered. All Orwell’s people â€Å"know that it is necessary that the war should continue everlastingly and without victory† (Orwell 197). In this world, war is not only the state of the society; it is a state of the people’s minds. This state of war is to make people frighten and obedient, fulfilling the necessary work and orders. At this point I’d like to point out that Orwell and More pertain to different centuries and, thus, different movements and even absolutely different worlds. More lived in times when people believed in human mind, believed that people can and should be happy and live in fair world. More suggested the ideas of enlightenment in his Utopia, giving reasonable ways to obtain just society. Orwell lived in the world of two great wars, world wars. He saw totalitarian ruling in se veral societies, he saw technological progress and also saw what human mind can do. Orwell’s book is a piece of social science fiction, where he warns people against the possible future of the whole humanity, if people continue moving in the path chosen in the beginning and in the middle of the XX century. These two non-existing worlds reveal the More and Orwell’s ideas about the ideal society, though More show how it should be, depicting the ideal and beautiful world of Utopia; and Orwell shows how it should not (but can) be, depicting horrible totalitarian Oceania. Works Cited More, T. Utopà ­a. New York: Cosimo, Inc., 2004.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Two Non-Existing Worlds specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Orwell, G. 1984. New York: Signet Classic, 1981. This essay on Two Non-Existing Worlds was written and submitted by user Emmalee David to help you with your own studies. You are free to use it for research and reference purposes in order to write your own paper; however, you must cite it accordingly. You can donate your paper here.

Budgets essays

Budgets essays The U.S. House of Representatives passed an amendment granting the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) a ten million dollar budget increase for 2003 (NEA Newsroom 2003a). The funding hike is earmarked for the agency's Challenge America initiative, which is designed to make the arts more widely available in underserved communities across the country. National Endowment for the Arts Chairman Dana Gioia states: We welcome this much-needed, positive development. This vote of confidence in the NEA comes just as state, local, and organizational arts budgets across the country are being slashed. These funds will greatly enhance our ability to deliver the finest arts and arts education programs to all regions of the country. All Americans should be encouraged that the House recognized this as a worthy investment that will pay significant cultural and even economic dividends to communities across the country. (NEA Newsroom 2003a) The U.S. Senate is expected to take up its version of the funding The bipartisan amendment provides an increase of ten million dollars for the Arts Endowment, in addition to President George W. Bush's FY 2004 budget request of $117.480 million. The agency's FY 2003 funding is $115.731 million. The Slaughter-Shays-Dicks-Leach amendment was sponsored by Representatives Louise Slaughter (D-NY) and Chris Shays (R-CT), co- chairs of the Congressional Arts Caucus, and Norm Dicks (D-WA), Ranking Minority Member on the Interior Appropriations Subcommittee and Jim Leach Members of the House-Senate conference committee who've been negotiating the 2004 Interior Appropriations bill now agree to increase the budget of the National Endowment for the Arts by nearly seven million dollars. This raises the budget for the nation's leading annual fund...