In his 2008 presidential campaign, Barack Obama called himself a "champion for arts and culture." Part of his arts platform was to create a tax deduction for artists who donate their work. Almost four years later, it hasn't happened.

Here's the background: Congress has considered bills about an artist tax deduction every session since 2000. The most consistent supporter has been Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., who introduced the Artist-Museum Partnership Act six times. On one of those occasions, then-Sen. Obama supported the bill and signed on as a co-sponsor in 2007.

Under the current tax code, an artist can deduct the cost of supplies used to create donated artwork, but not the fair market value of the art itself. In a 2007 statement, Leahy said the measure would eliminate "a disincentive for artists to donate their works to museums and libraries."

The American Association of Museums says the effect of the current tax code is "works of local, regional, and national significance are sold into private hands and are never made available to the public."

Since Obama became president, bills have been introduced in the House and Senate, again. Both remain stuck in committee.

We searched for any trace of Obama supporting the bill as president. He didn't use his bully pulpit either in public addresses or media interviews, but "if the bill were presented to him, we believe he would sign it," said Dewey Blanton, a spokesman for the American Association of Museums.

Since we can't find any evidence of Obama fighting for this bill as president, much less signing it, we rate this a Promise Broken.