Move the Money
While the recommendations of the Sustainable Defense Task would cut over one trillion dollars from the Pentagon budget over the next 10 years, this would still leave the Pentagon a ten year budget of over six trillion dollars.
Today, military spending accounts for more than half of the federal government's entire discretionary budget. Nuclear weapons spending alone accounts for over $40 billion annually, and is scheduled to increase. There is an obvious connection between the bloated Pentagon budget and the critical budget shortfalls facing virtually every community in the country.
Peace Action is partnering with Peace Action Education Fund on its Move the Money Campaign. This effort will serve as a platform for average people to voice their opinions and demands regarding military spending. Communities will utilize public forums, education, public demonstrations, local resolutions and petitions as tools to influence decisions made by our elected officials.
The following are goals that Peace Action’s Move the Money Campaign has for 2013:
- Build stronger alliances between the peace movement and labor, economic justice and human needs groups, whose constituencies have been devastated by the economic crisis.
- Raise the stakes for President Obama and other elected officials in the 2014 elections as they define their positions on military spending issues through Peace Action’s Peace Voter 2014 organizing,
- Develop educational tools on the federal budget and the impact of military spending on their communities for local organizers to use in their outreach.
- Work in key states to raise awareness and public support for reducing military spending by 25%.
- Support the local efforts of Peace Action affiliates and chapters in strengthening local alliances with civil rights, labor and other community groups and build city, state and national coalitions focused on reductions of military spending to meet human needs, and encourage participation in the Congressional budget process in 2013 and beyond.
Recent Blog Posts
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Well, the good folks at truthout changed the header on my op-ed to a less colorful “North Korea and U.S. Special Ops Force...
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That’s Where the Money Goes – Larry Wittner, Peace Action board member, on Huffington Post
Great piece on Huffington Post, as always, by SUNY-Albany emeritus professor of history and politics and Peace Action board memb...
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Peace Action and Peace Action Education Fund’s 2013 Campaign Plans
The political frame of our work is building a ...
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Action Alert: Call Congress, Tell them to Stop the Hype and Cut the Pork!
There is a lot of hype around the showdown over sequestration or the across the board cuts in the federal budget. The worst f...
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Peace Action Joins 21 Other Organizations in Transpartisan Letter Urging Pentagon Cuts
What’s notable about this is it’s not just the usual suspects, which is likely why ...
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President Obama released his budget on Wednesday. Poverty is at its highest level in fifty years. The wealthiest 2% and corporat...
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Our Taxes are Off to War – 2013 edition
Check out this great article on Daily Kos yesterday by Cleveland Peace Action’s Randy Schutt. It’s got very clear il...
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Tax Day and The Pentagon. Op-Ed on Common Dreams
http://www.commondreams.org/view/2013/04/14-1 Published on Sunday, April 14, 2013 by Common Dreams Tax Day and the Pentagon by K...
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Action Alert: Pull the Pork from the Pentagon Budget!
As the debate continues on the automatic spending cuts, the deficit, and the 2013 federal budget, it may seem like there is n...
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Action Alert – Cut the Pentagon, Not Medicare!
When Congress came to a deal over the budget negotiations earlier this month, they finally agreed to make the top 1% pay thei...
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A bit more on military and foreign policy in the State of the Union
Just a few points to add to Brother Matt Rothschild’s comprehensive commentary on the speech: It took the presid...
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Action Alert: Your Chance to Respond to the State of the Union
Tuesday night, President Obama delivered his first State of the Union speech of his second term. While it was a mixed b...
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Believe it or not, Congress has your budget – Take Action now to support the Back to Work Budget!
That’s right the Congressional Progressive Caucus just released its alternative budget called the ...
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Peace Action Wisconsin & Allies Expose Paul “1%” Ryan & GOP’s Budgetary Priorities
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Marylanders – Let’s Stop a Corporate Welfare Handout to the World’s Biggest War Profiteer!
Lockheed Martin lobbyists and their friends are working to squeeze millions of dollars from Montgomery County tax payers. The...
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Lockheed Martin Made How Much Money Last Year? And They Still Need to Shake Down Maryland Taxpayers?
Thanks for Stephen Miles of Win Without War for this legwork. To put this amount of money in context, Lockheed Martin’s...
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Move the Money Op-Ed in Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel
Great job by Peace Action Wisconsin Program Director Mike Helbick, who got help on this from our friends at the Coalition for...
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2/27 National Day of Action to Pull the Pork from the Pentagon Budget
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http://thehill.com/blogs/congress-blog/economy-a-budget/296397-days-of-blank-checks-are-over-for-nuclear-weapons-establishment B...
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Field Director Judith Le Blanc’s Letter on Pentagon Spending in the Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/pentagon-cuts-can-work-to-our-advantage/2013/05/02/3b75f022-b11a-11e2-9fb1-62de9581c946_s...
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Only One Place to Cut: Pentagon Budget
By Judith Le Blanc, Field Diretor Peace Action Sequestration, across the board cuts, is no way to run the federal government. So...
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–Kevin Martin, Executive Director One of the great benefits of my job is traveling the country and observing/supporting/le...
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CT Passes Bill: to transition to a sustainable peace economy
By Judith Le Blanc – Field Director, Peace Action Congrats to the US Peace Council, the New Haven Peace Commission, No Nu...
