The Coalition for Peace Action's Buxmont chapters held a No War in Iran Vigil in honor of Mother's Day on Friday, May 11. Attendees then met with a staffer from Allyson Schwartz's office to encourage Rep. Schwartz to support the SANE Act, which would cut wasteful nuclear weapons spending.


Vigil participants display signs supporting peace.


Evelyn Haas giving Rep. Schwartz's staffperson petitions in support of the SANE Act.

COALITION FOR PEACE ACTION RELEASES RESULTS OF COMMUNIVERSITY “PENNY POLL” ON FEDERAL BUDGET PRIORITIES

The Princeton-based Coalition for Peace Action (CFPA) today announced the results of its “Penny Poll” of how attendees at Princeton’s annual Communiversity on April 28, would like to see their tax dollars spent.

The Penny Poll was conducted from 12 noon until 5:00 PM at a booth CFPA had at Communiversity in downtown Princeton. As people came to the booth, they were invited to express their opinion on how they would like their federal tax dollar to be spent.

Each of the 288 participants were given ten pennies and asked to distribute them between five tubes representing categories of federal spending: education, environment, health care, housing, and military. The results are below.

Category	Number of Pennies	Percent
Education	917	32
Environment	690	24
Health Care	686	24
Housing	296	10
Military	285	10

Participants were then handed a fact sheet showing that 52% of the “Discretionary Budget” for FY2011 was for military spending. Discretionary spending is what Congress can allocate for what it chooses each year, as distinct from entitlements. Discretionary Budget Funding for Education was just 7%, Health Care 5%; Environment 3%, and Housing 4%.

“This year’s results remain consistent with Penny Poll results from previous years. Taxpayers want more of their hard-earned tax dollars going to education, environment, and health care, and far less to military purposes. Total military spending for FY 2011 was $699 billion (an average of $5,894 per household), the highest level since World War II. We encourage taxpayers to contact their elected representatives to urge them to support more peaceful federal budget priorities,” said the Rev. Robert Moore, Executive Director of CFPA.

** A special thanks to our dozen volunteers who helped to run the penny poll and to collect 105 signatures for our No War in Iran petition!

(Left to Right): Jo Schlesinger (Western PA Coordinator, Coalition for Peace Action), Senator Bob Casey, Ed Aguilar (Director, Project for Nuclear Awareness), Kate Whitman (Assistant Director, Coalition for Peace Action)

The Coalition for Peace Action (CFPA) sent a delegation to Washington, DC on April 19 to meet with the offices of Senator Bob Casey and Senator Pat Toomey to discuss issues of nuclear disarmament and cutting wasteful nuclear weapons spending. The above photograph is of the delegation at Senator Bob Casey's Breakfast with Bob event.

COALITION FOR PEACE ACTION RELEASES RESULTS OF TAX DAY “PENNY POLL” ON FEDERAL BUDGET PRIORITIES

Photo by Anna Savoia

The Princeton-based Coalition for Peace Action (CFPA) today announced the results of its “Penny Poll” of how taxpayers mailing their federal tax returns on April 17, the filing deadline, would like to see their tax dollars spent.

The Penny Poll was conducted from 12 noon until 1:30 PM on April 17 in front of the Palmer Square Post Office in downtown Princeton. As people approached the Post Office, they were invited to express their opinion on how they would like their federal tax dollar to be spent.

Each of the 66 participants were given ten pennies and asked to distribute them between 5 tubes representing categories of federal spending: education, environment, health care, housing, and military. The results are below.

Category	Number of Pennies	Percent
Health Care	227	34
Education	138	21
Environment	136	21
Housing	104	16
Military	54	8

Participants were then handed a fact sheet showing that 52% of the “Discretionary Budget” for FY2011 was for military spending. Discretionary spending is what Congress can allocate for what it chooses each year, as distinct from entitlements. Discretionary Budget Funding for Education was just 7%, Health Care 5%; Environment 3%, and Housing 4%.

“This year’s results remain consistent with results from over many years. Taxpayers want more of their hard-earned tax dollars going to education, environment, and health care, and far less to military purposes. Total military spending for FY 2011 was $699 billion (an average of $5,894 per household), the highest level since World War II. We encourage taxpayers to contact their elected representatives to urge them to support more peaceful federal budget priorities,” said the Rev. Robert Moore, Executive Director of CFPA.

Pittsburgh Penny Poll Results

Education	115	27%
Health	80	18%
Mass Transit	70	16%
Food	55	13%
Housing	54	13%
Veterans	51	12%
Military	8	1%

The Coalition for Peace Action's Buxmont chapters held their quarterly potluck on Sunday, March 25 with Ward Wilson, prize-winning scholar on nuclear deterrance and former CFPA Associate Director, as the main speaker. Ward spoke about the cost of maintaining the US's nuclear arsenal as well as the SANE (Sensible Approach to Nuclear Expenditures) Act and Buxmont's efforts in urging Rep. Fitzpatrick to support the bill. Thanks to Sally Witt for these great photos and video coverage!


Cathy Leary, CFPA Buxmont Co-Coordinator.

A crowd enjoying the potluck and Ward's presentation.

Bill Deckhart, Co-Cordinator of CFPA Buxmont.

Ward Wilson gives a talk on nuclear weapons spending and the SANE Act.

The Coalition for Peace Action's Buxmont chapters held a Say No To War With Iran Vigil on March 19, the 9th anniversary of the Iraq War. A crowd of 30 people lined the Morrisville side of the Trenton Makes bridge calling for No More Preemptive Wars, No More Iraqs.