On Tuesday, May 29th, CFPA co-sponsored and participated in a rally by the NJ Poor People's Campaign.
For 40 days, the Poor People's Campaign is holding weekly rallies and direct actions. This week's theme was the war economy and the proliferation of gun violence. CFPA's Executive Director, the Rev. Robert Moore, gave an introductory speech for the rally.
Click here to view Rev. Moore's speech
"After complaining for years that it was starved for cash, the Pentagon now says it may have more money than it can possibly spend.
The windfall is due to a budget deal between Congress and the White House last month that promises an added $80 billion for defense this fiscal year, including a requested $19.6-billion hike for "operations and maintenance" — an all-purpose Pentagon account used to fund troop training, ammunition, maintenance of tanks, warplanes and ships, and other daily needs.
Defense Secretary James N. Mattis pushed for a sharp increase in the account this year, arguing that years of budget wrangling had degraded the military's readiness to wage war.
Congress is still finalizing 2018 appropriations levels for the Pentagon, a delay that has generals and admirals worried about spending all the promised cash in the five months remaining before the end of the fiscal year.
"We have a year's worth of money … and five months to spend it," Gen. Glenn Walters, assistant commandant of the Marine Corps, said at a Senate Armed Services Committee budget hearing.
Critics say that giving the military more money than it can absorb invites waste and abuse, noting that the Pentagon has a long history of overpayments, cost overruns and fiscal shenanigans.
"They cried wolf and now they have more than they can possibly put to use," said Mandy Smithberger, director of the Center for Defense Information, a policy organization critical of Pentagon budget practices. "I think it's dangerous because you are going to see a use-it-or-lose-it kind of spending."" (Read full article here).
By William D. Hartung, July 25, 2017, Tom Dispatch
You wouldn’t know it, based on the endless cries for more money coming from the military, politicians, and the president, but these are the best of times for the Pentagon. Spending on the Department of Defense alone is already well in excess of half a trillion dollars a year and counting. Adjusted for inflation, that means it’s higher than at the height of President Ronald Reagan’s massive buildup of the 1980s and is now nearing the post-World War II funding peak. And yet that’s barely half the story. There are hundreds of billions of dollars in “defense” spending that aren’t even counted in the Pentagon budget.
Under the circumstances, laying all this out in grisly detail -- and believe me, when you dive into the figures, they couldn’t be grislier -- is the only way to offer a better sense of the true costs of our wars past, present, and future, and of the funding that is the lifeblood of the national security state. When you do that, you end up with no less than 10 categories of national security spending (only one of which is the Pentagon budget). So steel yourself for a tour of our nation’s trillion-dollar-plus “national security” budget. Given the Pentagon’s penchant for wasting money and our government’s record of engaging in dangerously misguided wars without end, it’s clear that a large portion of this massive investment of taxpayer dollars isn’t making anyone any safer. (Read Complete Article).
By William D. Hartung, May 10, 2017 Foreign Policy In Focus
The wars America is already fighting are going to cost trillions. The cost of the ones to come is almost incomprehensible.
When Donald Trump wanted to “do something” about the use of chemical weapons on civilians in Syria, he had the U.S. Navy lob 59 cruise missiles at a Syrian airfield (cost: $89 million). The strike was symbolic at best, as the Assad regime ran bombing missions from the same airfield the very next day, but it did underscore one thing: the immense costs of military action of just about any sort in our era. (Read Complete Article).
See the results of CFPA's 2017 Online Virtual Penny Poll on federal budget priorities below:
Categories voted Highest Priority
Environment (32%)
Education (30%)
Health Care (27%)
Housing (9%)
Military (2%)
Source
Will reducing military spending leave America vulnerable to attack?
The defense budget can and should be reduced without presenting any risk to our country.
On Monday afternoon, President Obama will nominate former Nebraska senator Chuck Hagel (R) as secretary of defense. The confirmation hearings are likely to focus on Hagel's views on Israel and Iran. Yet the biggest headache likely to face the next defense secretary will almost certainly be the U.S. military budget. The United States spends far more than any other country on defense and security. Since 2001, the base defense budget has soared from $287 billion to $530 billion — and that's before accounting for the primary costs of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. But now that those wars are ending and austerity is back in vogue, the Pentagon will have to start tightening its belt in 2013 and beyond. If Hagel gets confirmed as secretary of defense, he'll have to figure out how best to do that. (Read Complete Article)
American politicians are fond of telling their audiences that the United States is the greatest country in the world. Is there any evidence for this claim?
Well, yes. When it comes to violence and preparations for violence, the United States is, indeed, No. 1. In 2013, according to a report by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, the U.S. government accounted for 37 percent of world military expenditures, putting it far ahead of all other nations. (The two closest competitors, China and Russia, accounted for 11 percent and 5 percent respectively.) From 2004 to 2013, the United States was also the No. 1 weapons exporter in the world. Moreover, given the U.S. government’s almost continuous series of wars and acts of military intervention since 1941, it seems likely that it surpasses all rivals when it comes to international violence.
- See more at: http://historynewsnetwork.org/article/157216#sthash.6w5Ddjz7.dpufAmerican politicians are fond of telling their audiences that the United States is the greatest country in the world. Is there any evidence for this claim?
Well, yes. When it comes to violence and preparations for violence, the United States is, indeed, No. 1. In 2013, according to a report by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, the U.S. government accounted for 37 percent of world military expenditures, putting it far ahead of all other nations. (The two closest competitors, China and Russia, accounted for 11 percent and 5 percent respectively.) From 2004 to 2013, the United States was also the No. 1 weapons exporter in the world. Moreover, given the U.S. government’s almost continuous series of wars and acts of military intervention since 1941, it seems likely that it surpasses all rivals when it comes to international violence.
- See more at: http://historynewsnetwork.org/article/157216#sthash.6w5Ddjz7.dpufEspecially in light of difficult economic times, CFPA considers the formation of a peace economy to be one of our top priorities. Creating a peace economy entails investing funds in domestic projects such as healthcare, education, and employment programs rather than on military endeavors. In 2012, 51% of the federal budget went to military spending. Meanwhile, only 38% of the budget was split among Human Resources, which includes Health Services, the Education Department, Housing and Urban Development, and the Labor Department. Military spending comes to about $5,862 per US household.
CFPA advocates a shift in priorities in US spending, and supports projects that work to achieve this goal, such as the regional Smart Security Campaign and the national New Priorities Network. Our country is now presented with a choice between guns and butter: do we invest in our military, or do we invest in jobs and education? Our future depends on this decision, and CFPA is one of the organizations leading the way in advocataing for a more responsible and sustainable type of spending.
As of July of 2013, the Coalition for Peace Action is an endorser of the RISE and WORK campaign, an anti-poverty campaign focused on developing and advocating for national legislation to strengthen social welfare programs. We encourage you to read about these exciting efforts and add your name or organization to the list of endorsers!
January 28, 2011: CFPA participates in a panel with the Progressive Democrats of America as they start their state tour. The Panel includes Philadelphia Jobs for Justice, US Labor Against the War, Healthcare for All Pennsylvania, and Social Security Works. Bill Deckhart, our Southeastern Pennsylvania coordinator, represents CFPA. Jo Schlesinger represents CFPA when the tour stops in Pittsburgh on 2 days later.
A list of deficit reduction propsals compiled by the Center for Arms Control and Non-proliferation.
From Business Insider: 12 Facts that Show that America Cannot Afford to Police the World Anymore
"Why We Must Reduce Military Spending" by Reps. Barney Frank and Ron Paul.
The Coalition for Peace Action (CFPA) is a grassroots citizens' organization bringing together people of all ages, backgrounds, professions and political persuasions around three goals: global abolition of nuclear weapons, a peace economy and a halt to weapons trafficking at home and abroad.
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