The Pentaton budget is on the table for cuts!
It’s 2012 and the Pentagon budget – now taking 60% of our federal discretionary budget - is on the table for cuts!
It will be an exciting year - and challenging. We need to cut enough from the Pentagon budget to fund what we so desperately need: jobs! social services! our communities! renewable energy! Over this winter and spring, Congress will be fighting a series of bruising budget battles. They all come down to one question: how will we pay for… unemployment insurance, human services, the whole domestic budget? What will get cut and what won’t? We have a lot to do and we can all join in the push to fund our communities, not war.
Some good news: We are now looking at the first real decrease in the Pentagon budget in inflation-adjusted terms, in recent history. The Pentagon cuts just released in the administration’s defense strategic guidance document are not deep; massive US military spending is kept largely intact, with the Pentagon budget taking a 4% hit, far smaller than many other agencies. But it is a beginning.
Our challenge: military contractors and leaders are gearing up to roll back the small cuts which have been made,
and will try to exempt the Pentagon from the automatic cuts dictated by the Budget Control Act sequester
(These cuts are scheduled to follow the so called ‘failure’ of the SuperCommittee). We are being treated to apocalyptic
warnings about disastrous impact cuts will have, and military hawks are spending millions of dollars in lobbying.
All our Congresspeople will be under intense pressure to stop military spending cuts.
At home:
Massachusetts communities are mired in the worse 2 year stretch in 30 years! http://www.mma.org/local-aid-and-finance/6113-mtf-report-municipalities-mired-in-worst-2-year-stretch-in-3-decades. As the Mass Municipal Association held its annual meeting in January, the federal budget issues were identified as a top concern:
With federal support considered key to a wide range of programs delivered at the local level, including public safety, infrastructure, education, and human services, local officials are anxiously watching the budget debates in Washington. Federal spending reductions could ultimately leave cities and towns scrambling to close budget gaps. http://www.mma.org/
What the 25% campaign is doing:
-Communities are organizing throughout Massachusetts – from New Bedford and Fall River to Boston and Springfield; from Arlington and Newton to Northampton and Amherst. We are building a larger base: networking with statewide coalitions; with Occupy; and with organizations in our communities facing budget cuts; with labor, environmentalists, faith-based organizations educators and school committee members, local elected officials, and others. We are writing op-eds and letters to the editor, holding forums and town hall meetings.
-We will be pushing all candidates for Congressional office to support cutting the Pentagon budget and bring the money home to our communities.
It will be an exciting year - and challenging. We need to cut enough from the Pentagon budget to fund what we so desperately need: jobs! social services! our communities! renewable energy! Over this winter and spring, Congress will be fighting a series of bruising budget battles. They all come down to one question: how will we pay for… unemployment insurance, human services, the whole domestic budget? What will get cut and what won’t? We have a lot to do and we can all join in the push to fund our communities, not war.
Some good news: We are now looking at the first real decrease in the Pentagon budget in inflation-adjusted terms, in recent history. The Pentagon cuts just released in the administration’s defense strategic guidance document are not deep; massive US military spending is kept largely intact, with the Pentagon budget taking a 4% hit, far smaller than many other agencies. But it is a beginning.
Our challenge: military contractors and leaders are gearing up to roll back the small cuts which have been made,
and will try to exempt the Pentagon from the automatic cuts dictated by the Budget Control Act sequester
(These cuts are scheduled to follow the so called ‘failure’ of the SuperCommittee). We are being treated to apocalyptic
warnings about disastrous impact cuts will have, and military hawks are spending millions of dollars in lobbying.
All our Congresspeople will be under intense pressure to stop military spending cuts.
At home:
Massachusetts communities are mired in the worse 2 year stretch in 30 years! http://www.mma.org/local-aid-and-finance/6113-mtf-report-municipalities-mired-in-worst-2-year-stretch-in-3-decades. As the Mass Municipal Association held its annual meeting in January, the federal budget issues were identified as a top concern:
With federal support considered key to a wide range of programs delivered at the local level, including public safety, infrastructure, education, and human services, local officials are anxiously watching the budget debates in Washington. Federal spending reductions could ultimately leave cities and towns scrambling to close budget gaps. http://www.mma.org/
What the 25% campaign is doing:
-Communities are organizing throughout Massachusetts – from New Bedford and Fall River to Boston and Springfield; from Arlington and Newton to Northampton and Amherst. We are building a larger base: networking with statewide coalitions; with Occupy; and with organizations in our communities facing budget cuts; with labor, environmentalists, faith-based organizations educators and school committee members, local elected officials, and others. We are writing op-eds and letters to the editor, holding forums and town hall meetings.
-We will be pushing all candidates for Congressional office to support cutting the Pentagon budget and bring the money home to our communities.
Quotes:
A nation that continues year after year to spend more money on military defense than on programs of social uplift is approaching
spiritual death. Martin Luther King, Jr. The military budget is not on the table. The military is at the table, and it is eating everybody else’s lunch. MA Congressman Barney Frank, summer 2011 deficit negotiations NATIONAL:
| -January, 2012 The 25% campaign launches its 2012 plan. The 25% campaign merges with Massachusetts Peace Action Join us on January 28th for the Mass Peace Action Annual Meeting!! -November 8, Arlington 25% Solution sponsors Town Hall Meeting, Taking on the Budget Debate -October 2011-25% campaign does teach-in at Occupy Boston --Summer 2011 - Local Fund Our Community groups in MA help educate and build support for the People's Budget ---July, 2011 Arlington launches Resolution campaign --- June, 2011 Massachusetts Democratic Party votes in favor of the People’s Budget! http://www.uslaboragainstwar.org/article.php?id=24275 ---25% campaign joins new Statewide network! Fund Our Communities, No War Boston Speak-out March 22 2011 Video25% Campaign Stands with Wisconsin
 25% Campaign Stands with Wisconsin  Barney Frank hosts Town Hall Meetings
Rep. Barney Frank hosted 3 town hall meetings in October, - in New Bedford, Wellesley and Taunton - inviting people to discuss the economy, the budget and why he thinks it is essential that our country scales back its worldwide military commitments and cuts excessive military spending. Speaking to seniors in Taunton, Frank said "If the congressional “super committee” tasked with cutting the federal deficit by identifying $1.2 trillion in savings over the next 10 years fails to consider military cuts, social programs that help seniors will likely be slashed. On Friday October 28th, Rep. Barney Frank told wickedlocal.com and GateHouse Media editors and reporters he believes federal budget cuts are a “zero-sum game.” He said Congress needs to cut military spending or it will be forced to cut something else, such as Medicare and Medicaid. (see article here) Boston Speak-out
March 22, 2011- Over 200 people attended a Boston community speak-out tonight to talk about the impact of a third year of state budget cutbacks on education, health care, elder services, teen jobs and other programs.
Over 20 community leaders addressed the crowd, explaining why their programs are important and why the community depends on them. Yawu Miller of One Massachusetts.... made the point that affluent taxpayers pay a smaller share of their income in Massachusetts state and local taxes than do the poor and middle income. The event promoted "An Act to Invest in Our Communities", sponsored by State Sen. Sonia Chang-Diaz, which would raise $1.2 billion to plug the state's budget gap by taxing those who can best afford to pay -- those making $100,000 a year and over. In a grand finale, members of Boston Coalition to Fund Our Communities - Cut Military Spending 25% unfurled a room-sized bar graph showing that most of the Federal government's discretionary income is spent on the military. Daryl White of the Boston Coalition stated that just half the cost of one of the F-35 fighter planes now flying over Libya would cover the entire Boston school department budget gap for this year. Just one hour of the Afghanistan war would fully fund the Boston youth jobs program for one summer. The event was sponsored by New England United for Justice, One Massachusetts, and the Boston Coalition  Cambridge UJP and Greenport lead tax day protest at Central Square Post Office, April 18, 2011 |
