Save Our Nation: Reduce Pentagon Spending

The Peace Economy Project is collecting signatures from folks who agree that military spending must be cut to save our domestic needs and safety net programs. We’ll be taking these signatures to Congress over the summer where we’ll also lobby for peace. Please read our appeal, and sign on if you agree. Donate if you can

Dear <<We will enter your congresspersons’ names here>>,

The continued increase in Pentagon spending is unacceptable to us at the Peace Economy Project. For years we have seen a trend towards endless wars with blank checks signed off by Congress, the extra waste seeping into our streets. The 2016 proposal for the Pentagon budget is the largest ever, with even more money piled on top of that in the Overseas Contingency Operations budget.

We are appalled that Congress would rather funnel money into weapons of war than maintain safety nets that have been allowed to crumble away leaving our most vulnerable in free fall. We at the Peace Economy Project and those of us signing on in support see many areas where the Pentagon could responsibly make cut backs.

Overseas Contingency Operations (OCO)
The OCO is essentially extra money given to the Pentagon above and beyond its base budget amount (proposed for $523 billion for 2016). This fund is designed to pay for the extra costs of war with little to no oversight in how it’s spent. The fund keeps growing too, helping the Pentagon avoid sequester. Currently as proposed, the OCO would have the second largest budget, just after the Pentagon base budget. It’s time we eliminated the OCO and had a real debate on the Pentagon budget.

Weapons Procurement
The enumerations of problems associated with the F-35 are starting to sound like a broken record, but that hasn’t stopped Congress from funding it. By all accounts, the plane is a complete failure. It has major design flaws and has had issues with everything from the engines exploding on takeoff to flying at night. Years behind schedule and behind budget, this program is costing US taxpayers $1.5 trillion.

Nuclear Weapons
We’re out of the Cold War, and know better than to assume nuclear weapons do anything but make the world less safe. It’s time to let programs like the B61 nuclear bomb go. This bomb serves no strategic military purpose, and at $28.9 million a bomb, there’s a lot more we could do with that money than create an unnecessary weapon. It’s time to shed the Cold War mentality once and for all and get the US out of the past and up to date with the times.

It’s time we took a critical look at the Pentagon budget and built something that truly functions instead just throwing money at failing programs. It’s also time we took care of our people here at home. A country is only as strong as its lowest citizen, and we have a lot of work to do.

Signed,
Members and Friends of the Peace Economy Project

SIGN ON TO THE 2015 PEP APPEAL TO CONGRESS

Please also consider donating to help us fund our trip!



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