UPDATE FROM THE NEW PRIORITIES NETWORK
Pentagon spending and moving that money to our communities.
The next month is probably our best chance for cutting Pentagon spending and moving that money to our communities. Congress’s right wing is in disarray, a consensus is building that military spending can be cut deeply, and powerful national organizations are starting to join that consensus. But this moment will be brief.
We need to do as much as we can, work as hard and smart as we have ever worked, to:
* Organize visible actions,
* Make sure media cover them and get additional media (letters to the editor, press releases), and
* Take that pressure to our senators and congresspeople.
Please start working on these tasks now. There’s not much time till March 1, when Congress must agree on some mix of tax hikes and budget cuts or else see automatic budget cuts take effect. Key dates for local actions are January 30 and February 20. These are likely to be organized by USAction’s state affiliates, local Central Labor Councils or SEIU locals – you can contact them and volunteer to help.
The Move the Money Training (MTMT) curriculum created by National Priorities Project (NPP) and Peace Action (PA uses engaging modules like Budget Jeopardy and mock debates to convey in-depth federal budget information focused on Pentagon spending. You can use the entire training, pick a particularly relevant section, distribute the handouts and/or use the fact sheets as background materials for op-eds and letters to the editor.
NPP and PA staff members are also available to conduct the one-day trainings and/or offer webinars. We hope the MTMT materials are useful to you in our common efforts today and in the longer-term.
You can use New Priorities Network’s toolkit, other materials on the New Priorities Resources / Main Page, the Take Action / Main Campaigns page, and the Resources for Media Work page. Email us at cutmilitaryspending@gmail.com and let us know what you are going to do.
The Move the Money Training (MTMT) curriculum created by National Priorities Project (NPP) and Peace Action (PA uses engaging modules like Budget Jeopardy and mock debates to convey in-depth federal budget information focused on Pentagon spending. You can use the entire training, pick a particularly relevant section, distribute the handouts and/or use the fact sheets as background materials for op-eds and letters to the editor.
NPP and PA staff members are also available to conduct the one-day trainings and/or offer webinars. We hope the MTMT materials are useful to you in our common efforts today and in the longer-term.
A few more details:
* 30 national peace and economic justice organizations – many new to the military spending issue – have signed a letter calling on Congress to avoid domestic cuts, find new revenues, and cut the Pentagon. The letter is still open and another letter for local and regional groups will be available to sign this week; we’ll send it to you and it’ll be on the New Priorities website.
* USAction will coordinate local work while the Pentagon Budget Campaign will coordinate national media and lobbying. They will need to get every news article, letter to the editor, report on an action or a congressional contact/visit you get. They’ll add that up for national media and political pressure.
Pentagon spending, which has increased 50% since 2001, has moved from relative obscurity to center stage. Activists have the opportunity of a generation to achieve real and lasting decreases to military spending. Learn how and where to get the Pentagon spending facts you need to shape the national debate. The next six weeks are critical, but your knowledge will also support the long-term effort to reorient national priorities.
Mike Prokosch, coordinator / New Priorities Network
