Olympia Fellowship of Reconciliation 

Bring Our Billion$ Home

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Western Washington FOR  (206) 789-5565 www.wwfor.org

While military spending keeps escalating, individual Americans are losing their jobs and homes, and state and local governments are cutting needed services.  “Taxpayers from Washington state have spent $23.8 billion for the wars, but 40,000 Washingtonians have lost basic health coverage, college tuition has risen, library hours have been cut, and funds to reduce school class size have been slashed 70%,” said Glen Anderson, a long-time local peace organizer who is helping to organize the campaign.He continued, “Military spending at the federal level has led to cutbacks in funding state and local priorities.  The federal government spends about $1 million to keep each soldier in Afghanistan for a year.  We must cut wasteful military spending such as the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, and transfer the savings to fund human and environmental needs.  The public knows what we really need.”The local gathering supports a multi-dimensional grassroots campaign to “Bring Our Billion$ Home.”  The campaign will inform and activate the public and pressure the Congress to reduce military spending and apply the savings to fund urgent human and environmental needs in the US. 
 

This event is sponsored by the Olympia Fellowship of Reconciliation (FOR) as part of the “Bring Our Billion$ Home” campaign of the Western Washington Fellowship of Reconciliation (WWFOR).  The Olympia FOR has worked in many nonviolent ways for peace and social justice since 1976.  WWFOR has worked even longer at the regional level.  Both are part of a national and international pacifist organization that has been active since 1914 in Europe and 1915 in the U.S.  For information contact Glen Anderson at (360) 491-9093 or glen@olympiafor.org or visit the Olympia FOR’s website, www.olympiafor.org, and WWFOR’s website, www.wwfor.org

“Will the Military Budget Escape the Required Cuts?” (pdf)

 

 

Information about the Military Budget

Federal Budget "Sequestration" (Word) (pdf) The “lame duck” Congress is likely to protect the military budget and cut domestic programs instead.

This article was from August 5, 2011, but it still seems relevant.  Glenn Greenwald wrote this with the title “The Administration’s Stated Budget Priorities.”  http://www.salon.com/news/pentagon/index.html?story=/opinion/greenwald/2011/08/05/military

The National Priorities Project is a great source of information.  See www.nationalpriorities.org for a lot of practical information about the federal budget.  Their website also lets you check budget “trade-offs” state-by-state and even community-by-community to find out how much we spend on the military and what that amount of money could have bought instead.

Peace Action (the result of the merger of SANE and the Freeze) is a good source of information.

www.peace-action.org and www.peace-action.org/issues/move-the-money
The Friends Committee on National Legislation (FCNL) has worked for decades from an ethically principled perspective on federal government issues, including budget priorities.  See their information at www.fcnl.org/issues/budget.

FCNL’s federal budget page includes this information about Congress passing a “continuing resolution” in 2012 to defer the hard budget decisions:  www.fcnl.org/issues/budget/congress_continues_the_story_with_a_continuing_resolution

Some members of Congress are using scare tactics.  EXAMPLE #1: 
http://www.rollcall.com/features/Defense-Sequester_2012/policy_briefings/-214626-1.html

Congressional scare tactics, EXAMPLE #2: 
http://www.rollcall.com/features/Defense-Sequester_2012/policy_briefings/-214628-1.html

Joseph Blady, M.D., was a program officer for the Under Secretary of Defense for Policy and senior analyst for the Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence.  This expert in military matters wrote an article titled, “What Sequestration Means for the Department of Defense” in August 2012:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/joseph-blady-md/sequestration-department-of-defense_b_1819341.html

These two articles explain President Obama’s attempt to avoid cutting the military as much as the summer 2011 congressional deal requires:

  1. “Momentum to Stop Defense Cuts Mounts”
    George Zornick on March 22, 2012, in The Nation
    www.thenation.com/blog/166985/momentum-stop-defense-cuts-mounts
  2. “Obama's Plan to Save the Military From Cuts”  
    George Zornick on February 17, 2012, in The Nation
    www.thenation.com/blog/166344/obamas-plan-save-military-cuts-expense-domestic-programs

Military Waste April 2012 Resolution for Caucuses (Word) (Companion Article)

The Olympia BOBH committee has written a "Audit the Department of Defense" resolution and a one page handout explaining why we need to. We are asking people to submit the resolution to their Democratic, Green Party, and Libertarian Party Caucus. The Republican Caucus has already happened in Washington State. If attending the Green or Libertarian caucuses just substitute Green Party or Libertarian party where it says Democratic Party at the bottom of the resolution. The Resolution for Democrats attachment is in the actual form that the Democratic Party requires.

The Washington State Democratic Caucuses will be held Sunday April 15 from at 1:00pm.
To find your location go to http://www.wa-democrats.org/caucuses

For the Democratic Caucus the resolutions will not be debated or voted on at the Precinct Caucus. All resolutions introduced at the precinct caucuses will be collected and forwarded to the County Convention which will be held on Sunday, April 29, 2012 where they will be addressed in full.

Thank you,
Kerri


Waste in Miltary Budget by Ted Nation  (Word) (pdf) April 2012

Resolution for Caucuses

Campain Resource One

Campain Resource Two

Campaign Resource Three

U.S. Representative from Washington State (pdf doc)

The U.S. Employment Effects of Military and Domestic Spending Priorities 16-page report Updated)

Our “Bring Our Billion$ Home” Campaign Persists with Outreach and Other Activities (Word doc) (pdf doc) August 1, 2011 update

May 22, 2011 Turn the Budget Around

Bring Our Billion$ Home - February 2013 ( Word ) ( pdf )
Bring Our Billion$ Home - June-July 2012 Update ( Word ) ( pdf )
Bring Our Billion$ Home - Olympia's Update August 1, 2011 (Word doc) (pdf doc)

Tax Dollars at War 3:46 minute video. Based on a "Flashpoints" interview with Dennis Bernstein & Dave Lindorff.

Solving the Budget Puzzles-Sharing Our Stories: People’s Forum: All on YouTube

On Friday, February 22nd at 7pm at the Seattle Labor Temple, a community forum presented stories about the opportunity to fund human needs by cutting the bloated Pentagon budget. The presenters focused on how federal programs have helped alleviate problems, and where programs could be increased or entirely new ones created.

http://youtu.be/tHCOPH7ikpQ Solving the Budget Puzzles-Sharing Our Stories: People’s Forum
http://youtu.be/Q4Ffgyya89Q Sharing Our Stories-Education
http://youtu.be/78fExutYV5Q Sharing Our Stories-Head Start
http://youtu.be/uYozp6NL79g Sharing Our Stories-Homelessness
http://youtu.be/cPJrhnm1u8U Sharing Our Stories-Healthcare
http://youtu.be/NzwaewdNkiM Sharing Our Stories-Social Security
http://youtu.be/OJV8ReFXicI Sharing Our Stories- Mental Health
http://youtu.be/IvECSnO3fQY Sharing Our Stories-Poverty
http://youtu.be/lRmyBa_kwLs Sharing Our Stories-Prisons/Rehabilitation
http://youtu.be/RoAww1KJZ2o Sharing Our Stories-Veterans’ Issues
http://youtu.be/F-I5RoVQGTo Sharing Our Stories-Pentagon Cuts
http://youtu.be/rWtXP3OPDIw Sharing Our Stories-Food Banks/Hunger
http://youtu.be/RoAww1KJZ2o Sharing Our Stories- Veterans’ Issues
http://youtu.be/KVSudElZvDY Sharing Our Stories-Medicare & Social Security
http://youtu.be/_zV82hWBF7w Sharing Our Stories-An Egyptian’s Perspective
http://youtu.be/lwnM5FJrvQA Sharing Our Stories-Gary Kanter Performs

  

Organize to Change Federal Budget Priorities

from Making War to Meeting Human Needs

The Olympia Fellowship of Reconciliation’s local gathering is part of the Western Washington Fellowship of Reconciliation’s multi-dimensional grassroots campaign to “Bring Our Billion$ Home.”  The campaign is informing and activating the public and pressure the Congress to reduce military spending and apply the savings to fund urgent human and environmental needs in the US. 

The Olympia and Western Washington FOR groups have worked for decades in many nonviolent ways for peace and social justice.  Both are part of a national and international pacifist organization that has been active since 1914 in Europe and 1915 in the U.S. 

For information contact Glen Anderson at (360) 491-9093 or glen@olympiafor.org or visit the Olympia FOR’s website, www.olympiafor.org, and WWFOR’s website, www.wwfor.org

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