Stop the Scam of Military Budget 'Cuts.' We need the real thing!

Stop the Scam of Military Budget "Cuts".
We need the real thing!

You'll see why we say scam by watching this cute animated satire on 'Military Math'
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wu1X6T5DThk&feature=youtube_gdata_player

Lets face it: despite the war-gutted state of our economy, military spending is not decreasing. Nonetheless, House Republicans have sent to President Obama a silly video (http://www.rootsaction.org/news-a-views/355-republican-appeal-to-the-president) opposing military cuts and have introduced legislation to slash 10% of non-military government jobs instead. In the Senate, John McCain is working on a similar bill.

Remember this line by President Obama in last week's State of the Union message? "Take the money we're no longer spending at war, use half of it to pay down our debt, and use the rest to do some nation-building right here at home." But in reality, the White House has proposed to reduce war spending by ONLY $27 billion next year, spend that money elsewhere in the Pentagon, and edge us closer to a war on Iran that could mean major additional appropriations.

Remember the Congressional Super-committee of late last year? By law it was charged with reducing the Federal deficit and cutting the budget. If it failed, by law, automatic federal budget cuts were to kick in -- half from domestic social spending and the other from military spending. Even the mandated military cuts would have only taken the Federal Budget back to 2004 spending levels.

The military has its own "laws" though, which they go by, and they are to the budget what military justice is to justice. Upside down, inside out, and anything to get their way and all the money to do it. And they do it by "confounding the enemy" - us. So now we have generals and admirals, members of congress, media outlets that speak for all things military, and those corporations that profit from supplying the wars and building the weapons, wailing about all the harm that will be done to the military and "national security" in the event of military cuts when in fact military spending is not being cut.

The Pentagon claims to be making cuts already on their own, but these are "cuts" to dream budgets or a matter of what the military calls "reducing expected requests" which would result in actual budget increases -- and that's not even counting increased weapons procurement spending through other federal departments, like the State Department or the Department of Energy's nuclear weapons program.

Defense Secretary Leon Panetta to top it off has just announced the Obama Administration's position: They will oppose the automatic cuts, or any other actual cuts, to the military. This will mean severe cuts to education, transportation, and -- as President Obama indicated in his State of the Union speech -- to Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security.

Its an understatement, of course, but things are bad, really, really bad, for everyone except the 1% Super Rich. It's time we raise our 99% voices for our society's real needs, and demand real cuts in military spending, real cuts in war and billion dollar expenditures for weapons builders like Lockheed Martin and Boeing.

You are urged to visit the National New Priorities Network, www.newprioritiesnetwork.org

Locally, a Delaware Valley New Priorities Network has been meeting and includes groups ranging from the Brandywine Peace Community Granny Peace Brigade Phila., Jobs with Justice, Main Line Peace Action, Women's International League for Peace & Freedom, and representatives of U.S. Labor Against the War.

If you or your group would want to get involved, contact either Walter Ebmeyer: 484 380 2222 (H); 610 564 7436 (cell) or Jane Dugdale: 610 527 4170 (H); 610 574 3293 (cell).

Brandywine Peace Community
P.O. Box 81, Swarthmore, PA 19081
(610) 544-1818 www.brandywinepeace.com