Thanks to Greg Williams for these thoughts:
It was a strike of mostly Black sanitation workers in Memphis, Tennessee. Martin got there by accident. A freak accident and bad working conditions got workers killed. A strike was called. Martin was called but he was planning a Poor People's Campaign, and he was tired. SCLC would send some one... They wanted Martin to stand with them and he did. Today he would be standing with Unions again if he were here. Just like 1968, in our world today there is a lot of unrest all over the place.
We should not be ignoring the signs of our time. If John Woolman could speak to us today, it would be to remind us that it is still the economy. Part of what Martin said the day before he died is:
"...The issue is injustice. The issue is the refusal of Memphis (or Wisconsin) to be fair and honest in its dealings with public servants, who happen to be sanitation workers. Now, we've got to keep attention on that... Let us rise up tonight with a greater readiness. Let us stand with a greater determination. And let us move on in these powerful days, these days of challenge to make America what it ought to be. We have an opportunity to make America a better nation."
So While there are interesting things happening in Egypt, the Middle East, and elsewhere, we have a drama here that demands our attention as well. We ought to be making noise as Quakers, as spiritual people, as men and women interested in Justice. I find it interesting that folks from Egypt and elsewhere are sending Pizza to demonstrators here in the United States. They understand the links and are reaching out in support. We can send pizza as well, but maybe...we ought to do more? This ought to be a buzz on facebook, a buzz in letter to the editors, a buzz to City Councilors, State Reps. and up the chain to President Obama..
If we fail to act on this concern today it will be back tomorrow in greater force. CUT THE WAR BUDGET SEND THE MONEY HOME TO OUR STATES! The one thing we can"t afford to do is ...nothing.
Friday, February 25, 2011
Friday, February 18, 2011
Budget Math Doesn't Add Up
Opinion: This Budget Cutting Math Doesn’t Add Up
By Robin Aura Kanegis
Philadelphia Inquirer Feb. 15, 2011
It’s simple math: A military budget that has doubled in twelve years + worries about the resulting deficit = deep cuts to military spending.
Yet in a display of backward logic, the House majority’s initial announcement of planned cuts to current spending only included cuts to non-military discretionary spending, the spending that helps invest in our communities, schools, and our economic infrastructure. It seems the Pentagon has developed the ultimate cloaking mechanism -- to protect military budget bloat from mathematical reality.
The US military budget currently accounts for over half of our discretionary budget -- and nearly half of all military spending the world over.
Despite this incredibly lop-sided investment, increased military appropriations are set to glide past Congressional “budget hawks” like Harry Potter in his invisibility cloak. Meanwhile the fragments of federal funding which would address human needs, long-term infrastructure, or non-military actions in the world are scrutinized down to the dollar – at a time when the number of Americans in need is growing with every lost job or home foreclosure.
Reducing government spending by shrinking investments in our long-term well-being rather than cutting the military budget is as sensible as dieting by cutting back on salad while eating three desserts a day.
Even cutting nearly a trillion dollars out of the defense budget over the next ten years—a sliver off that third dessert— would leave us spending 14 percent more than we did during the Cold War era, according to analysis by the Sustainable Defense Task Force.
Yet the measure the House will consider this week for FY 2011 funding would cut just 2.8 percent from the president's FY 2011 defense budget request, compared with 20.6 percent from the budget for non-military foreign operations. Under this proposal the “Defense” budget will still increase by $8.1 billion dollars from the previous year.
We invest tax dollars in a shared safety net so it will be there to catch us during hard times. In our current slow-grinding economic crisis, more Americans have fallen into poverty, needing help with things like food and housing. The fact that the burden has increased on such programs as low-income housing and preventive health care clearly shows they are needed more than ever, not that they should be taken away.
Jack Lew, the Director for the White House Office of Management and Budget, writes that, “the sacrifices needed to begin putting our fiscal house in order must be broadly shared.” Yet all the cuts being proposed this week in Congress hit low- and middle-income families and communities the hardest.
Lew says the easy cuts are behind us. But simple math above says we have yet to seriously consider them. It’s time to pull back the cloak and make budget cuts where we need them most: in our off-the-charts military spending habit.
Robin Aura Kanegis serves as Director of Public Policy and Washington Office for the American Friends Service Committee (AFSC), a Quaker-based organization working for peace, social justice and nonviolent change. She provides strategic direction for all aspects of the organization’s engagement with Congress and the Administration
By Robin Aura Kanegis
Philadelphia Inquirer Feb. 15, 2011
It’s simple math: A military budget that has doubled in twelve years + worries about the resulting deficit = deep cuts to military spending.
Yet in a display of backward logic, the House majority’s initial announcement of planned cuts to current spending only included cuts to non-military discretionary spending, the spending that helps invest in our communities, schools, and our economic infrastructure. It seems the Pentagon has developed the ultimate cloaking mechanism -- to protect military budget bloat from mathematical reality.
The US military budget currently accounts for over half of our discretionary budget -- and nearly half of all military spending the world over.
Despite this incredibly lop-sided investment, increased military appropriations are set to glide past Congressional “budget hawks” like Harry Potter in his invisibility cloak. Meanwhile the fragments of federal funding which would address human needs, long-term infrastructure, or non-military actions in the world are scrutinized down to the dollar – at a time when the number of Americans in need is growing with every lost job or home foreclosure.
Reducing government spending by shrinking investments in our long-term well-being rather than cutting the military budget is as sensible as dieting by cutting back on salad while eating three desserts a day.
Even cutting nearly a trillion dollars out of the defense budget over the next ten years—a sliver off that third dessert— would leave us spending 14 percent more than we did during the Cold War era, according to analysis by the Sustainable Defense Task Force.
Yet the measure the House will consider this week for FY 2011 funding would cut just 2.8 percent from the president's FY 2011 defense budget request, compared with 20.6 percent from the budget for non-military foreign operations. Under this proposal the “Defense” budget will still increase by $8.1 billion dollars from the previous year.
We invest tax dollars in a shared safety net so it will be there to catch us during hard times. In our current slow-grinding economic crisis, more Americans have fallen into poverty, needing help with things like food and housing. The fact that the burden has increased on such programs as low-income housing and preventive health care clearly shows they are needed more than ever, not that they should be taken away.
Jack Lew, the Director for the White House Office of Management and Budget, writes that, “the sacrifices needed to begin putting our fiscal house in order must be broadly shared.” Yet all the cuts being proposed this week in Congress hit low- and middle-income families and communities the hardest.
Lew says the easy cuts are behind us. But simple math above says we have yet to seriously consider them. It’s time to pull back the cloak and make budget cuts where we need them most: in our off-the-charts military spending habit.
Robin Aura Kanegis serves as Director of Public Policy and Washington Office for the American Friends Service Committee (AFSC), a Quaker-based organization working for peace, social justice and nonviolent change. She provides strategic direction for all aspects of the organization’s engagement with Congress and the Administration
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