Pentagon Spending State Campaigns for Consideration at May 19th Meeting:

Pentagon Spending State Campaigns for Consideration at May 19th Meeting:

A. Educating Mass Residents to the High Cost to Taxpayers of the War Machinery:

If Americans knew how much of their tax dollars went to the Pentagon, theirattitudes might be different. It is perhaps not surprising that no agency of the U.S. Govt. reports back to the Citizenry how their income tax dollars are spent, and that this basic information is very difficult for the average citizen to find.

1). City or Town Taxpayer Information and Transparency Resolutions. This follows precedent that many cities and towns report back to taxpayers how their property taxes are spent. The Taxpayers Information resolution would direct municipalities to report back to resident taxpayers how the Congress spent their income tax dollars in the previous year, in simple piechart of bar graph form. See draft at end. 

2). Taxpayers Information and Transparency Act for Introduction to the State Legislature.

This would direct State to report to Mass taxpayers how Congress allocated their federal income taxes in past year. This received a Hearing earlier this year, but we weren't yet mobilized at the level needed to get it out of committee. With more lead time for 2019, we might get this to the floor. Reps Provost, Connolly and about 20 other State Reps were co-sponsors first time around. We would count on members of this network to lobby their state Reps and Senators at the time of the initial hearing, and then later if bill were to come to the floor of either chamber.

In developing campaigns for limiting Pentagon Spending we will want a number of efforts that people all across the state can participate and lead in. The most natural of these are legislative initiatives focused on the State Legislature - every Mass resident has a State Rep and State Senator:

B. Educating Mass Residents that Nuclear Weapons Manufacture and Maintenance is a Business:

         3). "Don't Bank on the Bomb" Nuclear Weapons Divestment Act, directed to the State Legislature, as opposed to municipalities. This is essentially Cambridge nuclear weapons corporations divestment resolution, but at state level. It follows precedents of South Africa divestment and Tobacco divestment state legislation. Rep. Mike Connolly is happy to take the lead, and I suspect many members of this network could convince your Reps to sign on.

4). Broader Weapons Divestment campaigns as proposed by Code Pink.

This campaign is just developing, with first focus on Blackrock (financial) corporation weapons investments. The local forms this would take in Massachusetts need to be developed. However Code Pink is interested in launching such campaigns on campuses, focused on college endowments.

            Another focus might be Raytheon's major contracts for Saudi Arabia, and war on Yemen.

C. Educating Mass Residents as to how much local human services and jobs programs could be increased, by cutting inflated Pentagon budget.

5). People’s Budget for Massachusetts: This work has been done thus far through the People's Budget for Massachusetts, the follow-up to the earlier statewide Budget for All campaign, and to a lesser extent through Subways Not Submarines public transit campaign deriving from “No to Trillion Dollar Nuclear Weapons upgrades”.

This requires making clear which programs in our state would benefit from Congress adopting the People's Budget. This has been a research task thus far, with a small number of people working on it. But no reason not to have - for example - local forums in local communities, focusing on positive impact in that community - in housing, public transit, education, environment, infrastructure etc. Or asking organizations to endorse, support.

6). Invest in Minds Not Missiles forums on campuses/ Housing not Bombs/ Subways not Submarines in Communities:

These forums would focus on the possibility of providing four years of tuition free college, by cutting for example, the Ohio submarine purchases proposed in trillion dollar nuke upgrades; We hope to organize such a forum at UMass Boston in the early fall, focusing on higher ed costs. 

In Mass communities, themes might be increased investment in affordable housing; in Worcester area might be Build Passenger Trains Not Nuclear Submarines. 

7). Partner with Veterans for Peace in demonstrations and forums calling on investing in Veteran’s services rather than additional weapons. these efforts would try to engage personnel delivering the services.

         D. Congressional Budget Initiatives:

                  8). Focus on Progressive Caucus: 

         Ask members of Congressional Progressive Caucus to strengthen their call for cuts in the Pentagon budget by cancelling $1.2 Trillion Nuke Upgrades.

         E. Other

Respectfully Submitted: Pentagon Budget Committee: 

Appendix: Taxpayers Information and Transparency Act

(Language below for State Legislative bill; small wording changes if a city or town council resolution)

Preamble:

•       Whereas the largest tax burden that falls on Massachusetts residents are their federal income taxes, averaging more than $12,000/household; and

•       Whereas, no agency of the federal government communicates back to Massachusetts taxpayers how their federal income tax dollars were spent,

•       Whereas Massachusetts tax payers deserve to know that for example, of the more than $90 billion dollars they sent to the federal government in 2015, 54% went to Pentagon spending, while only 6% went to Housing and Community Development, 2% went to Public Transportation, and 3% to Energy and Environmental protection.

The Act:

•       The Secretary for Administration and Finance shall provide a short summary each year to be mailed to Massachusetts resident taxpayers by March 15, which reports the total amount of income tax paid to the federal government by Massachusetts taxpayers in the prior year, together with the per cent of those dollars allocated in the prior year’s Congressional discretionary budget to housing, education, healthcare, public transit, biomedical research, veterans services, food stamps and assistance, environmental protection, and defense spending including nuclear weapons. The report shall include easy to read pie chart or bar graph form and use the budget numbers reported by the Congressional Budget Office of the federal government. The report shall also remind taxpayers that Medicare and Social Security programs are financed as separate trust funds, not through income taxes. 

•             The Secretary may acquire the information required under this section from any nonpartisan, third-party organization that regularly compiles such data; provided further, the secretary may enter into an agreement with such an organization to produce the report on the secretary’s behalf.

        

        

Jonathan King

Prof of Molecular Biology

MIT

Cambridge MA 02139

617 253 4700

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