UFPJ Action Alert: Global Day of Action on Military Spending

Friend of United for Peace and Justice This April 15th join millions of people around the world to focus public, political, and media attention on the waste, fraud and abuse of military spending and the need for new spending priorities. Carved into the stone of the IRS building is the Oliver Wendell Holmes quote, "Taxes are the price we pay for a civilized society." Yet, the U.S. leads the world in military spending, spending more on weapons and war than the next ten nations combined, almost surpassing the rest of the world. After more than a decade of war and unprecedented increases in war spending, the U.S. economy is nearly stalled, the nation is in deep debt, and millions of people are out of work with no job prospects in sight. A telling and sad statistic provided by Census Bureau reports that in 2011, 46.2 million or 1 out of 7 people live in poverty with almost 1 out of 16 people living in deep poverty. The Census defines deep poverty as income 50% below the poverty line. Census figures show that in 2011, 6.6 percent of all people, or 20.4 million people, lived in deep poverty. Today Pentagon spending accounts for more than 50% of Federal budget discretionary expenditures. Why should there be so much spending on war when people are suffering and our nation needs to invest in our future? It makes no sense. Priorities must change. Our nation needs a new foreign policy based on diplomacy and international cooperation; not war making. We need new budget priorities focused on job creation and supporting human needs and development. Tell your friends, tell your family and tell the world! Learn about Tax Evaders in this new video game. Many of these evaders are “’defense” contractors making billions in war profits from Pentagon bloat. Shockingly, the debate in Congress today is about cutting Social Security. The real question is why are we even discussing these cuts before going after the hundreds of billions that corporate Tax Evaders steal from our budget every year? A recent report reveals that we are losing nearly $100 Billion every year from corporate tax dodging Participate in a Thunderclap. Join together to tell Congress, “Our tax $ should go to the programs we need, not to Pentagon waste. Make the call to #demilitarize http://thndr.it/Y3bwaP! What is Thunderclap? Thunderclap is a tool that lets a message be heard by saying it together. Join a Thunderclap, and you and others will share the same message at the same time together; spreading an idea through Facebook and Twitter that cannot be ignored. Join with others to make sure our message is heard and seen! On April 15, actions from street corner vigils, educational forums, informational leafleting and meetings with legislators will occur in 43 countries. In the US, actions are planned in 28 states (*denotes in more than one location): DE, *MI, ME, *MO, WV, *VA, *NY, *VT, DC, *FL, WA, *WI, *MA, *OR, *PA, MD, *CA, *AZ, OH, RI, *IN, MT, *NH, TN, KY, *CO, IA, *NJ To find locations and contact info, or list an event, go to GDAMS website. Our partners at the Coalition on Human Needs have listings for local events here.