DYK that you just paid Lockheed Martin $106?

 

Speaker McCarthy stopped by Wall Street earlier this week to confirm he’s ready to CUT spending for critical programs folks rely on – highway construction, housing, public health, SNAP benefits, and more — to KEEP paying for more failed F-35 fighter jets.

This decision is SO out of step with public opinion and public needs that it’s created a CRUCIAL opening to push back on the Pentagon’s blank checks. That’s why we’re jumping into action. Can you join in to help fuel this urgent work now?

— Thank you for working for peace,

Abbey and the Win Without War team

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It’s governance by hostage-taking:

On Monday, Speaker Kevin McCarthy stopped by Wall Street to confirm his refusal to pass a clean bill to lift the debt ceiling. The devil will be in the details of his yet-to-be-unveiled bill, but the cuts he wants are SO deep that critical programs folks rely on — highway construction, housing, public health, SNAP benefits, and more — are likely on the chopping block. 

You know what he’s NOT touching? BILLIONS to buy another 83 F-35 fighter jets, a plane which, after DECADES in development, still struggles to fly.

It’s a decision that is SO out of step with public opinion and public needs that even rank-and-file Republicans are falling away from McCarthy’s plan. The good news is that cracks like these could open up a CRUCIAL opportunity to CUT the Pentagon’s blank checks. 

That’s why we’re mounting advocacy and grassroots campaigns to leverage our assets to push back: Our activist base (you!), our relentless lobbying team, our access to the press, our relationships with key champions in Congress and the White House, and more. It’s all coming to a head in the next few weeks, and with so much on the line, we need you with us.

Even as McCarthy tries to zero-out funding that’s crucial to families across the country with a dangerous partisan stunt, hawkish legislators and weapons contractors are again trying to sell a lie that a $886.4 BILLION Pentagon budget is untouchable. The truth is: Too many families are wondering how they’ll pay for groceries — while footing the bill for weapons contractors’ banner profits.

Our friends at the Institute for Policy Studies’ National Priorities Project ran the numbers, and here’s just a snapshot of how the average taxpayers’ money is spent:

• $19 supports refugee assistance — but nearly FOUR times that, $74, went to nuclear weapons.
• $106 of your tax bill went straight to Lockheed Martin, the proud manufacturer of the failed F-35, while just $43 went to the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC).
• Overall the average taxpayer paid $1,087 to Pentagon contractors in 2022.

Let’s pull back on what’s happening here: Taxpayer money is distributed to weapons corporations by the same people in Congress who cash checks from the weapons lobby. It’s corruption, plain and simple — and when you’re talking about weapons and war, the consequences are life or death.

Luckily, right now, there are more bipartisan opponents to blank-check Pentagon budgets than we’ve ever seen before — and the debt-limit standoff provides a key moment to talk about where government waste is really coming from. 

That’s why our team is making a huge time investment to CUT the Pentagon budget and SAVE vital social programs. We’re working tirelessly to get even more lawmakers on board until we reach a tipping point. We can’t do it alone — to drown out the war lobby and push back on ANY attempts to pad the Pentagon budget, and we need you with us, Frank.

Lawmakers have just a short window to negotiate to raise the debt ceiling — and what happens next will have consequences for people’s lives across the globe. 

If you’re one of the millions of people who’re sick and tired of our resources being pocketed by weapons industry CEOs, we need you with us. Please fuel this fight by chipping in now.

Thank you for working for peace,

Amy, Sara, Eric, and the Win Without War team

 

 

 

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A U.S. foreign policy rooted in human rights and justice won’t happen overnight.

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