Petition Calling for Obama to Slash Military Budget
Green Change has a petition circulating calling for Barack Obama to slash the military budget and invest the money in education, health care, green energy and mortgage security.
Sign the Secure Green Future petition to President-elect Obama
U.S. military spending in 2008 totaled over $710 billion – more than double the spending of the next five militaries in the world combined. More than half of it paid for policies that Americans don’t support, programs the military doesn’t need, and occupations that aren’t making the world safer.
More military spending will not bring more security. Most military spending is unnecessary, or even counterproductive, for America’s defense. Real security cannot be measured merely by the size and force of our military. True security comes from living peacefully, within the limits of the earth’s capacity. It requires that all people have their basic needs met, including food, shelter and health care.
Sign the Petition Here.
We strongly urge you to cut U.S. military spending by at least 70% and invest the savings in public education, health care, prevention of home foreclosures, and development of clean, renewable energy.
I did not agree with the petition 100% and that is why I did not sign it or circulate it.
You people are totally out of control and completely out of line. You know, perhaps some education in economics, reality, and in particular, HISTORY would be beneficial.
The world is the way it is, it always has been, and always will be. Are you really niave enough to think that if the US stands down its military that the world will become pacifists?
Get a clue!!! And, on a second note, when are you “greenpeople” going to finally realize that you have been duped with the man made glbal warming thing? Ever heard the term “fear factor”?
Jesus, Americans get dumber by the day…do your own research, and stop being lemmings….
Pamela, what was it about the petition that you disagreed with?
wow. just shocking. people really do not understand anything about history if they do not understand what major world powers must do to protect their people. rome, the mongolian empire, the british throne, persia, these are all superpowers of their time. while it is not land that the U.S. protects it is freedom that it protects too. not only in the united states but in other countries to, the U.K., france, germany, japan, the phillipines,china, india, spain. all of these countries rely on stability that is able to flourish in a time of global stability. people seem to not understand the idea of a global economy, and a global war front. we live in the only period that has given man the power to trade or conquest with any of his neighbours. war is only prevented by the initiation of trade, and trade can only continute with global stability. america is not the only thing keeping stability in place but it is the keystone. the united states spends hundreds of billions of dollars every year on its military budge as a means to compensate for the low level of military spending in many other countries. of the top 25 countries in GDP they are also the top 25 in military spending. america has 10 times the capital of france, and 10 times the military spending as france. the military budget is not so high because of americas war mongering, its high because it fits the GDP and capital rating of the united states. countries have militaries like banks have security. as a means of not only protecting the citizens of that country but of the countries of the world. billions of people in the world rely on the stability of NATO to let the global economy work. if we were to slash the military budget by 70% we would say goodbye to that stability. americas expense on its miltary is equal to that of any other major military power. america’s economy is larger than china, japan, france the U.K. and Germany combined. we need to take the same measures to protect that countries economy to protect its people. if education, health care, green energy and mortgage security werre the only things that assured security for all american citizens than i would sign this petition. though sadly you do not seem to reallize that the world is still a very dangerous place, and while we can try to be peaceful, we must never forget that we live in a world that has had constant war for 7 thousand years. a large military is the only thing that keeps a country secure. until that changes, i will never suppourt lowering the U.S. military budget.
“rome, the mongolian empire, the british throne, persia, these are all superpowers of their time.”
These are all collapsed empires. We don’t want America to suffer the same fate. That’s why Greens call for America to move past the failed policies of militarism and adopt a security policy for the 21st century, which takes into account the well-being of our people and our Earth.
Please sign and circulate the petition:
http://salsa.wiredforchange.com/o/1488/t/689/petition.jsp?petition_KEY=509
Militarism? What are you talking about? Do you have any clue what you are saying, or the concept or definition of Militarism? Apparently not.
Because you have a military, and most ALL countries do, does NOT make you militaristic. Nor does it make you a war monger. It makes you smart, and protective of you and yours, as mentioned above by Steve. Strong militaries typically keep wars or the potential of war at bay…and that is a good thing. Take away the ability to deter war, and the US will collapse. You are obvioiusly one of the ones that believe that GWB is a war monger, obviously getting your info from the popular news, which could not tell you the truth if their orgs future depended on it. You also probably believe that there were no WMD in Iraq. I can tell you unequivocally that that is false information.
I would strongly suggest you do some research and talk to people that get it and really know, as opposed to the ideologues that don’t, or CNN and the like, or the blogs of clueless morons.
those empires fell because they cut back their military. your stupid if you dont reallize that, america does not have a policy of militarism. it has the largest military in the world to fit the worlds largest economy. do you know why countries like america and china have such large and flourishing economies? because they have large enough military’s to never have to worry about invasion. people invest money in america and its people because of its stability. though it can only keep that stability with a large enough military. not to mention that almost all major technological and medical advances have come from military programs.
things that the military has invested in that have benefited man kind.
hydraulics, before world war 2 no one was confident in using hydraulics as a mean of steering and brakes for cars, or for using it on heavy equipment like bull dozers and cranes. think of all of the construction jobs created. think about all of the buildings that were able to be put up for a fraction of the cost and time because of that invention. the internet and computers were both developed by military testing during the 50’s and 60’s there are millions of jobs that have been created by this military investment. nuclear power plants would never have happened had it not been for the creation of nuclear powered submarines and air craft carriers. the military accounts for 20 million jobs both directly and indirectly (IE clothing and weapons manufacturing, health care services). the green technology that you talk about would have never existed had it not been for military investments. things like solar, nuclear, hydroelectric, and wind power recieved millions of dollars from military investment. the army corp of engineers were the ones who stopped the flooding of new orleans and brought military dredging equipment to remove the water. the US military accounts for the largest donation of foreign aid, it is responsible for feeding more starving children than any service in the world. 23 billion dollars of the military budget is spend on humanitarian aid. the development of the jet engine gave birth to the airline industry, which employs millions of people. the interstate highway was developed as a means of landing aircraft and military campaigns in case of future wars. the creation of phosphorus to make bombs during world war 2 was used as a means to fertilize crops afterwards. the military doesnt only make guns and bombs, it also creates jobs and helps millions of people all over the world. if you were to slash the military budget you could say goodbye to major technological breakthroughs and billions of dollars in foreign aid would be swept from under the legs of poor starving countries. before you make such large blanket statement you should take the time to investigate all of the remarkable things that the military has developed to better mankind.
We don’t object to government investment in technology – you’ll notice that the Green Change petition calls for investment in developing clean, renewable energy. Nuclear power and nuclear weapons are not a positive accomplishment – they were and still are one of the greatest hazards to life on this planet. Humanitarian aid, especially delivered at the point of a gun, does not mean that problems are being solved.
Groundbreaking technology does not have to be developed for military use – in fact, it’s a side effect of the massive amounts of money poured into the military industrial complex. Millions of people could be put to work addressing real challenges – making our civilization sustainable, ending poverty, fighting disease – but instead we are buying cluster bombs for the Israeli military and fighter jets for the Saudi royal family.
Green Ferret,
Though your ideology is commendable, it is naiive. You seem to think that all the military spends money on are weaponry. That could not be further from the truth. I still find it amazing that people like you are pontificating on things of which you have no clue. Bloggers and the news media acting as if they know what is going on, but not able to convey the info they THINK they know, but with a twist, an agenda, and for what?
Please try to get it through your head(s) that military spending is as much deterrent as it is to protect us at home, abroad, and our allies when at if needed, as provided for within our Constitution. And, you (and I mean the vast number of clueless bloggers as well) really should stop talking and start paying attention. Reality is what it is, and whether you like it or not is irrelevant.
I encourage you to read the petition and the articles that are cited in the footnotes. Then we can have an informed discussion on the issue.
http://salsa.wiredforchange.com/o/1488/t/689/petition.jsp?petition_KEY=509
U.S. military spending in 2008 totaled over $710 billion1 – more than double the spending of the next five militaries in the world combined.2 More than half of it paid for policies that Americans don’t support, programs the military doesn’t need, and occupations that aren’t making the world safer.3
More military spending will not bring more security. Most military spending is unnecessary, or even counterproductive, for America’s defense. Real security cannot be measured merely by the size and force of our military. True security comes from living peacefully, within the limits of the earth’s capacity. It requires that all people have their basic needs met, including food, shelter and health care.
1) Miriam Pemberton, “Raiding the War Chest.” YES Magazine, Summer 2008, http://www.yesmagazine.org/article.asp?ID=2695
2) William A. Owens, “A Lean War Machine.” New York Times, December 20, 2008.
3) In 2008, $170 billion went to occupations in Iraq and Afganistan that are not making the world safer. $130 billion went to maintaining the more than 800 US military installations around the globe, even though 76% of Americans don’t want their country to play the role of global police. At the behest of lobbyists, campaign donors and powerful members of Congress, almost $60 billion went to programs with little or no strategic value. Meanwhile, there is so little accountability that the Department of Defense claims to have lost track of $2.3 trillion from fiscal years 1999 and 2000, equivalent to $8,000 for every man, woman and child in America. Sources: Miriam Pemberton, “Raiding the War Chest.” YES Magazine, Summer 2008; Peter Bergen and Paul Cruickshank, “The Iraq Effect: War Has Increased Terrorism Sevenfold Worldwide.” Mother Jones, 3/1/2007; CBS News, “The War on Waste: Defense Department Cannot Account for 25% of Funds – $2.3 Trillion.” 1/29/2002; Poll: The Chicago Council on Global Affairs, conducted by conducted by Knowledge Networks, between June 23 and July 9, 2006.
The CBS News article is a good one to start with.
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2002/01/29/eveningnews/main325985.shtml
A choice excerpt:
“Just last week President Bush announced, “my 2003 budget calls for more than $48 billion in new defense spending.”
More money for the Pentagon, CBS News Correspondent Vince Gonzales reports, while its own auditors admit the military cannot account for 25 percent of what it spends.
“According to some estimates we cannot track $2.3 trillion in transactions,” Rumsfeld admitted.
$2.3 trillion — that’s $8,000 for every man, woman and child in America. To understand how the Pentagon can lose track of trillions, consider the case of one military accountant who tried to find out what happened to a mere $300 million.
“We know it’s gone. But we don’t know what they spent it on,” said Jim Minnery, Defense Finance and Accounting Service. ”
I also recommend this article from the Center for Defense Information: http://www.cdi.org/program/document.cfm?DocumentID=4399&from_page=../index.cfm
“America’s defense budget is now larger in inflation-adjusted dollars than at any point since the end of World War II. However, our Army has fewer combat divisions than at any point in that period, our Navy has fewer combat ships and the Air Force has fewer combat aircraft.
It gets worse. According to data collected by the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) and many others, major categories of military hardware are, on average, ag ing dramatically. In some cases, our equipment is older than it has ever been. CBO also shows us that the officially approved plan in each of the military services is for this problem to get worse.”
…
“The Pentagon refuses to tell Congress and the public exactly how it spends the hundreds of billions of dollars appropriated to it each year. The reason is simple: It doesn’t know. In a strict financial accountability sense, it doesn’t even know if the money is spent.
Decades of reports from the Department of Defense Inspector General and GAO make this problem painfully clear.”
Looks like some fascist Neocons spammed this thread with their propaganda. If readers want to find out what the US military is really all about, then read William Blum’s book “Killing Hope: U.S. Military and CIA Interventions Since World War II”.
Yes, military spending needs to be drastically cut and all 800+ military bases outside of US territory need to be closed immediately. We will be much safer when we are not trying to make the rest of the world our enemy. That is the only obvious progressive position on foreign policy.
Get lost, fascist scum.
2 words that whiney douche bags always use “neo-con” and “fascist” the funniest thing of all is the fact that they rarely understand what either means.
green ferrett,
without the military investing in all of those things i listed it would never be done. no one would have harnessed all of theose great ideas if it had not been for the militaries efficency. the fact of the matter is that 500 billion of that 700 billion goes to paying for soldiers salary, supplies, and benefits. you are so naiive its funny, you remind me of myself when i was 13 years old, thinking that the government is tyranical and that we should all just get along. well the worlds not a friendly place, and its not going to be for a long time. nuclear energy was the greatest step forward in man kind, while nuclear weapons are a dangerous threat they are also a nessecary evil, but i laughed quite hard when you grouped it together with nuclear energy. nuclear energy is what european countries like france and england look to as the future because its the safest most sustainable fuel source in the world. with 5 pounds worth of enriched uranium you could give electricity to the city of new york for a year.
to “Anti-Fascist = Anti-Neocon”
you are an idiot, america has the third largest population with the most wealth in the world. america has been the target of nations and orginizations since world war 1. america has most natural resources than any other country on earth. it is the jackpot of all countries in the world, and it needs a sufficent military to protect it. all of the nato nations have very large militaries that make incredibly advanced weaponry alongside the united states. it has only been 20 years since the collapse of the soviet empire and with that collapse came the flooding of 60 million AK-47’s into a wild market. the world is extremely dangerous, and the only thing that protects the U.S. and its people is its large military. do you know why no nation on earth besides russia would ever dream of going to war with america? because they would lose. maybe your too much a sissy to reallize the comfort in the fact that you live in the most secure nation (from a war standpoint) in history. the world has had constant war for 7 thousand years, the day that war is not a problem in the world is the day i will sign that petition. though fortunately for me, that will never happen.
oh and one last point. i laughed when you said a progressive position, you do reallize that woodrow wilson, franklin delano roosevelt, harry truman, and lyndon b johnson were all progressives, and guess what they suppourted large military budgets and were involved in the largest military conflicts of the 20th century.
You realize that no other government would attack the US, yet you claim the US needs a massive bloated military budget. That makes you the “idiot,” fascist steve, because you just believe and repeat whatever imperialist propaganda you hear on CNN and Fox News.
Nuclear deterrence prevents wars between the major powers that have them. That is why the US only attacks small, weak countries like Iraq in order to plunder their resources. That does not make the world “safe for freedom”, fascist steve. It only makes the world safe for Neocon fascism.
BTW, a real anti-fascist war would involve invading and occupying the Bible Belt, not secular Ba’athist Iraq. The Evangelical fundamentalists and their Neocon masters are the real threat freedom in the US.
oh god. secular iraq? the country in which they announce prayer throughout the country 5 times a day. first of all CNN is a liberal news network with completely conflicting ideology to fox news. the military budget of the united states is so large because it is the only country that has the resources, technology, and large enough economy to have government funding of such a military. the united states accounts for 2 out of every 3 people in the worlds protection. the US develops military equipment for the largest countries in the world including china, india, the UK, france, germany, italy, spain, and canada. i am not a fascist, i am just not a retard who just learned the world neo-con, fascist, and secular, and wants to say it as much as he possibly can to his douchey liberal friends. i am a complete moderate who does not affiliate with any political party. though i am smart enough to think for myself and if history has shown anything, it is that a country with a small military and a large economy is bound to end up in conflict. people always sing the praises of switzerlands neutrality, though they never seem to mention that switzerland has more milirary supplies and bomb shelters per person than any other country in the world. even historically liberal and netural nations have incredibly advanced military’s. with the end of the cold war the united states was the lone super power of the world and had a choice. either cut the military budget and have an incredibly vulnerable and ancient military like russia, or keep production up, so that if god forbid there ever was a major world conflict the united states would always be prepared. russia has a military that is now full of relics, its entire military armament is 20 years old and could never stand a chance in a modern war. they still rely on a rifle design created by a tank commander in 1947, and they’re tanks and helicopters have been melted down or sold. their surplus of military funding after world war 2 made the USSR the most technologicall advanced country in the world. after vietnam they had a large funding of military supplies, but zero in military development. the result was that their country was left years behind in technology (esepcially computer technology) and because their industry did not adapt to the advances of the markets abroad the soviet union went bust. theres a reason why the phrase “military grade” conjures up a thought of reliable, over engineered, robust equipment. it is because the military takes the steps forward in manufacturing that the free market is too afraid to risk. if it is sucessful the naufacturing process is carried on to the rest of the world. carbon fibre was developed by NASA (a military funded branch of the air force) and now industries all over the world are starting to switch over to the material. in 10 years every new car will be made out of carbon fibre, its 5 times stronger than steel and weighs one tenth the weight. a development like that will improve fuel economy, and make electric cars light enough to be practical. it is also so strong that it will save countless lives in car accidents. this means that a MILITARY investment will save millions of lives and drastically slow the effects of global warming. large sums of the military budget are spent on developing technologies that can be utilized by civillians only years later. you can buy a GPS for 80 dollars now, another military invention that no one would have ever dreamed of being practical for commercial sale. that is until the military developed the technology, 10 years ago a military GPS was almost top secret and the reciever would cost 10 thousand dollars. now its a product that is so common that in 2 years all new cell phones will be equipped with it. cell phones, and wi-fi would not be possible were it not for the invention of signal hopping during WW2. our lives are made easier every day by technologiesinvested in, and developed by the military.
Wake-Up-America. The same root religious beliefs that destroyed the twin-Towers and the Pentagon, has been installed as this country new leader.He and his staff wants do relinquish the second admandant too. And now cut back funding for the U.S.A military supports. Major proportitions of folks out there are simply not paying attention. Doese Hittler – Stallen bring anything to past history thoughts? How about religeous beliefs that blew up the twin towers and the pentagon? This new leader was backed finacnilay by the muselum countries. He was swarn into congress on the Koran folks. His birthright- higher education was hidden under the codes/laws governing congressional rules. That within itself says he is definately hiding the truth.
It’s really hard to understand the stupididity of some folks. Without the militaty and their directives, their provisions of structuring a good porition of the every day user materials, gadgets, an du-dads we use withought thought, we probibly would not have any of this that we have become so accustom to. Whjy would any one – let alone some moronic special interest self centered group – concider such an abolishment? Man-oh Man, restricting the financial support of the Americas Military ? Thats a concept I do not beleave the general populas would stand for. Come to reality folks. With out the military protection guarding these borders, kaous-mayham-instibilility-and then , well, you elect leadership that spon these thought into the White House this election.( 2009 ) So go ahead you narrow minded special interest groups press on. But when it all falls appart, and takes a major dump in your laps, don’t forget to say you read about it from here. Remember the current White House leaderships, the very top four individuals want to take away your second amendment right. Thats your rights to bear arms.( guns – weponary ) Whata-ch gunna do when they come for you then?
It is really humorous to see all the wingnuts who cannot spell retreat to their basements to rant wildly online about how stupid the left is. Got news for you: the right has set new standards for stupidity, and now we’re headed the other way. You folks need something constructive to do.