MILITARY BUDGET SHIFTED TO SCHOOLS AND HEALTHCARE BY NEW BILL

Yesterday, a group of courageous U.S. Representatives introduced the “Common Sense Budget Act, ” which would take $60 Billion in wasted Pentagon funding and spend it instead on schools, doctors, and stuff we care about.

This money could save 6 million kids who die of starvation each year in impoverished countries. It could rebuild our public schools and provide health insurance for our kids who don’t have it. It could do all this and a lot more, every year. And it’s exactly what tens of thousands of TrueMajority members have been asking for.

With a group of respected business and military leaders, we’ve planned a yearlong campaign to spread that common sense across the country. Can you donate today to make it happen?
https://secure.truemajority.org/03/csba_fundraiser

Our partner in this campaign, Business Leaders for Sensible Priorities, has already established field offices in Iowa and New Hampshire. Full-page newspaper ads have been prepared to pressure the House and Senate budget chairmen to pay attention. We’re making plans for delivering the 40,000+ petitions signed by TrueMajority members like you asking for a sensible, moral federal budget.

ADDED ON EDIT - But it will take $50,000 to keep the momentum going for the first half of this year, so contribute as much as you can. If you simply wish to join our ongoing petition signing efforts to curb wasteful defense spending visit this link. Participation in the program literally takes only a few minutes each month.

http://action.truemajority.org/truemajorityaction/join.html?r=XpwxST715mrVE&

Yes, you’ll be taking on a big job; the habit of giving away HALF of the federal discretionary budget to defense contractors developed over decades and won’t be broken overnight. But look at the resources we have on our side:

President Reagan's former Asst. Secretary of Defense,<3>
a whole list of retired admirals and generals (including the former commander of the U.S. Second Fleet),<4>
650 current and former CEOs and other business leaders,<5>
...and the majority of the American public.<6>
And don’t forget, some representatives are already so convinced this is the right thing to do that they were willing to stick their necks out in an election year.

"What better serves the cause of national security? Investment in first responders, energy independence and global nutrition ... or billions that we're still pouring into the F-22A Raptor, which was designed to outpace Soviet fighter jets?" — Common Sense Budget Act sponsor Lynn Woolsey (D-CA)

Thanks for taking on this important work,

Matt Holland
TrueMajorityACTION's Online Director

references
http://thehill.com/thehill/export/TheHill/News/Frontpage/030806/liberals.html

http://www.sensiblepriorities.org/csba/text.php

I'm in favor of radically raising education standards to match those of European systems, increasing the number of qualified teachers in our public schools, and cutting the size of classrooms in this country by roughly half. I'd also be in favor of shifting student loan dollars from the Federal Family Education Loan program to the William D. Ford Direct Loan program. The days of subsidizing private for-profit lenders should be brought to an end. The private bankers need to be removed from the equation. Nobody should be profiting off of the education of our students, and we should study ways to radically increase competition between colleges in order to aggressively slash the costs of college education and bring tuition inflation down to sustainable levels.

I'm also be in favor of some form of socialized health care. It could come at the national level, or it could come at the state level like efforts in Massachusetts. It could even come in the form of government assistance in the establishment of more non-profit health insurance companies owned by the people for the people that offers the same services but with lower costs due to no profit mark-up and the repeal of laws which could hinder the progress of these non-profits.

If I gave people this much a dose of reality, their heads would explode because they haven't been exposed to this kind of common sense coming from government in a long time. :sarcasm:

Honestly, it's a neat way to present the issue to people. If everybody on the board of directors of all major Fortune 500 companies were as conscientious as the folks at Ben & Jerry's, this country would resemble "workers' paradise" compared to our current, harsh reality of greed, corruption, and war.

If we wait on BIG Business to become responsible for anything other than profits we'll be waiting a very long time to get disappointed... As for building a "workers paradise," the responsibility lies within the buying public... I wish I could say that I ONLY bought goods produced in the U.S. but it wouldn't be true... I try but it's a challenge.

.

Bake

.....we are doomed to lifetimes of MORE ILLITERATE AND IGNORANT PRESIDENTS!!

AND WE CAN'T RISK ANY MORE OF THIS..........

He's much too stupid to do ANYTHING without guidance... We must also keep in mind that the House and Senate are responsible for his tax cuts to top money holders as living standards decline in the general populace.

.....it would have been next to impossible for them to have accomplished that crap. This is a VAST RIGHT-WING CONSPIRACY, just like the one back in the 90's that repugs scoffed about after Hillary so correctly called them on it!