Global Campaign on Military Spending
Demilitarize! Invest in People's Needs
by IPB
By Tom Johnson
In the early 1990s, politicians floated the term “peace dividend” regarding a hoped-for post-Cold War reduction in the U.S. defense budget, and Pentagon spending indeed fell somewhat in the mid- and late ‘90s. Sean McElwee, a research associate at the lefty think tank Demos, argues that America now needs a post-9/11, post-Afghanistan, post-Iraq peace dividend which would allow greatly increased spending on certain domestic programs. Continue reading–>
by IPB
By: Michael Albert
In a recent essay the incredibly creative and prolific David Swanson wrote a piece about military expenditures. He points out that “in 2001, U.S. military spending was $397 billion” but that it is $610 billion in 2015″ and adds that if one accounts for “debt payments, veterans costs, and civil defense,” the figure climbs “to over $1 trillion a year now,” even “not counting state and local spending on the military.” Continue reading–>
by IPB
By Andrew Moseman
Whether you’re talking about giant lasers mounted on 747s or next-generation super-radar, missile defense is a hotbed for big, weird ideas for defense technologies that often sound too amazing to be true. That’s not even the half of it: According to a Los Angeles Times report, however, the Pentagon has spent about $10 billion of taxpayer money over the last decade on systems that sound futuristic and marvelous but went basically nowhere. Continue reading–>
by IPB
The budget approved by House Republicans Wednesday night would add $38 billion in defense spending above that requested by President Obama. Continue reading–>
by IPB
by Patrick Martin
The Republican-controlled House of Representatives and US Senate went on record this week approving budget resolutions that would eviscerate basic social programs on which tens of millions of elderly, poor and sick Americans depend. Continue reading–>
