Republicans cut relief for the poor, for loan debt forgiveness, and for the working class in the debt ceiling deal, saying we couldn’t afford it. Yet at the same time, they increased the Pentagon budget to $886 billion—up from $858 billion passed in December—without addressing major concerns like price gouging by military contractors.
As Kenny Stancil at Common Dreams explained:
It goes without saying that injecting more competition into the contracting process would not necessarily address the more fundamental problem of escalating military spending, which is what private companies—big and small alike—are feasting on.
The largest war profiteers, however, often hire the most revolving-door lobbyists and put the most ex-government officials on their boards, the analysis points out, increasing their chances of appropriating more public money.
The U.S. military budget is currently more than that of China, Russia, and the next seven countries combined—and Congress continues to increase it.
Sign the petition to Congress: Say no to a nearly $1,000,000,000,000 Pentagon budget.
The Pentagon budget has grown at an astronomically unsustainable rate year after year, with no end in sight. Congress has accelerated the budget by $25 billion in FY 2022 and $45 billion in FY 2023. Every year Congress and the president add more money to the Pentagon budget for outdated ships, malfunctioning planes, dangerous nuclear weapons, and giveaways to corrupt defense contractors at the expense of communities across the country.
Meanwhile, Republicans continue to attack our social and human needs programs including major cuts to Social Security and school lunches. In fact, House Speaker Kevin McCarthy announced his plan to create a commission to cut Social Security and Medicare behind closed doors.
To truly invest in our future, we must prioritize providing affordable health care, relieving student debt, creating well-paying jobs, and tackling the ever-growing climate crisis over continuous, unnecessary military budget increases.
Join us and let’s pile on the pressure. Activists like us have held the line against deeper cuts in the debt ceiling negotiations, and this is another moment to dig in and demand Congress keep going and cut the Pentagon budget!
Congress must prioritize the needs of the people. That means investing in programs that will truly make our country stronger and more equitable while cutting the bloated military budget.
