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The
WAND News Bulletin is posted on the
web site monthly.
When it appears, WAND sends out a condensed
version via email. If you would like
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let us know.
Left:
WAND public policy director Marie Rietmann
(r) at the WAND conference last year
with Lisa Ledwidge (l) of IEER.
|
| Table
of Contents | Click
to move to content within the Bulletin. |
Capitol
Hill Update, April 2006
 |
Congress may be enjoying
spring break, but grassroots
activists are keeping busy!
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At
the top of our action list this
month:
-
Common Sense Budget
Act: Take
action.
- Iraq
war: Get HJ Res 55
out of committee and onto the
floor so we can talk about it:
Take
action.
- Massachusetts
residents: Tell Sen.
Kerry to oppose the India nuclear
deal: Take
action.
 |
Oh,
those darn federal income
taxes.
What would you
buy with tax dollars?
Obsolete
Cold War weapons
systems? or healthcare for
children? Isn't it time
for us to use some common
sense when making these
decisions?
Click
here to
take action!
Click
here to donate
and support our
efforts to spread the word.
Click
here to see
our "Not 1040"
form.
|
2006
Congressional Schedule
April 10 - 21: Easter
Recess
May 29 - June 2: Memorial Day
Recess
July 3 - 7: July 4th Recess
August 7 - September 4: August
Recess
October 6: Target Adjournment
You,
too, can lobby Congress about the
things that matter to you. Yes,
you can. Yes. You.
 |
Check
out our handy dandy toolkit,
and get some good advice
about how to lobby your
Members of Congress.
It isn't hard. Really. |
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Notes
from
the
WAND
News
Bulletin
editor
We've
been
reliving
9/11
quite
a
bit
lately.
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It
chills
my
heart.
The
audio
from
Flight
93;
the
video
of
people
jumping
from
the
World
Trade
Towers;
the
memory
of
those
days.
I
had
a
new
baby,
and
she
was
concerned
and
puzzled
when
I
burst
into
tears
that
day.
My
mother
and
my
sister
were
overseas,
my
older
daughter
was
in
school,
I
had
friends
in
Manhattan.
It
took
months
for
me
to
lose
the
overwhelming
sense
that
we
were
terribly
vulnerable,
insecure,
lost
in
a
big
big
world
that
wanted
to
harm
me
and
my
people.
Of
course,
I
haven't
lost
it
entirely.
(As
long
as
you
have
children,
you
never
feel
safe.)
But
I've
spent
a
lot
of
time
and
energy
trying
to
figure
it
out
--
who
we
are,
what
we've
done,
what
we
can
do.
It
feels
like
the
wrong
people
tapped
into
our
fears
and
our
longing
for
security.
I
say
wrong,
because
they've
done
things
that
have
probably
made
our
situation
more
precarious
than
ever.
I
would
actually
like
to
think
that
we
can
win
this
one
with
military
might
--
because
we
certainly
have
that.
We've
spent
the
last
50
years
building
a
ferocious
military
machine.
And
it
would
be
nice
to
think
we
could
vanquish
all
that's
wrong.
But
we
can't.
We
just
can't.
We
can
see
that
in
Iraq,
clear
as
day.
And
we
need
to
accept
that,
and
move
on
to
things
that
will
make
us
safe.
This
little
diatribe
is
under
federal
budget
because
this
is
where
these
decisions
are
made.
We
fund
missile
defense,
but
not
efforts
to
find
and
lock
down
nuclear
materials
so
terrorists
can't
get
their
hands
on
them.
We
fund
crazy
helicopters,
but
not
healthcare
for
children.
We're
big
on
the
phrase
Common
Sense
around
here
these
days.
It's
a
good
idea.
It
gives
us
hope.
Join
us.
Take
action.
And
don't
let
them
exploit
your
fear
into
misguided
decisions.
You
know
what's
in
your
heart.
|
The
federal
budget
is
a
moral
document.
Let's
use
our
common
sense
to
guide
our
decisions.
Isn't
it
time
for
us
to
use
some
common
sense
when
making
these
decisions?
Click
here
to
take
action!
Click
here
to
donate
and
support
our
efforts
to
spread
the
word.
Click
here
to
see
our
"Not
1040"
form.
|
|
|
|
| It
was more exciting
than it looks...
WAND Budget
Briefing on
Capitol Hill
WAND
public policy
director Marie
Rietmann (center)
moderated a
briefing in
March on Capitol
Hill:
“Keeping
America Safe:
The FY07 Budget
& Real Security
Priorities,”
requested by
Congresswoman
Barbara Lee,
honorary WiLL
co-chair.
Presenters
were (l) Christopher
Hellman, Defense
Budget and Policy
Analyst at the
Center for Arms
Control and
Nonproliferation
and (r) Dr.
Charles Ferguson,
Science and
Technology Fellow
at the Council
on Foreign Relations. |
|
U.S.
War Spending
to Rise 44%
to $9.8 Bln
a Month, Report
Says
From Bloomberg
March 17, 2006
U.S.
military spending
in Iraq and
Afghanistan
will average
44 percent
more in the
current fiscal
year than
in fiscal
2005, the
nonpartisan
Congressional
Research Service
said.
Spending
will rise
to $9.8 billion
a month from
the $6.8 billion
a month the
Pentagon said
it spent last
year,
the research
service said.
The group's
March 10 report
cites ``substantial''
expenses to
replace or
repair damaged
weapons, aircraft,
vehicles,
radios and
spare parts.
Nearly
$10 billion a
month, but they
still keep funding
it through those
emergency "supplemental
appropriations."
By
way of contrast,
here are some
other things
we buy (this
is from the
administration's
web site):
- FEMA
has distributed
over $5.7
billion in
Federal aid
to more than
1.4 million
households
to help pay
for housing
assistance,
food, clothing,
home repair
and other
essentials.
(Just over
half what
we spend in
Iraq in a
MONTH.)
- In
2007, DNDO
will conduct
$100 million
(yes, that's
a tenth of
a billion;
so it's a
hundredth
of what we
spend in Iraq
EACH MONTH)
in transformational
research and
development
aimed at enhancing
our ability
to detect,
identify,
and track
down the origins
of nuclear
and radiological
materials.
-
Over the last
four years,
DHS has provided
over $14 billion
in grants
and training
to enhance
the Nation’s
homeland security
preparedness.
Okay, that's
enough. Think!
what we could
do if we spent
that $10 billion
each month on
things that
actually do
make us safer,
better, more
secure.
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National
Priorities Project
has released
their annual
publication:
"Where
Do Your Tax
Dollars Go?"
It
offers an updated
breakdown of
how the federal
government allocated
the median income
family's 2005
tax payment
for each state
and 200 towns,
cities and counties:
www.nationalpriorities.org/taxday.
It also includes
a comparative
look at how
the spending
of the tax dollar
has shifted
from 2000 and
2005.
The
military's share
of the income
tax dollar has
risen by 20
percent since
2000,
while the share
of spending
has dropped
for job training
(-21 percent),
environment
(-19 percent),
housing (-7
percent) and
veteran's benefits
(-2 percent).
More
than two-thirds
of every income
tax dollar in
2005 goes to
military, health
and interest
on the debt.
Since
2000, military
spending's share
of the income
tax dollar has
risen from 24
cents to 29
cents. This
rise is a result
of the nearly
70 percent increase
in military
outlays.
At
the same time,
health spending's
share of the
tax dollar has
risen from 17
cents to 20
cents while
the number of
uninsured grew
by 6 million.
The other significant
jump lies in
education spending
at 50 percent.
This increase
is primarily
due to the No
Child Left Behind
Act, which remains
significantly
underfunded.
In 2000, education
accounted for
less than three
cents of each
tax dollar and
the increase
in share translates
to four cents
of every tax
dollar in 2005.
NPP's
documented shift
in the spending
of our tax dollar
over the last
five years --
a 20 percent
greater share
for military
spending while
job training
and housing
get less --
offers a stark
example of the
consequences
of the federal
government's
current priorities
and the resulting
neglect that
is taking place
here at home.
Also
available is
NPP's
interactive
tax chart,
which allows
you to find
out how YOUR
income tax payment
was spent by
the federal
government.
|
|
Signs
of weapon oversight dwindling
No public reports by
Pentagon office
By Bryan Bender, Globe Staff
| March 29, 2006
Full article, click
here.
WASHINGTON
-- A special Pentagon office
created by Congress to review
the performance of new weapons
has not publicly released an
assessment in four years, raising
concerns that the Department
of Defense's commitment to oversight
is dwindling at a time when
weapons spending is on the rise,
according to current and former
Pentagon officials...
But
former defense officials and
congressional staffers say the
lack of circulation of the reports
is more indicative of the Pentagon's
attitude toward testing under
Rumsfeld.
The
reports were once a powerful
tool to allow outsiders to scrutinize
Pentagon spending and, they
said, the current veil of secrecy
seems intended to prevent any
second-guessing of Rumsfeld's
decision-making...
''They
are rolling in money and there
is less discipline in how it
is allocated," Loren Thompson,
president and CEO of the Lexington
Institute, a fiscally conservative
think tank in Arlington, Va.,
said of the Pentagon brass.
''Rumsfeld's vision
of transforming the military
is driven more by ideology than
demonstrated value. He is not
interested in hearing what the
testers have to say."
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Red
Ink Run Amok
By
David S. Broder | Washington
Post
Thursday, April 13, 2006 | Full
article, click
here.
...If
you go to Target and buy an
item for cash, it's felt in
your wallet immediately. If
you buy the same item on a credit
card, unless you are using accrual
accounting, it is disguised
until the bill arrives.
The
U.S. government has been running
up bills -- notably the promises
of pensions and health-care
benefits for military veterans
and millions of other retirees
-- without putting the obligations
on the books.
That
is what is really scary about
the financial report. It
contains page after page of
graphs showing the probable
future course of income and
expenditures for Social Security
and Medicare. In each chart,
the dotted line for spending
climbs far faster than the solid
line for revenue. Beginning
a decade from now, the shortfalls
explode in what Cooper calls
"a perfect storm"
of fiscal ruin.
Cooper
is not alone in this worry.
David Walker, the head of the
Government Accountability Office,
official bookkeeper for Congress,
said at a briefing last week
that the $760 billion accrual
deficit "amounts to $156,000
of debt for every man, woman
and child in America. For a
family, it's like having a $750,000
mortgage -- and no house."
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Weapons
Are Far Over Budget
25 Programs Overrun Estimates
by More Than 50%
By
Charles R. Babcock | Washington
Post Staff Writer
Saturday, April 8, 2006 | Full
article, click
here.
Significant
cost overruns affect 36 of the
Defense Department's major weapons
systems, including key fighter-jet,
ship and satellite programs,
according to a Pentagon report
released yesterday.
The
report, based on year-end figures,
said 25 programs -- including
three satellites, the Army's
Future Combat System and upgrades
of the Bradley Fighting Vehicle
and two helicopters -- had cost
increases of more than 50 percent
from their initial estimates.
Eleven programs, including the
Joint Strike Fighter, the F/A-18
Navy fighter, a new submarine
and two chemical demilitarization
programs, now cost at least
30 percent more than their original
estimates.
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House
GOP Leaders Vow To Try Again
on Budget Resolution
from
CQ Today Midday Update | April
7, 2006
A day after party infighting
forced House Republican leaders
to send members home without
passing a budget, GOP leaders
pledged to resume negotiations
after the two-week Easter break.
“I don’t think we
should be throwing in the towel,”
House Republican Conference
Chairwoman Deborah Pryce, R-Ohio,
said during a telephone news
conference this morning.
Majority Whip Roy Blunt, R-Mo.,
said he believes the GOP can
eventually pass a fiscal 2007
budget resolution despite the
intense disagreement among appropriators,
conservatives and moderates
that sank the effort this week.
Problems arose, Blunt said,
because the budget resolution
became entangled in fights over
proposed curbs on emergency
spending, which falls outside
caps on discretionary spending,
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