Capitol
Hill Update, May 2006
 |
If you want your legislators
to use more common sense
in things that really
matter -- foreign policy,
federal budget -- you
need to tell them. |
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|
At the top of our action
list this month:
- War
is not the answer in Iran, either:
Smart, effective, committed
diplomacy, not bombs:
Take
action.
- 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.
Good
news! 2 items to celebrate this
month
Good news 1: More
money to help prevent nuclear
terrorism
If
you've seen the movie "Last
Best Chance," you know how
vulnerable the U.S. is to nuclear
terrorism. WAND and other groups
have been actively seeking to
strengthen programs that would
locate and lock down loose nuclear
materials around the globe. One
of these is the Global
Threat Reduction Initiative (GTRI),
also known as global cleanout.
We're
glad to report a victory on this
note. In late April,
the House Armed Services Committee
adopted an amendment to the FY07
defense authorization to give
the Energy Department advance
approval to transfer $30
million to the Global Threat Reduction
Initiative (GTRI).
Good
news 2: Progress in preventing
weapons in space
Anti-satellite
weapons testing was removed from
House version of defense authorization.
The
House Armed Services Committee
eliminated the $5.7 million to
fire a laser at a satellite from
the defense authorization. Thanks
to all the WAND members who contacted
their House members about this.
 |
War
as the last option:
Diplomacy before invasion
of Iran
Tell
your elected officials that
the U.S. should engage in
real diplomacy and begin
direct talks with the Iranian
government over its nuclear
program. We must
exhaust all diplomatic options
before considering use of
military force. |
 |
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
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
Oh,
man.
What
is
going
on
up
there
on
Capitol
Hill?
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Feels
like
we're
gathering
up
forces
for
some
kinda
perfect
storm
of
budget
mess.
- Raise
the
debt
ceiling
ever
higher!
So
we
can
borrow
more
from
other
countries
and
get
into
deep
trouble
one
day
when
they
come
calling!
Let
our
children
deal
with
it.
- Hand
over
more
tax
cuts
to
the
wealthiest!
Because
as
long
as
we
can
borrow
it,
we
don't
need
to
gather
real
revenue.
We
can
just
use
the
credit
card!
- Pretend
the
war
doesn't
really
cost
all
that
much
by
using
supplemental
appropriations
to
pay
for
it!
We'll
just
keep
regarding
it
as
an
emergency
--
even
though
the
president
has
said
it'll
be
up
to
the
next
guy
to
get
us
out
of
there.
Folks,
we're
too
smart
to
keep
buying
this!
It's
just
a
fact
of
life
that
government
costs
money,
and
someone
has
to
pay
for
it.
So
if
we
need
to
overhaul
the
whole
thing,
let's
do
that.
Rather
than
making
a
royal
mess
out
of
it
that
we
may
not
be
able
to
get
out
of...
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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.
|
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Who
gains from tax-cut
bill
Middle
America could
see some relief,
but those at
high-income
levels stand
to benefit more.
By Ron Scherer
| Christian
Science Monitor,
May 12, 2006
Full article,
click
here.
NEW
YORK –
There
is a nice tax
cut waiting
for you - that
is, if people
refer to you
as Dr. or "my
lawyer,"
not Mr. or Ms.
And
possibly, you
might notice
the relief if
you and your
spouse make
between $100,000
and $200,000
a year. But
if you're laying
bricks or working
as a teller
at the local
bank, you might
wonder what
all the fuss
is about.
President Bush
is expected
to sign into
law a one-year,
$31 billion
cut for 2006,
along with extending
current tax
cuts worth $39
billion over
the next five
years...
This
may save taxpayers
who make $100,000
to $200,000
a few hundred
dollars. But
the bulk of
the tax break
will go to some
1 million Americans
who earn between
$200,000 and
$600,000 a year.
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Another
Possible Bump
to the Debt
Ceiling
By
Jonathan Weisman
and Shailagh
Murray | Washington
Post
Tuesday, May
9, 2006| Full
article, click
here.
A
$2.7 trillion
budget plan
pending before
the House would
raise the federal
debt ceiling
to nearly $10
trillion, less
than two months
after Congress
last raised
the federal
government's
borrowing limit.
The
provision --
buried on page
121 of the 151-page
budget blueprint
-- serves as
a backdrop to
congressional
action this
week. House
leaders hope
to try once
again to pass
a budget plan
for fiscal 2007,
a month after
a revolt by
House Republican
moderates and
Appropriations
Committee members
forced leaders
to pull the
plan.
Leaders
also hope to
pass a package
of tax-cut extensions
that would cost
the Treasury
$70 billion
over the next
five years.
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Wondering where our military recruits
are coming from?
National
Priorities Project
has the answers
Click
to see the chart
enlarged.
The great databasers at NPP just issued
their stats
on military
recruitment:
by race, by
geography, by
income. Check
it out.
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House
Passes $70 Billion Tax Package
Voting on Party Lines, Lawmakers
Extend Benefits to Middle Class
By
Jonathan Weisman | Washington
Post
Thursday, May 11, 2006 | Full
article, click
here.
The
House easily approved a five-year,
$70 billion tax package last
night that would extend President
Bush's investor tax cuts, keep
millions of middle-income Americans
off the alternative minimum
tax and provide a bevy of other
benefits, from a tax write-off
for songwriters to a break for
the University of Texas.
The
Senate plans to take up the
measure today, sending it to
Bush for his enthusiastic signature.
With its enactment, each of
the major tax cuts of the president's
first term -- now totaling nearly
$2 trillion over this decade
-- will expire en masse at midnight,
Dec. 31, 2010. Yesterday's
House debate focused on the
budgetary impacts of those tax
cuts, with Republicans saying
their tax policy had sparked
economic growth and triggered
a surge of federal tax receipts
while Democrats said those same
policies were bankrupting the
government.
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Tax
Gimmickry
Paying for tax cuts for the
wealthy with . . . more tax
cuts for the wealthy!
April 17, 2006 | Washington
Post | Full article, click
here.
MUCH
TO THE chagrin of the White
House and the GOP leadership,
lawmakers didn't get a new round
of tax cuts done in time for
tax day today. But when Congress
comes back from its recess,
it's expected to take up a deal
to extend President Bush's capital
gains and dividend tax cuts.
To make their budget-busting
tax policy appear less costly
than it is, the lawmakers are
resorting to a gimmick that
is even more egregious than
their usual tactics.
This
one would, as usual, hide the
cost of tax cuts that primarily
benefit upper-income Americans.
But it would accomplish
that budgetary smoke and mirrors
with a new tax provision, involving
retirement savings accounts,
that also benefits the well-to-do.
And, to top things off, this
new tax provision, while masking
the cost of the tax cuts by
bringing in more revenue in
the short term, would in the
long run worsen the fiscal situation
by piling on more debt. No
one who's serious about controlling
the deficit -- whatever one's
position on extending the tax
cuts -- could support this dishonest
approach.
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The
popular media is taking notice
of the wacky Pentagon...
Several
high-profile, mass media vehicles
have recently trained a spotlight
on the Pentagon. And their tales
are chilling. Try House
of War by James Caroll.
Or The
New American Militarism
by Andrew Bacevich. Or catch
"Why
We Fight" if it comes
around.
Some aspects
of the argument about the military
budget are simple and glaring.
The U.S. has 5% of the world's
population; but 50% of the world's
military expenditures. Far and
away the largest military budget
in the world --and EVER. In
the discretionary federal budget,
the Pentagon gets OVER HALF,
while all the other programs
divvy up the remainder. For
FY07, the Pentagon budget goes
UP 7%, while everything else
goes down.
Some aspects
are a little murkier. For one,
the Pentagon is about defense,
but not really about homeland
security at all. It doesn't
really help make us more secure,
or stronger, or nimbler in the
face of real threats.
Which leads
to two: the Pentagon was built
to fight the Soviet Union, and
that's essentially what it's
still building up to do. It's
still spending billions and
billions on arcane, technologically
sophisticated, Cold War weapons
systems. Nuclear bombs, missile
defense, helicopters that fall
out of the sky.
And
then three: There is this weird
manifest destiny/god's will/freedom
spreading aspect to it all which
is creepy, frankly, at heart.
George W really does chat with
God; and, apparently, in these
conversations, God is telling
him to do things like put weapons
in space, make new nukes, take
over Iraq.
Really?
God's really more interested
in a bomb test in Nevada (see
here for an op ed about
the "Divine Strake"
test) than in the innocents
in Darfur? than in my nephew's
heart trouble? than in hungry
kittens?
Really?
Good luck to all of us then.
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Notes
from the WAND News Bulletin
editor
Happy
Mother's Day. Wherever
you fit in the generational
soup, smell the flowers
and nosh the chocolates.
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It's
nice that one day belongs
to women (just consider
all the other holidays
-- from Presidents' Day
to Christmas...)
WAND
celebrates Mother's Day
all over the country.
We had some nice times
this year! Thanks to everyone
who participated.
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|
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Mother's
Day didn't start with flowers
and candy.
It
started with a cry for peace.
We've
been busy bees around here,
generating lots of words and
events that try to capture what
it really means to "mother"
in this day and age. Click
here to find our what we're
doing, what you can do! |
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|
What
did Mom tell you?
What would you like
to tell our administration?
Speaking of making
good people: wouldn't you like
to speak to the administration
with the same words of wisdom
that Mom used on you?
Here's
a page with momilies from
our members and friends! Thanks
to everyone! |
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We
gotta lot to say!
Any way you look at it, it's
Mother's Day for Peace! Our
takes on it:
One:
What would
Mom say to the President?
Two:
What if mothers were the ones
who composed Mother’s
Day cards?
Three:
Amanda
on Mother's Peace Day
And
a classic: Watch out: Becoming
a mother changes everything |
|
Arkansas:
Groundbreaking for Beacon
of Hope!
The
groundbreakers are Congressman
Vic Snyder, Mayor Patrick
Hayes, Jean Gordon and Caroline
Stevenson.
The
children are from
Woodruff School - which boasts
of 460 days without a fight.
Congressman
Vic Snyder (AK)
Arkansas
WAND celebrated Mother's
Peace Day with a luncheon
-- and a great groundbreaking
of the Beacon of Peace and
Hope.
The
tenacious and lovely Jean
Gordon says: "The whole
day was a fabulous success!
Joyce Eliott is such an
exciting speaker. Her son
ended his introduction of
her with 'My mom is the
coolest person I know.'
One friend said 'This luncheon
and one other are the two
best events of the year.'
We had lots of fun putting
it together."
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| MICHIGAN:
Sen. Carl Levin Roast a Smash
Hit
Two
hundred people attended the
Sen Carl and Mrs. Barbara
Levin Roast on Sunday, May
7, sponsored by WAND Michigan
and the Society of Professional
Journalists. Roasters included
Republican L. Brooks Patterson,
and Barbara herself. The event
was MC'ed by Devin Scillian
of Channel 4. Carl took many
hits graciously by friend
and foe alike.
Click
here for the invitation!
Click
here for the report!
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Boston | THAT
was fun!
Read all about it: click
here.
To view the invitation, click
here.
This year we honored 1,000
Women for Nobel Peace Prize
WAND's 25th anniversary
and more! |
|
Atlanta
WAND | May 11, 2006 |
6:00-8:30pm | The Academy of
Medicine.
Arkansas
WAND | May 12, 2006 |
12-1:30pm | Littlerock Club
at the Regions Bank Building
WAND
Michigan | Two events:
May and September, 2006
Newburyport
WAND | Walk for Peace
| Woodsom Farm Hill
Friends St. Amesbury | Sunday
May 14, 2006 |
| Mothers
still leading the way to peace
The
way the administration talks
about it, you might not even
realize that men women are dying
every day in Iraq. Families,
especially mothers, are struggling
to keep that fact in the spotlight
-- and to convey how many hearts
are broken and lives are shattered.
One
such mother is Patricia Roberts,
a Gold Star Mother from Georgia
who spoke at the WAND/WiLL National
Conference in 2005. She is featured
in the story "One Mother's
War" in the May issue of
Essence magazine.
Roberts, determined to let young people know they have options
in life beyond the military,
formed the Jamaal Addison Motivational
Foundation.
She was also honored by Atlanta WAND recently; she received their Mother’s Day for
Peace certificate for "Speaking
with focused energy and the
clear eyed vision of a mother
who has lost a child to war." |
| The
newly minted WAND values statement
Read
it here.
"As
members of WAND, we value the
voices and leadership of women
seeking peace, justice and security
through informed participation
in the democratic process..."
|
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Notes
from the WAND News Bulletin
editor
If
you've seen the movie "Last
Best Chance," you know
how vulnerable the U.S.
is to nuclear terrorism.
WAND and other groups have
been actively seeking to
strengthen programs that
would locate and lock down
loose nuclear materials
around the globe. One of
these is the Global
Threat Reduction Initiative
(GTRI), also known as global
cleanout. |
We're
glad to report a victory on
this note. In late
April, the House Armed Services
Committee adopted an amendment
to the FY07 defense authorization
to give the Energy Department
advance approval to transfer
$30 million to the Global
Threat Reduction Initiative
(GTRI). (The funds
would come from unexpended
balances of other Energy Department
programs.) The amendment was
a compromise negotiated by
Reps. Curt Weldon (R-PA) and
John Spratt (D-SC); it was
the only major amendment adopted
that had bipartisan support.
The House Armed Services Subcommittee
on Strategic Forces had already
added $20 million to the administration's
request for GTRI. Thus, the
House version of the defense
authorization bill would
give DOE a $50 million increase
to its request of $107 million
for FY 2007 for the Global
Threat Reduction Initiative.
Last year’s
funding for the program was
$97 million.
Thanks
to the Friends Committee
on National Legislation,
WAND, and Global Green.
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War
as the last
option: Diplomacy
before invasion of
Iran
Tell
your elected officials
that the U.S. should
engage in real diplomacy
and begin direct talks
with the Iranian government
over its nuclear program.
We must exhaust
all diplomatic options
before considering
use of military force. |
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|
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FROM
THE HEARING OF THE DEFENSE SUBCOMMITTEE
OF THE SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE
APPROPRIATIONS
Note
the Freudian slip from
Lt. Gen. Obering, head of the
Missile Defense Agency, when asked
about the operational capability
of the system.
"The
recent tests that we conducted
this past year do nothing -- I
mean, do a lot more to
bolster our confidence in the
system as well, because we actually
flew the operational configuration
of the interceptor that we have
in the silo."
|
Russia
to Develop New Nuclear Weapons,
Putin Says
May
11, 2006 | Global Security Newsletter
| Full article, click
here.
Russian
President Vladimir Putin said
yesterday his nation would develop
new nuclear and high-precision
weapons in order to preserve a
strategic balance with the United
States, the Los Angeles Times
reported (see GSN, April 12).
Putin
likened the United States to a
wolf. He appeared to
address the U.S.-led invasion
of Iraq and Vice President Dick
Cheney’s recent comments
that Russia “unfairly and
improperly restricted the rights
of her people” and used
oil and gas reserves as “tools
of intimidation of blackmail.”
“As
they say, ‘Comrade Wolf
knows whom to swallow,’”
Putin said during his annual address
before parliament. “He swallows
without listening to anyone. Nor
does he intend to listen to anyone
by all appearances.”
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WAND
Public Policy Director Marie Rietmann
says the recent change in our
relationship with Libya can teach
us something:
"The
Libya example proves that the
world community can achieve results
without resorting to war. We can
do that with Iran, too."
U.S.
Restores Full Diplomatic Ties With
Libya
Move Sends a Signal To Iran, North
Korea
By
Glenn Kessler | Washington Post
Tuesday, May 16, 2006 | Full article,
click
here.
The
United States restored full diplomatic
relations with Libya yesterday,
marking the end of a quarter-century
of enmity and signaling to Iran
and North Korea that similar rewards
await countries that scrap their
weapons of mass destruction.
...Unlike with
Libya, however, the Bush administration
thus far has refused to engage
in direct talks with Iran or to
meet with North Korean officials
outside of a six-nation negotiating
process.
|
 |
Our
last best chance at preventing
nuclear terrorism.
A
stunning docudrama tells the
story. This is your
chance to tell your friends.
Order
a free copy of the movie and
host a house party. Action
alert: click
here.
|
|
Notes
from the WAND News Bulletin
editor
I
had a cat named Neil Young
for a buncha years. He was
cool.
|
And
so is the real thing. 'Cuz he
just keeps on rockin', telling
it like it is.
His
new album is available for free
streaming through the True Majority
site. Check it out.
Let's
impeach the president for lying
And leading our country into
war
Abusing all the power that we
gave him
And shipping all our money out
the door
He's the man who hired all the
criminals
The White House shadows who
hide behind closed doors
And bend the facts to fit with
their new stories
Of why we have to send our men
to war
Let's impeach the president
for spying
On citizens inside their own
homes
Breaking every law in the country
By tapping our computers and
telephones
What if Al Qaida blew up the
levees
Would New Orleans have been
safer that way
Sheltered by our government's
protection
Or was someone just not home
that day?
Let's impeach the president
For hijacking our religion and
using it to get elected
Dividing our country into colors
And still leaving black people
neglected
Thank god he's cracking down
on steroids
Since he sold his old baseball
team
There's lot of people looking
at big trouble
But of course the president
is clean
Thank God
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The
WAND DC office hosted a lunch
in our conference room for an
Iraqi women’s delegation
and leaders of national women’s
organizations recently.
WAND Public Policy Director Marie
Rietmann is pictured here with
Dr. Rashad Zaydan (left), a physician
who works with women and children
in Baghdad and Fallujah and Ummaya
Ismel, a sociologist who is a
leader in the Iziti religion.
The
delegation, 14 in all, represented
a broad range of perspectives
and their visit to the United
States was made possible by the
Global Peace Initiative of Women
(led by Sister Joan Chittester
and Joan Brown Campbell).
Iraqi
women argue, but agree on their
special role
By Howard LaFranchi
| The Christian Science Monitor,
April 7, 2006
Full article, click
here.
NEW YORK –
In a roomful of Iraqi and American
women, brought together to explore
how they can join to build a new
Iraq, the discussions are stuck
in recriminations, accusations,
the past.
Were we worse off under Saddam
Hussein or with the current splintering
violence? Should American troops
stay, or should they go? What
is the place of women who left
Iraq, while others endured, but
have returned and want a piece
of the power?
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Groundhog
Day in Iraq
By
Joshua Holland, AlterNet. Posted
May 15, 2006.
Full
article, click
here.
We
are in Iraq because of their delusion
that raw military power can solve
even the most complex transnational
issues. They're incapable of grasping
the importance of real moral legitimacy
in modern warfare. Without that
legitimacy, even the most powerful
military in the world is likely
to get dragged into a quagmire
and, when it does, the public's
weariness is entirely predictable.
File it away as another error
in post-war planning...
If
they can't figure that out, Iraq
won't be our last drawn-out adventure
in the global south; we'll shed
blood on the soil of other far-off
little countries that most Americans
can't find on a map, the media
will hype other tin-pot dictators
as the next coming of Hitler,
and the defense industry will
have other opportunities to shake
some silver out of the treasury.
And we'll wake up in a decade
or so facing another quagmire
and realize it's Groundhog Day
all over again.
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Poll
Gives Bush His Worst Marks Yet
By
ADAM NAGOURNEY and MEGAN THEE
May 10, 2006 | New York Times
| Full article, click
here.
 |
...The
poll showed a further decline
in support for the Iraq war,
the issue that has most eaten
into Mr. Bush's public support.
The percentage of respondents
who said going to war in Iraq
was the correct decision slipped
to a new low of 39 percent,
down from 47 percent in January.
Two-thirds said they had little
or no confidence that Mr.
Bush could successfully end
the war. |
|
Murtha
Not Backing Down
By Zachary A. Goldfarb and Peter
Slevin
May 16, 2006 | Washington Post
| Full article, click
here.
(But you'll have to page down,
it's the 2nd item on the page!)
Rep.
John P. Murtha (D-Pa.), the decorated
war veteran who riled Republicans
in November by calling for a U.S.
withdrawal from Iraq, has been
taking his antiwar show on the
road. He told an approving
audience at Northwestern University
last week that the United States
cannot afford the growing cost
in casualties, cash or credibility.
Addressing an
audience several hundred strong,
Murtha quoted Theodore Roosevelt:
"To announce that there must
be no criticism of the president,
or that we are to stand by the
president, right or wrong, is
not only unpatriotic and servile
but is morally treasonable to
the American public."
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| 
|
Spiritual
Activism Conference in Washington,
D.C.:
May 17-20 | All
Souls Church, Unitarian, 1500
Harvard St NW, Washington, D.C.
Want an alternative to the Religious
Right, to the materialism and
selfishness of the competitive
marketplace, and to the religio-phobia
and tone-deafness to spiritual
concerns on the Left? Come
to the Spiritual Activism Conference,
study The Left Hand of God, and
join The Network of Spiritual
Progressives (NSP)
|
Go
Run 2006
Go
Run is a weekend long training dedicated
to equipping the future candidate
with the skills to run and win.
The training aims to demystify the
political process and increase the
number of progressive women in the
political pipeline. Go Run provides
the nuts and bolts of running for
political office. For
more on Go Run, click here.
Minnesota
Go Run: May
19- 21, 2006
Colorado Go Run: June
9-11, 2006
Georgia Go Run: July
28-30, 2006
Washington
Go Run: August
18-20, 2006
|
|
|
Camp Wellstone
5/5 - 5/7/06 Camp Wellstone: Colorado
6/16 - 6/18/06 Camp Wellstone:
Washington State |
IDEAS,
VISIONS, RESOURCES FOR
A BETTER WORLD |
 |
Working
Assets: first, if you're
not using one of their services,
please think about it. You're probably
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WAND Bulletin is to share news and ideas,
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©
2006 WAND. |
