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When
I put that whopping check in the mail on April 15, I like to think of...
small children getting free lunch
at school... young men rebuilding houses for poor people on the Gulf Coast...
health services for our veterans...
But
that's NOT where most of my money goes. Not
only am I buying a pointless, endless war; I'm also buying big ole weapons
systems from big ole defense contractors. The truth is, the government
funnels OVER HALF the discretionary federal budget to these things.
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This
isn't the idea. The idea is, in a democracy, we all pitch
in to pay for services that we believe the government should provide.
Sure, it's no fun to have to pay taxes; but it's the price
of maintaining a healthy, prosperous, secure community for all of
us.
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But
the reality is way different from the idea. Our tax dollars
actually go to places few people really like. Missile defense. New nuclear
weapons. Weapons intended to fight the Soviet Union (remember them?).
So
this April, we encourage you to find out more, and take some action. Shake
up the federal budget pie!
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$720
million a day for the war. OR...
Watch
a video about the cost of war, and what else we could be
buying
One
day of war = 84 new elementary schools
One day of war = 95,364 Head Start places for children
While the counter ticks, watch a list of what we could afford to
buy if we weren't buying a war.
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How
much is your community paying for the war?
You can slice and dice the figures at the National
Priorities Project web site.
Here
in Arlington, MA, we've paid well over $122 million. That is MORE
than our entire town budget for FY09. Schools, police,
fire, DPW... We run an entire town on that! And we're hurting. We
could use that $122 million!
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Download
a nice version of the pie chart: In
color | In
black and white
(These are PDF files.) Copy and distribute all you like!
Thanks! |
Actions
for Tax Day
We know it's tomorrow. But if you're itchin' to
do something, consider these ideas.
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At
the Post Office: Use a real pie to show the actual allocation
of the federal budget
Have
some pie on hand! (Pizza pie or dessert pie, whichever you prefer.)
Add
a little theatre by having a someone who "represents"
excessive military spending "eating" most of the pie --
while others (education, health, housing etc…) watch, and
get only tiny slices. |
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At
the Post Office: Mail your taxes directly to weapon systems
Make
a fake mailbox, with a sign that says "Bypass the
middleman! Send your taxes directly to the weapon systems that profit
from war." |
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At
home: Host a Tax Day Karaoke (or Singalong) Party
You
know you want to. When your guests can stop singing for a moment,
have them take a look at the pie chart, and invite them to visit
the WAND web site and take action. |
If you don't
have the set up for true karaoke (but who doesn't?), you can simply host
an old fashioned singalong. It's cathartic, really it is.
Songs
to feature
• The Tax Man, by The Beatles
• Taxes Are Best When You Pay Nothing At All, by Stephen Stubbs
• Sales Tax, by the Mississippi Sheiks
• It's My Money, by The Right Brothers
• Revolution, by The Beatles
• My City Was Gone, by The Pretenders
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At
the Post Office: Conduct a penny poll
Set
up a table outside the PO, and have people vote for how they'd spend
their tax dollars. As the pennies accumulate, everyone can see where
the most pennies go.
Odds
are good it won't match the pie chart above! Have the pie on hand
to show folks the reality.
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- Set
up several clear glasses (or tubes or jars); label them with
categories of government spending (see above): e.g., education, environment,
healthcare, and the military; make sure to have a separate one for the
Iraq war. (If the container is narrow, the pennies will pile up more
clearly.)
- Give
each person who would like to participate 10 pennies (or 100,
if you're feeling strong and flush), and invite them to distribute them
the way they would like to see their tax dollars spent.
- The
American Pie action guide illustrates in detail how their
tax dollars actually get spent. Have some on hand, if possible.
- Publicize
the results in a press release or letter to the editor of your
local paper.
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