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Dear John,
Americans are hurting, and the government isn’t helping enough.
Gas and food prices are high. 76 percent [[link removed]] of Americans said that cost-of-living was their top economic concern. Trump’s war on Iran is only making the situation worse. [[link removed]]
Instead of helping, two major proposals now in Congress would use the tremendous power of the federal government to stoke war and tear families apart.
The first is a funding package for ICE and mass detention and deportations worth more than $71 billion [[link removed]] . No longer held up by Trump’s request for a $1.8 billion [[link removed]] “Trump club” fund to reward his political allies, this travesty looks poised to pass Congress.
The second is a package to pass the largest part – $1.15 trillion [[link removed]] – of Trump and “Secretary of War” Pete Hegseth’s $1.5 trillion war budget [[link removed]] . That alone would amount to a $250 billion raise [[link removed]] for war and weapons - and their plan is to follow up with even more war funds in later legislation.
This week, NPP has joined a letter with 80 other organizations urging key members of Congress to say no to any increases in war spending [[link removed]] .
The Iran war has already cost between $50 billion [[link removed]] to $72 billion [[link removed]] , and a new report co-authored by NPP’s Hanna Homestead placed the cost of the January invasion of Venezuela and related costs at $4.7 billion [[link removed]] and still climbing.
None of this new spending on war and deportations is popular: close to 60 percent [[link removed]] of Americans think a $1.5 trillion war budget is either “much too high” or “somewhat too high.” And in the aftermath of fatal shootings and street terror in Minneapolis, 65 percent [[link removed]] of Americans said ICE has “gone too far.”
Members of Congress need to hear from people like you! We don’t ask this often, but now is the time to call your members of Congress by dialing 202-224-3121. Tell them NO more funding for ICE, and NO more funding for war and weapons! Find your representatives here. [[link removed]]
It’s time for our tax dollars to benefit us, not corporations that profit from war and persecution of immigrants.
In solidarity,
Alliyah, Hanna and Lindsay
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TRADEOFF: FAMILY SEPARATION VS. BASIC CARE FOR FAMILIES
Not one more dollar for ICE and Border Patrol! As people struggle to cover medical bills, put food on the table or gas in the car, Congress wants to take another $71.6 billion from taxpayer pockets for ICE and CBP. This comes on top of the $170 billion passed last year for mass detention and deportations. Families deserve more.
Instead of funding ICE and CBP, $71.6 billion could cover:
* Medicaid for 2.5 million people, or
* SNAP for 9.4 million people, or
* 1.2 million more kids in Head Start, or
* Medical care for 1 million veterans
Share on Instagram [[link removed]] , Bluesky [[link removed]] , and Facebook [[link removed]]
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Photo courtesy of orudorumagi11 [[link removed]]
Each missile the Pentagon buys to commit war crimes abroad could fund critical services at home.
Trump’s budget request [[link removed]] for FY 2027 includes $95 billion to buy more bombs and missiles , and specifically to restock munitions used in the U.S.-Israel war of aggression on Iran and those fueling ongoing genocide and ethnic cleansing in Palestine and Lebanon. Weapons contractors, who are already cashing in [[link removed]] on the carnage, are set to rake in even higher profits if this budget is approved.
In this blog [[link removed]] , we break down the enormity of these per-unit costs and provide examples of social programs we could have for the price of a single missile. For example, a single Tomahawk missile ($2.6 million) could fund SNAP benefits for more than 1,000 people for an entire year.
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Photo courtesy of Feleecia Guillen
The World's First Conference to End Fossil Fuels Must Address Militarism, Too.
In April, several countries gathered in Santa Marta, Colombia to host the first ever conference on phasing out fossil fuels [[link removed]] . A strong peace contingent was present, from the People’s Declaration [[link removed]] acknowledging first and foremost the role of the U.S. war machine in the climate crisis, all the way to a women-led panel titled “Fossil Fuels, Militarism, and the Path to Peace: A Feminist Just Transition.”
Feleecia Guillen, IPS New Mexico Fellow, attended the Santa Marta conference and delivered a speech on behalf of North America climate groups. Feleecia and NPP’s Alliyah Lusuegro explain in a video [[link removed]] and op-ed [[link removed]] why it’s so critical that efforts to phase out fossil fuels address war and militarism, too. No more wars for oil!
Watch This [[link removed]]
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“No algorithm can make war morally acceptable. AI does not remove the intrinsic inhumanity of conflict; indeed it can only bring about conflict more quickly and render it more impersonal, lowering the threshold for resorting to violence, transforming defense into threat prediction and thus reducing victims to data. In this way, it will accustom us to the idea that violence is inevitable and needs only to be optimized.”
– Pope Leo XIV in his encyclical on AI, Magnifica Humanitas [[link removed]]
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READ/ WATCH/ LISTEN
The World's First Conference to End Fossil Fuels Must Address Militarism, Too [[link removed]]
Alliyah Lusuegro and Feleecia Guillen, Foreign Policy in Focus
Trump Has Already Spent at Least $4.7 Billion Attacking Latin America [[link removed]]
Nick Turse, The Intercept
From Asia to the Middle East, US Bombs Are a Failed Foreign Policy Choice [[link removed]]
Christine Ahn, Truthout
The U.S. Must End Its Illegal Boat Strikes [[link removed]]
Farrah Hassen, OtherWords
Tax day: US taxpayers spend hundreds more on military as Trump pushes for vast increase [[link removed]] featuring NPP’s 2026 Tax Receipt
Anna Betts, The Guardian
Wait, that's how my taxes are being spent? [[link removed]] featuring NPP’s 2026 Tax Receipt
Theresa Bennett, Akron Beacon Journal
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National Priorities Project at the Institute for Policy Studies
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