John,

Military budgets should be subject to the same oversight and discipline as other spending, yet the Pentagon is the only government agency that has yet to pass an audit.

The Pentagon’s budget is higher than at the peak of the Cold War, the Vietnam War and the Korean War and is greater than the defense budgets of the next ten countries combined. Not only is this wasteful, its surplus is being used to militarize domestic law enforcement, encourage mass incarceration and anti-immigrant enforcement activity.

Now, we have a president who has introduced a budget that puts human needs first―dramatically increasing funding for education, food assistance, healthcare and more.

Read Deborah's email below to learn about how President Biden's new budget reflects our values and advances our fight for addressing human needs. Then, chip in $5 today to demand Congress act to pass a budget that puts people first!

Shifting away from wasteful and counterproductive military spending will free up much-needed revenue for human needs priorities and lead to true security for all. There’s plenty more that can be cut in the Pentagon budget, but this is an important step in the right direction.

Thank you,

Nicolai Haddal
Field and Events Manager, Coalition on Human Needs

--DEBORAH'S EMAIL--

John,

In order to fight for a budget that prioritizes human needs, it helps to cut wasteful spending at the Pentagon.  

President Biden has advanced a budget that moves in that direction. Not only is he reducing the percentage of the budget the military receives, he has added billions more to address the critical human needs of millions of people.

For the first time in a generation, military spending represents less than half of the overall proposed budget. But, in order to advance President Biden’s budget that invests in critical human needs including nutrition, affordable housing, education, healthcare and more, we’ll meet major resistance from the military industrial complex, including war hawks in Congress.    

Together, let’s fight for President Biden’s budget that invests in critical human needs. Chip in $5 to CHN today to fight back against those who want to dramatically increase military spending, and demand a budget that reflects the needs of the American people.

Take a look at this recent headline from The Hill:¹

The article details that the $769 billion non-defense budget, which covers government departments such as Transportation, Health and Human Services, Justice and Education, got a $105.7 billion increase from the current level.

That's a major increase for the critical programs that millions of families and working people count on every day.

The Hill writes, "In a stark reversal from four years of budget requests from President Trump, which sought to slash funding for major agencies but were routinely dismissed by Congress, the Biden proposal beefs up government agencies, including a 40.8 percent increase for Education, a 27.7 percent increase for Commerce, a 23.1 percent increase for Health and Human Services and a 16 percent increase for Agriculture. It would also boost agencies such as the Environmental Protection Agency by 21.3 percent and the National Science Foundation by 19.8 percent."

Meanwhile, the percentage of the budget going to the defense department is getting a buzz cut. The normally well-fed defense budget is getting just a 1.7 percent increase, not quite enough to keep up with inflation.

President Biden has listened to you, John. This budget reflects many of our shared values and priorities. The Biden budget invests in 200,000 more housing vouchers for households with low incomes, triples funding for schools in low-income communities, increases Pell grants for college students and makes young immigrant “Dreamers” eligible, invests in environmental justice and clean energy jobs, and dramatically increases funds to combat the opioid epidemic.

Can you chip in $5 to CHN today to fight for a budget that reflects our shared values? President Biden's budget is already being attacked by Republican leadership who want more and more money to feed the U.S. military industrial complex. And not every Democrat is an assured supporter. It will take work to get these human needs priorities across the finish line. Chip in to CHN to demand Congress pass a budget that reflects OUR values.

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Thank you for all you do to fight for a future that includes all of us, not just the wealthy few.

Deborah Weinstein
Executive Director, Coalition on Human Needs