Today the New York Times published a new analysis by the National Priorities Project — "How to Fund 'Medicare for All': Slash the Military."

Debates over how to fund ambitious progressive policy proposals often emphasize their hefty price tag. And proposals for funding them tend to focus on raising taxes, particularly on the wealthiest.

But there’s another huge source of funds, too: the Pentagon.

Less than half the Pentagon's current budget can cover the $300 billion over the current system that universal healthcare would cost per year. First, we must tame the American war machine, bring the troops home and close foreign bases, and banish nuclear weapons. Next, we can cut the bloat and pork, lose Trumpian vanity boondoggles like the Space Force, and fold military health care into a Medicare for All system for everyone.

Cost isn't an issue, on healthcare or any other part of a moral agenda. Our research analyst Ashik Siddique recently published a piece in Buzzfeed making the case for cutting the Pentagon to fund a Green New Deal against the climate crisis. With just over 10% of a single year's military spending, we could build out enough wind and solar energy to power every household in the United States.

Our scholarship couldn't come at a better political moment. NPP's coalition allies just released new poll data showing that a majority of Americans now support shifting money from the Pentagon to domestic needs like health care, education, and environmental protection.

The time is ripe for all of us to keep pressing for the moral agenda our country needs. Let's keep advocating and organizing together to seize the moment.