Institute for Public Accuracy
980 National Press Building, Washington, D.C. 20045
(202) 347-0020 * http://www.accuracy.org * ipa@accuracy.org
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JO COMERFORD, http://nationalpriorities.org
Executive director of the National Priorities Project, Comerford
said today: "President Obama's plan to freeze 'non-security'
discretionary spending could spell disaster for a broad range of federal
programs. ... The proposed 'freeze' is actually a cut. The proposal caps
non-security spending at $447 billion for each of the next three fiscal
years. During that time, inflation will erode the purchasing power of
that total, requiring additional cuts in services in each successive
year. While meaningless in reducing the deficit, these cuts could be
devastating to non-security discretionary programs such as nutrition,
education, energy and transportation. These types of programs account
for only 17 percent of total federal spending, yet they will absorb all
of the proposed cuts. ... Military spending, which in the current fiscal
year represents roughly 55 percent of discretionary spending, will be
spared the budget knife. And all indications are that military spending
will go up next year. In fact, based on the Office of Management and
Budget's projections as part of the FY 2010 budget request released last
year, we will spend an additional $522 billion on the military over the
next decade."
KATHY KELLY, http://vcnv.org
DAN PEARSON
Kelly and Pearson are with the group Voices for Creative
Nonviolence, which is organizing the Peaceable Assembly Campaign, a
series of actions to mark the beginning of President Obama's second year
in office and "in support of finding alternatives to U.S. militarism."
Today, over 20 Minnesotans who have come to Washington, D.C. to continue
lobbying their elected representatives to stop funding war are expected
to be arrested in front of the White House at a "die-in, protesting the
U.S. occupation and wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, highlighting
opposition to the Obama administration's recent military escalation in
Afghanistan."
Kelly, who recently wrote the piece "Tough Minds, Tender Hearts,"
said today: "The U.S. government devotes massive resources and much
sophistication to killing in Afghanistan. Would that it would spend a
little to realize that its policies are creating anger. ... It costs
about $1 million a year to have a U.S. soldier -- boots on the ground --
in Afghanistan. Imagine what good that money could do if spent to help
the Afghan people. A governor in Afghanistan makes about $1,000 per year."
For more information, contact at the Institute for Public Accuracy:
Sam Husseini, (202) 347-0020, (202) 421-6858; or David Zupan, (541) 484-9167