Guns and Butter
A Green Party review of your tax dollars at work.
Do you know how many of your hard earned tax dollars are going
for
Armaments (guns) or Human Services (butter)?
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THE "GUNS" REPORT
The proposed 2004 Military Budget is $399.1 billion
(a $48 billion increase). This figure does not include a requested $79
billion for 6 months for the War on Iraq. A Yale report estimates that
an additional $300 billion will be needed to "secure" Iraq
over two years of occupation. By 2035 the estimated cost of
"missile defense" program pushed by Bush et company is $1.2
trillion. Here are the amounts that a sampling of "defense"
contractors raked in.
WINNERS LIST
"Defense" contracts for 2001/2002
-
Wackenhut $17.3 million
-
Thales-Raytheon $ 119 million
-
Rand $ 146 million
-
Phillip Morris $ 299 million
-
Rolls Royce $ 611 million
-
Johns Hopkins $ 729 million
-
Alliant $ 1.2 billion
-
Bechtel $ 1.7 billion
-
TRW $ 3.9 billion
-
Northrup Grumman $ 13.9 billion
-
Boeing $ 31 billion
-
Halliburton unlimited contracts
While the budget is touted for fighting terrorism,
the bulk of the funding goes for buying weapons, manufactured by
corporations like those above. Even worse, V.P. Cheney still makes
about a million dollars a year from Halliburton while holding the
office of U.S. Vice President. All U.S. wars will directly enrich him
and that corporation.
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THE "BUTTER" REPORT
Trillions of dollars in "corporate welfare for
"defense" corporations, but look what is happening to the
human services that your tax dollar should be paying for.
LOSERS LIST
Cuts in Social Services
-
$61 million cut in child care for poor working
families
-
$172 million cut in funding for health
resources including care for HIV and AIDS
-
$286 million cut Environmental Protection
Agency
-
$305 million cut in funding for public housing,
energy and security
-
$340 million cut for Center for Disease Control
-
$395 million cut for Head Start
-
$684 million cut in job training for workers
and youth
-
$1.4 trillion proposed by Bush administration
for "diversion" of Social Security to pay for other
programs in the next 10 years
The house budget plan requires Congress to cut $265
billion from entitlement programs over ten years, $165 billion of
which would come from programs for low-income households. The Center
on Budget and Policy Priorities estimates that Medicaid will be cut by
$92 billion and the State Children's Health Insurance will be cut by
$2 billion from FY 2003 to 2014.
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Don't like where your money is going?
In a true democracy, the people get to say how their money is
spent, not high paid lobbyists doing back door deals.
The Green Party is a grassroots party.
Greens DO NOT ACCEPT corporate contributions.
The Green Party is the fastest growing political
party in the U.S.
We need your help to reverse the Guns/Butter report. We advocate
use of your taxes for "BUTTER," i.e. infrastructure
improvements, health care, education and decent wages here at
home.
Here are some of the things Greens stand for:
-
Election Reform: Greens support 100% publicly
financed elections, free air-time to all candidates, independent
monitoring of elections and instant run-off voting so your vote
always counts.
-
War with Iraq: Greens oppose on the grounds it
is illegal under international law, threatens the lives of
civilians and destabilizes the entire Middle East region.
-
Health Care: Greens support a single-payer
national health insurance, with guaranteed treatment and medicine
with choice of doctors and hospitals.
-
Education: Greens support higher teachers
wages, fully and equally funded public schools, educational
diversity with broad choices for parents and students, and
parental and student responsibility.
-
Patriot Act: Greens oppose this and work to
repeal and block all future "Patriot II" legislation
that would undermine civil liberties and give too much power to
the executive branch of government.
-
Labor Unions and a living wage: Greens urge
repeal of "right to work" laws and support a living wage
with democratic workplaces and strong unions.
-
Agriculture: Greens support family-scale farms,
diversified sustainable agriculture and use of organic growing
methods.
-
Strict Standards on GMO's: Greens support
thorough testing and strict controls of all genetically modified
organisms.
-
Increase Auto fuel efficiency: Greens advocate
alternative fuels, vastly increased fuel efficiency standards, a
"gas guzzler" tax on new inefficient vehicles and a
"gas sipper" rebate on efficient vehicles.
-
Telecommunications: Greens support the creation
of substantial public space for non-profit use of airwaves and
oppose deregulation - the giveaway of public broadcast spectrum to
private companies. Today private companies control what the public
owns.
These are the 10 key values of The Green Party
1. Grass Roots Democracy
2. Social Justice and Equal Opportunity
3. Ecological Wisdom
4. Non-violence
5. Decentralization
6. Community-based Economics
7. Focus on the Future
8. Gender Equity
9. Respect for Diversity
10. Personal and Global Responsibility
