January 04, 2013

Dear Friend of Veterans For Peace,

Click here to tell Congress we're willing to share some sacrifice with the Pentagon and wealthiest 2%.

The media say the "fiscal cliff" has been avoided, but we'd be better off if Congress and the President had avoided this week's deal.

While unemployment compensation, Social Security, and Medicare survived for the moment, the deal raised taxes more on working people than on the wealthy, gave giant gifts to corporations, and left war preparations spending unsustainably high.

And the stage has been set for a bipartisan push to cut useful spending in the coming months.
There has been a lot of talk about “shared sacrifice” in finding the money to reduce the deficit, but Veterans For Peace believes that the average American has already sacrificed plenty. There is no reason that there should be any cuts to health care, education, the environment or housing, when half of discretionary spending goes into the military machine.

The time to raise our voices is now! We need to overwhelm Congress with our message: End the wars—bring our tax dollars home!

Take Action Now!

• Click here to contact your Congressional representatives. Tell them not to approve any deal that cuts the programs that the American people need and use like education, health care or Social Security. Tell them to slash the bloated Pentagon's budget instead.
• Call your Senators and Representative! HERE IS A TOLL-FREE PHONE LINE TO THE CAPITOL: (202) 224-3121.
• Write Letters to the Editor. Second to the front page, the opinion page of any newspaper is the most read.
• Take it to the streets and lobby at your district offices. This is a great time for veterans to be seen and heard.

According to VFP Board member Matt Southworth, a staffer for Friends Committee on National Legislation, “It doesn't take tens of thousands of calls, but literally just dozens to make a difference-- especially calls from vets about cutting the Pentagon budget. You all may be surprised, pleasantly even, by how easy it is to do.”

The Military Industrial Complex that President Eisenhower warned us of 52 years ago this month is more dominant than ever. We have to work extra hard to make our voices heard.