by Abby in Civic Action, Economy & Poverty, Government Reform, Politics
Posted on June 25, 2009 at 2:30 pm
Last Modified on July 4, 2009 at 4:12 pm
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Please call your Alderman/ woman and ask them to endorse this campaign
You probably know that Barney Frank initiated a campaign to reduce U.S. Military Spending by 25%. The potential cuts include Cold War era weapons, nuclear warheads, and the F22 bomber jet, which even Robert Gates says we don’t need. The U.S. spends over 50% of our discretionary budget on the military – which is more than the military expenditure of the next highest 14 countries combined. With our advocacy and activism, this federal money could be redirected to the states and to our cities, which are suffering from dire budget cuts.
Here’s a stark example of the diversion of funds to pay for the F22 bomber: On June 17, the House Armed Services Committee approved $369 million to manufacture 12 more F-22s. That $360M was diverted from an environmental program to clean up nuclear waste – and that’s just a down payment on the jets, not the full cost.
UJP (United for Justice with Peace) has joined the national campaign to reduce military spending, and we’re promoting Barney Frank’s initiative. The Mass. Democratic Party approved a similar resolution at the recent convention: “We want strong diplomacy and support nonviolent conflict resolution as a first resort in our domestic and foreign relations and call for a reduced military budget that allows for investments in human needs.”
We’re working on educating the public about the incredible amount of money spent on weapon systems, and the need to get the government to redirect that money to basic human needs, such as jobs, education, housing, and health care. We’re trying to get organizations and public officials to endorse this campaign – and that’s where you can help. We’re going to ask the Board of Aldermen of Somerville to endorse the campaign. As preparation for that, we’re asking you to call your alderman/ woman to urge their endorsement of this campaign.
The Progressive Democrats of Somerville have endorsed this campaign at their June 23rd meeting.
Please call or email your alderman from the list below. We’re aiming to have calls made by July 13. Thank you.
Somerville Board of Aldermen
John M. Connolly (At-Large)
617-628-1076
Dennis Sullivan – Alderman at large
617-628-1857
Bill White, Alderman at large
617-625-9110
Bruce Desmond, Alderman at large
617-666-1757
Bill Roche, Ward 1
617-623-6661
Maryann Heuston – Ward 2
617-492-5331
Tom Taylor, Ward 3
617-776-1618
Walter Pero, Ward 4 – President of BOA
617-628-0137
Sean O’Donovan, Ward 5
617-776-6456
Rebekah Gewirtz, Ward 6
617-718-0792
Bob Trane, Ward 7
617-623-5767
Here is a more detailed list of potential cuts totaling $255 billion.
- Eliminate wasteful weapons systems = $33 billion
- Reduce active nuclear warheads = $16 billion
- Close half of US overseas military bases = $51 billion
- Trim unused air wings and sea forces = $5 billion
- Eliminated waste in procurement and operations = $20 billion
- Withdraw in a timely fashion from Iraq = $105 billion in year one
- Withdraw from Afghanistan = $25 billion
For more information, see http://www.25percentsolution.org/
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we have a lot of local issues that are waiting to be addressed by the board of alderman. please don’t waste their time with some federal issue that they have absolutely no influence over.
this kinda of stuff, while noble i suppose, actually draws resources away from our neighborhoods as our alderman have to take time away from the real things under their jurisdiction, things that will immediately impact somerville, to entertain some resolution like this.
your campaign is best directed towards members of the u.s. congress.
good luck.
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Unfortunately most members of Congress no longer vote as if the needs of their constituents matter to them. Instead they put lobbyists and campaign contributors ahead of citizens. The recent vote in favor of those F-22 bombers which even the Secretary of Defense said are not useful to the military is a perfect example. Yet Congress still decided to throw hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars at that plane. That’s money that Somerville desperately needs to deal with the state budget cuts, job losses foreclosures and closing businesses that the economic crisis has brought on us.
So while campaigning Congress directly about this issue is obviously necessary, I think it will also take the pressure of thousands of cities and towns around the country passing resolutions like this to make Congress listen. So, I don’t see this as a waste of the Aldermen’s time at all. Our city and state would not be in the dire financial situation they’re in if this measure were passed. And not having to deal with cuts to city services would make the Board of Aldermen’s job easier.
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Julia, you really ought to do your homework before you begin your preaching. It’s neither difficult nor complicated. There are several very tidy websites that list who gives to whom in the US Congress, and what their interests are. You might look at OpenCongress, for example (http://tinyurl.com/lawe26), where Mike’s contributions are listed back to 1998, his first Congressional race, and segregated by industry and by amount. The site is quite clear about votes and about committee action he – and his peers have taken – and about the financial influence (or lack thereof) represented in those actions.
Or you might look at OpenSecrets.org (http://tinyurl.com/n46eu8) which OpenCongress cites for more detail and comprehensive information.
And, along with some others inferring lots of military money, YOU ARE WRONG.
You, and several friends, are wrong in several respects. First, you really ought to talk with our Congressional delegation before you dictate how the Board of Aldermen ought to pass motions to direct them. The BofA barely advise the Mayor, much less the former Mayor, Teddy and Kerry. You have as much, if not more, influence with the delegation directly. They have sessions here, and webinars when they can’t make it. Sign up and shout your head off.
Second, there is apparently a broad and ideologically driven misconception that all science is military and all lobbying is evil. All of our delegation is well supported by union lobbies and campaigns; and marginally supported by lawyers, insurance, and other key industries in this district. They lack visible university support – which is, after all, the largest industry – but they have plenty of cash from developers creating R & D spin-offs for those same universities. And it’s not at all clear that those developers are the real badguys. They do generate good, well paid jobs even in this economy, which, ironically, in this region is far less impacted than in others where lobbying and contributions have been much, much more slanted.
Third, you and Barry and Kate seem very confident that grass roots efforts are most effective if targeting Congress, while, in fact, the city pays out lots of cash to white cops beating up black students (after first handcuffing them) who are still on the payroll. THAT is something the BofA really could impact, and, to date, it’s only Bill White who has made any serious noise about it.
Let us get our grass progressive before we get lost in the reeds. I was one of the founders of the National Gay Task Force, and am not particularly assured when, to avoid the heat of the Gates affair in Cambridge and to cover up the payoff on behalf of cops still on the payroll, they chose to hassle a few gay Latino hustlers at the Holiday Inn last week. I thought fag bashing was out of style, but apparently styles like that have yet to hit home.
In other words, let us clean up the act we really can clean up before getting lost in national concerns. As a point of order, Mike, Teddy and Kerry are just fine on hassling DOD, and this district and this state are not particularly hotbeds of military recruitment. Meanwhile, bashing black guys behind a gambling parlor and rousting Latino gayboys at a Holiday Inn seem more than a little central to what any OTHER progressive view of government would presume.
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CAP, I agree with you. These are purely federal issues and have ZERO to do with city issues. Would the BOA have a say on spending for the war? No. Do the BOA have a say is voting for or against a war? No. Please stop wasting time at these meetings with useless resolutions. This is similar to the vote about the circus in Somerville. You know what? The circus does not come here.
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And Julia, rarely to the BOA do what their constituents ask either.
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Janine D. you have a point there!
At least there feels like there’s a little more accountability with the BOA since we can ring an Alderman’s doorbell and ask him or her what’s going on. Though that feeling of greater accountability is probably illusory.
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This concept of greater accountability is something that will not materialize. I have no idea why everyone is striving for it.
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Janine, you say you have no idea why everyone is striving for greater accountability. I think sometimes we have to strive for greater accountability just to hold the line against further deterioration of it. And no progressive social or moral change (i.e. end of slavery, child labor laws, women’s right to vote etc.)ever comes about without a lot of struggle.
I think the Alderpeople should endorse the campaign to cut the military budget by 25%. It can be done in 5 minutes – doesn’t have to take up a lot of time at all.
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Kate:
What does having the Alderpeople voting for something that is totally within the control of the federal government do? To me, it is a complete waste of time.
Also, my comment on greater accoutnability is sarcarsm. It is something that cannot be done 100%. People will fight it. We see it within our local government that they cannot get it together no matter who is running the offices. What makes someone think that it is going to work further of up the government chain? The state government is a complete mess. I plan on not voting for any incumbent in the next election since they obviously have no clue as to what the constituents want and/or need. The budget and ethics reform are prime examples. We actually had to file a bill to have elected officials be ethicals? Is this what this state has come to?
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Janine, I’m with you…if I found out the BOA spent a millisecond voting on an initiative like this I would immediately call for their impeachment. It’s not in their charter to cater to the far-left looney fringe in our city. You’d figure most of the Che Guevera, Fidel Castro and ImADinnerJacket (Iran) lovers would grow up and join the real world at some point. I guess their Daddy’s trust funds just never run dry.
Oh… and Kate, Julia, Abby… ever hear of Raytheon? You know how many more jobs this would cost us? Obama already has us at 10% unemployment. How much higher do you want it to go? Where you going to get all the tax money to pay for your leftwing, progressive, social engineering experiments when there is no more middle class (you’d have taxed us all into the ground)?
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Xumi,
Just because you feel like commenting even though you don’t have anything to contribute to the conversation is not a good reason to fill your post up with name-calling and potshots. Although I will give you points for the new name for Ahmadinejad!!
Nobody is taking about increasing taxes. This is a proposal to redirect tax money away from useless things like outmoded weaponry toward useful things like education.
I do not believe it is a good use of taxpayers’ dollars to spend billions on arms that no longer fit the types of military threats that exist today. Why spend billions on arms designed for Cold War style wars against massive armies, when the wars of today are guerilla style? When the Secretary of Defense says we don’t need particular weapons, I think we should listen to him instead of throwing more millions and billions down the drain on those very things. The only reason we do is because the lobbyists have Congress in their backpockets. That wasted money should instead go toward things we know we need like education, healthcare, job training, and affordable housing.
Sure, you can say that producing those useless weapons keeps jobs. But is it really a good use of our tax money to subsidize a job producing something nobody will ever use? There are much more efficient ways to employ people. Meanwhile there are countless jobs at nonprofits, schools, health centers and libraries already being lost. If we are looking to subsidize jobs with tax money, I would rather subsidize jobs that contribute to healthier and more vibrant communities than those that contribute to wars and all the additional spending wars inevitably bring.
And by the way, are you aware that Somerville Hospital’s detox unit is closing due to lack of funding? Are you aware of how many people in Somerville have substance abuse problems? And how many unnecessary deaths and ruined lives happen when a community loses substance abuse treatment? This is exactly what redirecting that percentage of military spending that is totally wasteful toward human services would prevent.
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Seems like someone’s been listening to Rush.
That’s standard right wing name calling.
Xumi, for me it’s all about priorities. I want my taxes to go for universal health care, education, law enforcement, etc. Think about all the money that would be available if we were able to cut the military budget by 25%. We could create good jobs that contribute something positive to society.
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Kate/Julia, the main point was that the Somerville BOA has zero authority over the federal budget and how it gets spent. Why would anyone call for a silly motion that most of us here in the city (except for the vocal progressive minority) do not support? Also, I doubt Rebecahh knows what an F22 Raptor is, who it is made by or for what enemy. Her actions/comments would somehow be so out there as to embarrass the city if a motion like this was introduced.
Now, I personally favor a strong military and will support the troops at a time of war with all the best weapons systems we can provide. Be they against terrorists or potential up amd coming superpowers like China. We need a broad range of weapons systems. We don’t get to pick our enemies – they pick us (see 9/11).
And why do progressives not support our troops? Especially when at war. This 4th of July I surely hope some of you remind yourselves of this pledge:
“I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.”
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Xumi and CAP: the logical conclusion of what you’re suggesting is that we should not attempt to persuade anyone of anything unless they are in an elected position that has direct authority over that policy. Of course, that’s absurd. Most people in this world are not in any sort of position to have direct authority over federal matters, and yet we try to persuade each other every day on virtually every topic, including federal policies not under our direct control. We do so, because if we are successful in convincing others, even if they are not elected, that can be a source of momentum for eventually pressuring those who are elected to change policy. In this case, if we succeed in convincing the BoA to speak as one voice on a topic, that can inspire others to speak out, and eventually build to national momentum for real policy change.
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Greg, following your logic then every nutcase or nutty idea — no matter what influence that body has — should be brought up at every meeting that any elected officials attend. Does that make any sense? You’d have all sorts of frivilous “issues” being brought in front of the BoA – taking up their time at a time when the local community needs representation.
We have enough waste, with the wacky progressive city/state/federal government that we now have, with runaway spending, massive unemployment and rampant crime. These knuckleheads from Obama to Rebeaccah need to start concentrating on getting people back to work and keeping some of our own money in our pockets – in their area of influence. They have failed miserably to date, so let’s not burden them with tasks beyond their “pay grade”.
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Xumi, no one is proposing to interrupt the BOA, mid-meeting, to raise a new topic. The idea is to get a resolution on the agenda following the orderly process that any resident can use to propose an item.
It would be wonderful if the level of civic engagement in our city resulted in a flood of competing ideas. It would be more chaotic, but it would create a livelier debate about our society’s priorities, ultimately leading to a more representative and better government.
A resolution from the BOA supporting this campaign would send a strong message to our Congressperson that could not be ignored and that would be a valuable and important accomplishment.
Xumi, your insinuation (that supporting a cut in military funding is somehow not patriotic or does not support the troops) is a canard. Supporters of this campaign are not calling for completely dismantling the military, but rather for shifting the way our tax dollars are spent to more closely align with our priorities (health care, public education, infrastructure, green jobs, etc…)
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Xumi-yet again I agree with you. There is a time and place for these things and discussing it with the BOA is not one of them. As an employee of the Department of Justice, trust me, we have our hands full with the work we need to get done on a daily basis. I would rather the BOA figure out how to save people some money and save some needed jobs (not those jobs that are not needed) within the school district and city hall.
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Barry:
I read your response to Xumi. Your priorities are your priorities. They are not the priorities for everyone in Somerville let alone everyone in the US. How would the Progressives like it if the conservatives showed up with a petition of our demands and force-fed them to the BOA? The BOA has no real power to force the Congressmen who serve MA to do what they want.
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“if the conservatives showed up with a petition of our demands”
Janine – your slip is showing…
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Janine, as a self-identifying Progressive Democrat, I would welcome the opportunity to challenge a petition by conservatives. The BOA, as the elected legislative body of our city, can exert real political pressure towards our Congressional representatives.
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Barry, what have the BOA done to “exert pressure” towards our Congressmen that really made a change?
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In the Spring of 2007, the BOA passed a resolution calling for a halt to the construction of the Level 4 BU Biolab until a full environmental impact review was carried out. The resolution mentioned sending notice of the action to Rep. Capuano. I do not know how much impact this had, but it was a significant victory for the campaign. It did not siphon much time away from the BOA’s other agenda items as it was discussed in one public hearing and briefly at two separate BOA meetings.
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Also, the nationwide passage of resolutions against the Patriot Act, including in Somerville, had a significant impact in raising awareness of its more dangerous provisions and impacted the debate around it, particularly during the Democratic primary debates.
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Barry – This is nothing that to do with the federal government. This deals with Boston and BU. The case is here in the courthouse I work in. It has ntohing to do with congressional legislation.
Greg – Patriot Act was still passed.
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The biolab receives funding through the National Institutes of Health (NIH), a federal agency.
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Barry, 99.9% of Cambridge labs (whether for private companies or colleges/universities) get some funding from the NIH. My husband is a scientist for a private lab and they receive NIH grants. The issue with the BU lab is what was going on in the lab that people had issues with-not where the money was coming from. The NIH will find another school to take the money to do the important work that gets done with NIH grants. It is not a smart move for those against the lab. The NIH may think twice now before giving money to BU.
And Tricky, I have always stated that I am a conservative democrat. I don’t feel the need to be involved in EVERY single decision that is made by elected officials like the Progressives do. When I disagree with their decisions, I let my alderman know. I don’t feel the need to hound them that I need to be involved.
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Janine, you say:
Actually the concerns are both about the source of the funds (DoD budget) and also the activities they support, according to the campaign against the biolab:
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Barry, the NIH does not fund everything purely for the Department of Defense. My husband’s company is not making drugs for wars. He works dealing mainly with single molecule array technology. Again, the NIH is not a part of the Department of Defense. It is a line item based on work the NIH was doing for the Department of Defense.
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Barry/Tricky/Greg/all progressives, the main point is that any motion brought by a handful of farleft, out-of-touch-with-reality (albeit, vocal) folks does not represent the majority of people who live in this city. It’s a waste of time for the BoA to be voting on such measures and ultimately will embarrass the whole community.
Plus, Barney Frank!!? He’s the guy that got us into this whole economic mess in the first place. Anything he is behind — most of us wouldn’t get near.
You know… you progressives remind me of the whiney kid in class who was always complaining, whining, pee’ing his pants, but ultimately stealing all the teacher’s attention while the rest of us were trying to get something out of the class. I mean… you looked over at the kid and you just wanted to smack him upside the head and say “quit the whining and grow up!”.
Again…Barney Frank sponsored motion??? LOL!
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Xumi, what do you mean about Barney Frank being “the guy that got us into this whole economic mess in the first place”?
In a democracy such as ours even “whiney kids” deserve their say. I say let’s keep whining until we end the wars and shift military spending to our vital domestic needs. Maybe then, you’ll be glad we were so vocal.
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Barry, Barney “give everyone a home loan” Frank is the central figure in the Fannie/Freddie mess. He owns this debacle along with Barack “we’ll never 8% unemployment” Obama.
I agree that “whiney kids” should have their say — I fought for you all to be able to have your say. Though it would be nice if you would whine more about the government being more fiscally responsible, less taxes for the middle class and cleaning up the wasteful programs at all levels. That would be the type of whining that I’d actually pat you all on the noggins for.
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Xumi, it’s too bad that you find left/progressive views so upsetting. And it’s no secret that we find views like yours distressing. Still, it would be better if we could exchange views without insults.
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Kate:
I am not here to fight Xumi’s battles but not using insults goes both ways. I am not singling you out but have noticed in my own posts that are not in agreement with leftist/progressives that the responses from others are filled with insults (i.e. “you listen to Rush, you watch Fox News, etc.”) The cattiness from both sides needs to stop. It is almost like dealing with middle school aged kids already. And as a former middle school teacher, you can probably get through to them easier than this group online.
Please understand that I, as a centrist democrat, believe everyone should have a say but believe that the leftist/progressive are too far left for me to side with them on some issues. I am witnessing the effects of my votes for Patrick and Obama. I have completely lost faith in Patrick and will not vote for again in the next election nor will I vote for any of the incumbents in my area. I truly hope that Obama can right the ship that seems to be going tremendously off course right now and is shown by the dwindling poll numbers.
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