u.s. organizer's packet 2012

8/3/2019 U.S. Organizer's Packet 2012

1/9

GlobalDayofActiononMilitarySpending

GDAMS2.0

OrganizersPacket


2/9

ReadThisFirst.

WelcometoGDAMS2.0,oursecondGlobalDayofActiononMilitarySpendingonApril17,2012.Were

veryexcitedthatyoujoiningpeopleallovertheworldtoprotestthemind-bogglingamountofmoney

thatwerewastingonmilitaryspending.In2010,theworldspentover$1.6trilliononpreparingforand

fightingwars,andwereexpectingthatfiguretorisein2011aswell.Thatswhywerecallingonpeople

everywheretoOccupytheMilitary-IndustrialComplexonApril17.

Thanks to you, were beginning finally to see change. Some countries have actually reduced their

militarybudgets,andtheresnowbipartisansupportintheUnitedStates,theworldsleadingspender,

tocutbackonthemilitary.Wehave tomakesurethatthistrendcontinuessothatwecansee real,

seriousreductions.IftheydonthearfromusandhearfromALOTofusgovernmentleaderswillgo

backtoincreasingmilitaryspendingwhentheeconomyimprovesortheythinkwerenolongerpaying

attention.

Thisorganizerspacketwilltakeyoustep-by-stepthroughtheprocessoforganizinganeventforour

GlobalDay.WeaskyoutodotwothingsonApril17:

1) Highlightlastyearsfigureforglobalmilitaryspending,whichtheStockholmInternationalPeaceResearchInstitutewillreleaseonApril17.Wellbeabletosharethisfigurewithyouoneweek

beforetherelease.

2) Dosomethingpublicandvisibleandeyecatching.Wewanttomaximizemediacoverageofoureventsworldwide.

Beyond that, the focusof your action isup toyou.You can buildyoureventaround the amount ofmoneyyourgovernmentisspendingortherelationshipbetweenthehugeamountspentonthemilitary

and the penniesdevoted todevelopment.You can focuson militarybasesor armsexports.Youcan

protestexistingwarsorconflictsthatthreatentobreakout.Wewantthisdaytobeanopportunityfor

youtoraiseawarenessabouttheissuesthatmattertoyou.

Intheorganizerspacket,youllfind:

1) Alettertosendouttoyournetworkstoexpandyouraction2) FactSheetson:

a. InternationalMilitaryExpenditureb. U.S.BudgetControlvs.MilitarySpendingc. The2012NationalDefenseAuthorizationActd. Tax-DodgingWarProfiteers

3) ExamplesfromGDAMS2011tohelpyouplanyouractionforGDAMS2.0

OnApril 17,youwillbe joining with thousands and thousands ofpeople around the worldwho are

sayingNOtothemilitary-industrialcomplexandYEStoapeacefulandprosperousplanet.


3/9

LetterforyourNetworks

[Location,Date]

Dear____________,

In2010,globalmilitaryspendingsurgedtoanall-timehighofUS$1.63trillion.TheUnitedStatewas

responsiblefornearlyhalfthatamount,spending$698billion.

Giventhenumerouscrisesfacingtheplanet--economic,environmental,health,diplomatic--itis

imperativethatwecreateaglobalmovementtoshiftthismoneytohumanneeds.Weknowthatthere

arethousandsoforganizationsandmillionsofindividualswhosupportthispointofview.Weneednow

tobeginaseriousmobilizingefforttomakeitvisible.

Aspartofthiscampaign,weareorganizinganeventaspartoftheGlobalDayofActiononMilitary

SpendingforApril17.Wewillgatherin[place,time],wherewewill[describeaction].Onthisday,

peopleallovertheworldwilljointogetherinjointactionstofocuspublic,political,andmediaattention

onthecostsofmilitaryspendingandtheneedfornewpriorities.Sucheventswillhelpustobuildthe

internationalnetworkaroundthisissue.

PleasejoinusonApril17sothatwecanmakeourvoicesheard,herein[country]andglobally.

Sincerely,

LocalorganizerfortheGlobalDayofActiononMilitarySpending


4/9


5/9

BudgetCutsvs.theMilitaryIndustrialComplex

Obamasspeechestoutingdecreasesinmilitaryspendingdonotreflectanyrealcuts.Atleastnotnow.

TheBudgetControlAct

InhisspeechatthePentagonon January5th,Obamacitedthe

Budget Control Act, which requires a decrease in federal

spending. He allayed the militarys fears that cutting the

budgetwouldrequirecutstomilitaryspending:

[over] the past10yearsour defensebudget grewatan

extraordinarypace.Overthenext10years,thegrowthinthe

defensebudgetwillslow,butthefactofthematteristhis:It

willstillgrow.Infact,thedefensebudgetwillstillbelarger

thanitwastowardtheendoftheBushadministration.

Americasmilitaryspendingwillnotbecuttoanydegreeofrealsignificance,butwillsimplygrowata

slowerpace.

FundingfortheDefenseDepartmentwillbedecreasedonlyinspecificareassuchas:

14% drawdown in troops from the armed forces,which result fromAmericasde-escalation in military

involvementinIraqandAfghanistan.

In responseto the troopdeductions, inAugust 2011the Wartime Contracting Commission released a

report stating that despite the decrease in troops,

there are now more than 260,000 private military

contractorsinIraqandAfghanistan.

So as the military replaces soldiers with private

contractors and the White House claims its extending

budget cuts to the bloated Military-Industrial Complex,

onceagainthetruthisthatworkingpeoplewhopaytheir

taxes are stuck with the bill for the biggest military on

earth, with a budget slarger than the next seventeen

countriescombined.

AccordingtotheFiscalTimes,Ifdefensecutsarelimited

to $489 billion.the administration will have to impose

majornewcutsindomesticprograms,toavertthemuch

largercutsinthePentagonbudget.

Source:http://battleland.blogs.time.com/2012/02/14/the-proposed-2013-

defense-budget-shaving-the-balloon/


6/9

The2012NationalDefenseAuthorizationAct:

WhatSpendingCuts?

PresidentObamasignedthe2012NationalDefenseAuthorizationAct(NDAA)attheendof2011.While

CivilRightsgroupsareoutragedattheActslegalizationofindefinitedetentionwithouttrialofcitizensandnon-citizensalike,thedefenseindustryisupinarmsbecauseObamaclaimedtheActwouldreduce

themilitarybudget.Infact,hisclaimwasnotentirelytrue:militaryspendingissettoincreaseoverthe

nextdecade.

Table:PentagonBaseBudgetSpendingPlansCompared2012BudgetVersus2013,in$billions

Year 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022

FY-2012Request 553.0 570.7 586.4 598.2 610.6 621.6 632.8 644.1 655.7 667.5

FY-2013Request 527.6 525.4 533.6 545.9 555.9 567.3 579.3 592.4 605.4 617.9 634.2

The2013Pentagonbasebudgetrequestwas$525.4billion,whichisabout1%lessthanthebasebudgetfor 2012. The Overseas Contingency request for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistandecreased from

$115.1billionto$88.5billionforacombinedmilitarybudgetof$613.9billion.

ThistotaldoesntreflecttheDepartmentofEnergys(DOE)nuclearweaponsprogramsorotherdefense

programs.TheDOErequested$17.7billionfornuclearweaponsactivitiesand$7.2billionforadditional

defenserelatedactivities.Thisbringsthetotalupto$639billion.Theamountis$30.7billionlessthan

thepreviousyear,buthigherthanspendingattheheightoftheColdWar.

AftertheKoreanWarended,thedefensebudgetdroppedtwenty

percent. After both the War in Vietnam and the Cold War itplummetedbythirtypercent.After the Iraqwarhas supposedly

ended,theUSdefensebudgetcontinuesathistorichighs!

OnJanuary 12th, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta claimed 7,000

troops would be removed from Europe, and conventional

weaponsprogramswouldalsofacecuts.

As Panetta complained about dwindling ship and plane stocks, he failed to mention that the trend

towardincreasedtechnologicalcapabilitieshasreducedtheneedforlessefficientshipsandplanesand

thatthesenumbershavebeendecliningforseveralyears.

WashingtonwantstoselltheideathatthePentagonfacesthesamefiscalausterityassocialprograms,

which is just plain false. OnApril17th, wevegot tosend the message to the government and their

friends in the Military Industrial Complex that we dont buy their propaganda. We know military

spendingcutswhenweseethem.Whatneedtochangearethegovernmentspriorities: theU.S.isnot

broke,butthatdoesntmeanwedontneedtofixit.


7/9

However, in return, GE received another long-term contract to

research alternatives for the second engine, already widelyconsideredunnecessary.In2010,GECEOJeffreyImmelttookhome

$15 million, but the company paid an astounding negative 64.1

percent corporate tax rate, receiving over $3 billion from the IRS.

Astoundingly,Immeltwastappedin2011toheadPresidentObamas

advisorycouncilonjobs,evenasGErelocatedthousandsofU.S.jobs

toChinathatyear.

Rakinginwellover$50billioninU.S.governmentcontractsin2010-2011,theBethesda,Maryland-basedLockheed

Martinremainsagiantinmilitarycontracting.Butdeeppocketsdontcomecheap.In2011,theyearofourfirstGloba

DayofActiononMilitarySpending,Lockheedanditssubsidiariesshelledoutover$15milliononlobbyists.Sofarin

2012,thecompanysemployeePAChasdishedatnearly$1milliondirectlytothecampaignsofmembersofCongress,

withover60percentgoingtocongressionalRepublicans.

TheProjectonGovernmentOversightestimatesthatLockheedhashadtopayover$590millioninvariouspenalties

forfraud,misconduct,andworkerabuseovertheyears.Thecompanyhasapparentlyalso cooperatedwithlobbyists

for the repressive Gulf monarchyof Bahrain, where Lockheedhas done hundredsofmillionsof dollars worthof

businessovertheyears.

Although currently implementing a five

year, $75-million contract with the U.S

Army among other lucrative deals

Honeywell hasnt let its considerableearnings(over$33billionin2010)driveup

itstaxbill.Thankstoitsfivesubsidiariesin

offshoretaxhavens,theNewJersey-based

contractor actually received $471 millio

backfromtheIRSin2010.

One of the most notorious tax dodgers in the

world, General Electric has been making

lemonade out of lemons for decades. Its

contract to construct the controversial (and

unnecessary)secondenginefortheF-35Joint

StrikeFighterwascancelledin2011shortlyafter

GDAMS,butnotbefore$3billionwassunkonit.

Boeing, the worlds leading aircraft manufacturer, is also a

contracting giant. After the company secured billions of dollars

worthofnew government contracts in2010-2011, Boeingsvice

president appeared before Congress in 2011 to lobby against

future defense cuts. And even though the company pulled in

nearly $10billion inprofits from2008-2010,Boeing nonetheless

took$178millionbackfromtheIRSduringthatsameperiod.

INSULTTOINJURY

Itsbadenoughthatbillionsofdollarsarefunneled away from social priorities a

home to U.S. military contractors. Bu

worsestill,accordingtoaU.S.governmen

report, U.S. taxpayers lost more than $

trillion to contractor fraud in the firs

decade ofthe2000s.Its timetoredirec

our tax dollars away from fraudsters, ta

dodgers, and war contractorsand bac

tonationbuildingathome.

GlobalDayofActiononMilitarySpending

MILITARYCONTRACTORRAPSHEETFourmilitarycontractorswhotakeyourtaxmoneybutdodge

theirownobligations.


8/9

Rallies,DisplaysandDemonstrations

Athens, Greece In the iconic Syntagma Square in front of the Greek Parliament,

protestors set up a visual display showing world military spending, and comparing

thosefigureswiththeestimatedcoststoachievetheMillenniumDevelopmentGoals.

Fairfield, California At Travis Air Force Base, activists from Code Pink,

VeteransforPeace,theSanFranciscoAFSCandMilitaryFamiliesSpeakOut

delivered theirmessagedirectly tomembersoftheU.S.Air Forceas they

commutedtowork.Theydisplayedbannersoutsidethebasesentranceand

handedoutleafletswithinformationonmilitarywaste,andonalternatives

tomilitaryspending.

Augusta,Maine 400activistsfromVeteransforPeace,theUnionof

MaineVisualArtistsandRagingGranniesfilledthestatehousewherea

localmayor spokeoutagainst forced localbudgetcutsonaccountof

the soaring costs of war that leave cities and towns underfunded.

Anothertheme wasunity:Itstimeweshowedthelinksbetweenall

theissuesandputoutanalternativesustainablevisionforthefuture.

Seoul,SouthKoreaPeaceactivistssetupadisplayandheldarallyfeaturingpro-

peaceparliamentariansoutsidetheParliamentbuilding.Theycalledforanendto

militarization,anda morepeace-orientedforeignpolicytowardsothercountries

intheregion.

Seminars,ConferencesandFilmScreenings

London,UK The Movement for the Abolition of War brought dozens of

people togetherfor a2hour public meetingentitledWelfare ofWarfare

withpresentersfromgroupssuchasScientistsforGlobalResponsibility,War

onWantandUnitingforPeace.

Dadabari Kota, India The Rural Development and Youth Training Institute

invitedbudgetspecialiststodiscussadvocacyissuesanddevelopmentneedswith

ruralvillagers.

VirtualAdvocacy

ReligionsforPeaceincorporatedGDAMSintotheircampaigntopetitiontheUNSecurityCouncilseeking

a10%reductioninmilitaryspendingamongmemberstates.

Britains Campaign Against the Arms Trade launched a Twitter Campaign, asking followers to tweet

alternativestomilitaryspendingtotheTreasuryDepartment.

GDAMS2011:TheWorldSays

NOToExcessiveMilitary


9/9

DontHavetheTime/ResourcestoMountaBigAction?

DontWorry!CheckouttheseEasyActions!

1) Findahigh-trafficspotinyourcity,gatheracoupleofpeopleandhandoutinformativetax-dayflyers:

This one comes from the War Resisters League,

anditshowswhereyourtaxdollarsreallygo:

2) Create a graphic representation and set it upsomewherewheremanypeoplewillseeit.Usethe

pie chart from the War-Resisters League, or use

this chart based on a recent study from the

Political Economy Research Institute at the

University of Massachusetts, Amherst. It shows

that we dont need the military to provide jobs,wed be much better off using that money on

greenjobs,healthcareandeducation!

3) GetyourmayortosignontoCodePinks Conference of Mayors Anti-

War Resolution, available at:

http://codepink.org/article.php?id=

5774

4) Occupy the Military IndustrialComplexinyourarea!Payavisitto

defensecontractors,militarybases,or lobbyists with offices in your

area.Askthemwhytheydeserveto

profit off our taxdollarsand catch

themontape!

5) AskUs!EmailGDAMSorganizerNoahGimbelattheInstituteforPolicyStudies:[email protected]

u.s. organizer's packet 2012

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