Posted by Jeff from d53-152-230.try.wideopenwest.com (64.53.230.152) on Thursday, April 10, 2003 at 0:09AM :
In Reply to: The US budget, 2002/3 posted by Jeff from d53-152-230.try.wideopenwest.com (64.53.230.152) on Thursday, April 10, 2003 at 0:04AM :
: The X represents 15% of the Pentagon's current budget.
...
As You Get Ready to Send in Your Taxes
Check out How They're Spent,
And Tell Congress to Spend Them the Way You Want
(If you are already a member of TrueMajority, you can send a free fax calling for a budget that will fund unmet basic human needs like education and healthcare -- just click Reply and then Send. Please forward this message to your friends, family and colleagues! If this message was forwarded to you or if you'd like to put the letter in your own words, click this link to send your fax):
http://www.truemajority.com/index.asp?action=2497&ms=txdy1&ref=256774
It's tax time when most of us learn how much we send to the Federal Government, but few of us really know where it goes. Well, here's how Congress allocates the money it controls.
That big "X" represents the money we could reallocate by trimming the Pentagon budget just 15%. The retired admirals and generals who advise us agree we could do this just by canceling Cold War weapons systems like nuclear weapons and StarWars which do nothing to keep us safe.
Budget Pie Chart
With that savings, we could fund ALL of the following human needs at no additional taxpayer expense:
Provide basic health and food to the world's poor:
$12 billion
Rebuild America's public schools over 10 years:
$12 billion
Reduce class size for grades 1-3 to 15 students per class:
$11 billion
Reduce debts of impoverished nations:
$10 billion
Provide health insurance to all uninsured American kids:
$6 billion
Increase federal funding for clean energy and energy efficiency:
$6 billion
Public financing of all federal elections:
$1 billion
Fully fund Head Start:
$2 billion
Now you can feel what it's like to be a Congressperson with billions of dollars at your disposal, thanks to great work by our friends at the National Priorities Project. They've set it up so that you can pick a program you don't want to fund, invest the money into a human needs program you think deserves more money and see what benefit that would bring to the people of your state. I put the money into Head Start. Click here to give it a try yourself.
http://database.nationalpriorities.org/tradeoff
You can't make changes that easily, but someone who works for you can. Just click reply and we'll send a fax to your Member of Congress telling them how you'd really like your money spent. If this email was forwarded to you or you want to customize your letter click this link:
http://www.truemajority.com/index.asp?action=2497&ms=txdy1&ref=256774
Sincerely,
Ben's
Ben Cohen
President, TrueMajority.org
Co-Founder, Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream*
* I am writing this email on my own and not on behalf of Ben & Jerry's, which is not associated with the TrueMajority campaign.
-- Jeff
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