Peace Position #1: Reduce Military Spending, Invest at Home

By Janet Weil, CODEPINK Staffer

“Dramatically reduce military spending, including closing over 800 military bases in 70 nations. Invest the freed-up funds in sustainable energy projects, infrastructure, care for veterans, education, housing, tax cuts for the lowest incomes, humanitarian aid, and payment of the federal debt. Create a transition program for workers to move from military- to peace-based jobs.”

This peace position comes directly out of CODEPINK’s mission statement and is at the heart of our work for peace and justice.

Military expenditures currently devour over 60% of the discretionary (that is, not Social Security or Medicare) portion of the federal budget, when nuclear weapons, veterans’ care and debt on prior wars are factored in. Our hard-earned tax dollars go to weapons systems manufacturers such as Lockheed Martin and Global Atomics, torture-trainer CACI, surveillance contractor to the NSA Booz Allen Hamilton and many others in the Military-Industrial Complex.

For more detailed analysis of the military and the monetary in the federal budget, check out National Priorities Project.

For a critique of how the Military-Industrial Complex corrupts our democracy, see “Why Peace People Should Care About Money in Politics” by CODEPINK intern Rebecca Green.

And check out photos of CODEPINK’s actions over the years here.

See all 10 Peace Positions here.