Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God. - Matthew 5:9 (NRSV)
While the richest of the rich are getting tax cuts paid for in reductions in food assistance programs for seniors and other critical programs the Defense Department is getting another huge budget increase. United Church of Christ Justice and Witness Ministries reports:
This week the Senate is expected to wrap up debate on the FY 07 Defense appropriations bill. President Bush has proposed a $468.4 billion defense budget, an amount that exceeds defense spending during the height of the Cold War and the Vietnam War. According to a recent study by Friends Committee on National Legislation in Washington, DC (the Quakers), actual spending in the overall federal budget on war in FY 05 was $783 billion, and in FY 07 it will top $800 billion. This represents 42 cents for every tax dollar collected. As the nation approaches the one-year anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, a tragedy which continues to reveal the tattered state of our nation's social safety net for low income people, we need a smarter military budget, not a bigger military budget. About $9 billion in cuts have been proposed for the defense budget in the Senate, including funding for some weapons systems and equipment that are either unproven or not responsive to the immediate needs of troops deployed around the world, especially troops in Iraq and Afghanistan.
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