Military Spending – Page 14 – Glen's Parallax Perspectives

Overall, the U.S. is very rich. Poverty is inexcusable. We must change laws and policies to create a fair economy.

April 9, 2019 GlenAnderson 0

For decades people have kept saying that the U.S. is the richest country on earth. We still are. But tens of millions of Americans suffer poverty, homelessness, lack of health care, lack of hope, and — really — profound alienation from “the land of the free and the home of the brave.” The U.S. keeps falling short of what we promise. We know it. The victims of our economic, social and political systems know it. The politicians know it. So why do the problems persist? Some people are profiting from the chronic injustices that infect our economic, social and political […]

Pelosi and McConnell Are Inching Us Closer to Nuclear War

March 31, 2019 GlenAnderson 0

Bi-partisan enthusiasm for NATO – and NATO’s aggressive escalation of nations all the way up to Russia’s borders – increases the danger of nuclear war. At a global scale bigger than NATO, bi-partisan enthusiasm for nuclear weapons increases the danger of nuclear war. After the Berlin Wall fell, the U.S. and NATO promised that they would move “not one inch eastward.” But the U.S. and NATO quickly broke that promise. The article linked below repeats the often-overlooked hard reality that “NATO has been closing in on Russia’s borders while bringing one nation after another into full military membership. During the […]

Trump wants HUGE INCREASE for Pentagon budget and SERIOUS CUTS in programs that help people.

March 28, 2019 GlenAnderson 0

The federal budget hurts people locally in order to divert money from social programs into more military violence that hurts people worldwide. Let’s mobilize a “people-power” movement to reverse federal budget priorities! We need diplomacy, not war. We need to SLASH the Pentagon budget and FULLY FUND programs to meet human needs. See information from the National Priorities Project (www.nationalpriorities.org). See information from them and from the Institute for Policy Studies (www.ips-dc.org), including this: http://nationalpriorities.activehosted.com/index.php?action=social&chash=5b8add2a5d98b1a652ea7fd72d942dac.410&s=5d8539df492ecae31f82493446c9564b and this: https://www.nationalpriorities.org/blog/2019/03/25/trump-budget-trade-offs-2020/ Trump’s budget proposal calls for a HUGE INCREASE in the Pentagon’s budget, which is already BLOATED and funds massive violence. […]

17 Years, 41 Military Operations, 19 Countries. It’s Time to Repeal the 2001 AUMF

March 26, 2019 GlenAnderson 0

The people who founded the U.S. knew that Europe’s top leaders kept starting wars that hurt their nation, so when they wrote the U.S. Constitution they specified that the president could NOT unilaterally start a war. A war could start ONLY IF Congress EXPLICITLY DECLARED war. After the 9-11-2001 attacks, the Bush-Cheney regime steamrollered many bad things through Congress (including the PATRIOT Act). They also pushed Congress into ABDICATING ITS CONSTITUTIONAL RESPONSIBILITY to make decisions about going to war. Congress passed the Authorization for Use of Military Force (AUMF) law, which UNCONSTITUTIONALLY empowered the President to start any wars he […]

Good news from Olympia on nuclear weapons!

February 25, 2019 GlenAnderson 0

I’m happy about what we accomplished on Friday February 22, 2019, at a Washington State Senate committee. Our statewide coalition, Washington Against Nuclear Weapons (www.wanwcoalition.org) convinced the State Senate’s Committee on Government, Tribal Relations & Elections to pass our proposal for the Washington State Legislature to call upon Congress to reduce the likelihood of nuclear war. In June 2018 Olympia’s Bob Zeigler suggested that we write and promote such legislation in the form of a “Memorial to Congress” that would make nuclear weapons an issue needing state legislative action and pressuring our state’s congressional delegation to know that the public […]

Why the U.S. House must push for VERY BOLD changes, not merely bi-partisan deals

January 25, 2019 GlenAnderson 0

Moderates want House Democrats to settle for bi-partisan deals with the Republican-dominated Senate. If the House Democrats do that, they will be rebuffing the voters who gave them a mandate for VERY BOLD changes. They also will FAIL TO IDENTIFY how progressive Democrats are much better than conservative Republicans. Even if the Senate fails to pass VERY BOLD House legislation, the points will be made, and 2020’s voters will see who is really on their side, vs. who is on the side of the oppressors. https://www.thenation.com/article/democrats-congress-fundamental-reforms/?link_id=7&can_id=1d662460c0abb8939c5044c82927552b&source=email-pledge-update-for-bold-reforms-naacp-protest-yemen-vote-populism-wins-roma&email_referrer=email_468235&email_subject=pledge-update-for-bold-reforms-naacp-protest-yemen-vote-populism-wins-roma

Stop Trump’s reckless, expensive militarization of space

January 20, 2019 GlenAnderson 0

In 1983 Edward Teller, “the father of the H-bomb,” spoke privately with President Reagan and convinced him to support a scheme to shoot down other countries’ missiles, and Reagan publicly announced that he would build such a system. Unfortunately, the scheme was TOTALLY UNWORKABLE, and Reagan publicly committed himself to that screwy scheme WITHOUT CONSULTING WITH ANY SCIENTISTS. Critics lambasted the “Strategic Defense Initiative” (SDI) as ridiculously unrealistic and horribly expensive. They derisively called it “Star Wars.” For all of the decades since then, presidents and Congresses of BOTH political parties have lavishly funded this scheme, which has REPEATEDLY FAILED […]

Beyond reforms, we must demand the ABOLITION of nuclear weapons!

January 18, 2019 GlenAnderson 0

The peace movement and other people working against nuclear weapons are FAR TOO TIMID in how we work on nuclear weapons. In order to make progress we must demand the ABOLITION of nuclear weapons, not merely seek reforms and limitations. We have identified and worked for many reforms and limitations, such as: A “No First Use” policy to prevent the U.S. from starting a nuclear war Taking away the president’s sole authority to launch without a congressional declaration of war (except in retaliation) Preventing the total rebuild of all nuclear weapons, which Obama authorized and Trump is pursuing too Preventing […]

Here is a strategically smart way toward abolishing nuclear weapons and converting to a peaceful foreign policy.

January 5, 2019 GlenAnderson 0

Please see the one-page document I wrote at the link below. Nuclear weapons persist after 70+ years because they are rooted in the same deep-seated problems that plague U.S. foreign policy overall. In order to abolish nuclear weapons, we must see the deeply entrenched problems that have propped up nuclear weapons – and also propped up U.S. foreign policy overall. For that purpose, I created the attached document that could guide a group discussion (or even individual thoughtfulness) toward devising strategically smart ways to move toward peace. I’d be happy to facilitate a discussion in order to help the Olympia […]

Rescue U.S. foreign policy from ALL hawks including Trump

December 21, 2018 GlenAnderson 0

News coverage about General Mattis’s resignation as Secretary of Defense is surreal. They keep saying that Mattis was a stabilizing “adult” in Trump’s regime. But Mattis is an EXTREME HAWK known as “Mad Dog.” He resigned because Trump decided to remove U.S. troops from Syria and to reduce U.S. troops in Afghanistan. Those are small steps in the right direction. Trump is no dove, but these modest steps reduce the reckless hawkishness in U.S. foreign policy. When Mattis resigns over those modest steps – and when mainstream media and bi-partisan members of Congress support Mattis’s extreme hawkishness instead of Trump’s […]

In January, urge Congress to pass HR 1 to get Big Money out of politics.

December 20, 2018 GlenAnderson 0

You have probably read information supporting HR 1, legislation in the U.S. House of Representatives that would push Big Money out of politics. Many non-profit organizations that support democracy and other good things (environment, energy, peace, nuclear weapons, workers’ rights, human rights, the gun lobby, etc.) recognize that BIG MONEY CORRUPTION PREVENTS CONGRESS FROM ACCOMPLISHING WHAT WE WANT IT TO DO. HR 1 is a tremendously positive step forward for ALL of the issues we care about! Public Citizen (www.citizen.org), the non-profit org that Ralph Nader started in 1971, says the following in support of HR 1, and urges people […]

For national security, let’s ABOLISH nuclear weapons and UNTIE our shoe laces

December 20, 2018 GlenAnderson 0

The U.S. government keeps promoting more nuclear weapons in order to make Americans secure. Instead of that, my policy is to ABOLISH NUCLEAR WEAPONS and LEAVE OUR SHOES UNTIED. We will save billions of dollars. NEITHER POLICY WOULD PROTECT US. Either policy – nuclear weapons or untied shoelaces – could cause an accident. But if an accident occurs, tripping on shoelaces will cause much less damage than a nuclear war. PLEASE SPREAD THE WORD – and my reasoning – to other people. Glen Anderson (360) 491-9093 glenanderson@integra.net See much information about nuclear weapons and other issues at my blog, […]

Why the U.S. House must push for VERY BOLD changes, not merely bi-partisan deals

December 19, 2018 GlenAnderson 0

In the November 2018 election American voters gave a STRONG MANDATE for VERY PROGRESSIVE ACTION by the U.S. House. Our Representatives must deliver!!! Moderates want House Democrats to settle for bi-partisan deals with the Republican-dominated Senate. If the House Democrats do that, they will be rebuffing the voters who gave them a mandate for VERY BOLD changes. They also will FAIL TO IDENTIFY how progressive Democrats are much better than conservative Republicans. Even if the Senate fails to pass VERY BOLD House legislation, the points will be made, and 2020’s voters will see who is really on their side, vs. […]

Facts about Pentagon wasting our tax dollars instead of promoting peace and serving the broad public interest

December 17, 2018 GlenAnderson 0

Another blog post today provides info that a major portion of the Pentagon failed yet again to pass an independent audit. Here is some previous information about the Pentagon’s massive accounting fraud: https://www.thenation.com/article/pentagon-audit-budget-fraud/?eType=EmailBlastContent&eId=0c17c70c-da4f-491c-b967-6efd540d1ace The U.S.’s post-9/11 wars have cost $5.9 TRILLION, KILLED 240,000 civilians, and DISPLACED 21 MILLION people. After TRILLIONS OF DOLLARS and all that human suffering, the U.S. has NOT won ANY any of those wars! But Congress refuses to stop those wars. Instead, a congressional commission is urging yet more money for a bloated Pentagon. The author of the article at the following link is William […]

De-militarize the federal budget!! Once again a huge portion of the Pentagon can’t complete an independent audit.

December 17, 2018 GlenAnderson 0

https://www.pogo.org/investigation/2018/10/massive-pentagon-agency-cant-complete-audit-again/?utm_source=weekly-reader&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=wr-181215&utm_content=header Decent people must DEMAND that Congress stop throwing more and more money into the Pentagon! The U.S. has many problems that need federal funding, but the Congress prevents solving those problems because Congress siphons off enormous amounts of our tax dollars and gives them to the Pentagon, which CANNOT COMPLETE AN INDEPENDENT AUDIT. The U.S. keeps escalating its unwinnable wars, but – instead of holding the Pentagon accountable for its failures – Congress rewards it with more money. Actually, the Pentagon does NOT want to win those wars, because then its budget – and its political power – would […]