At a time when so many Americans are desperately seeking employment, others have lost their homes or are about to, and still others are seeing their wages cut back, the US government is about to authorize $130 billion more to spend on the futile effort in Afghanistan and Pakistan, despite the overwhelming opposition to it.
And they will likely get away with it, in part because the bill includes funding to extend unemployment benefits making it less likely that Congress members will vote against it.
Tell Congress, Vote Yes to extended unemployment benefits — No to more money for war. Click here to take action.
Congress members will soon break for the holidays. They will return to their districts to celebrate with their friends and families while many of their constituents have lost their jobs, their homes, their healthcare and any reason to celebrate. Meanwhile, U.S. troops and mercenaries, many of whom have served multiple deployments, will not be celebrating with their loved ones — some of them will likely die over the holidays. Plan to visit your rep on this issue during the break; find their office location here.
Peace on Earth,
Tim Carpenter
PDA National Director, AfterDowningStreet.org Co-founder
David Swanson
PDA Advisory board member, AfterDowningStreet.org Co-founder
P.S. Next month, we’ll stand with Dennis Kucinich and other stalwart members of Congress who are serious enough about Article 1 Section 8 of the Constitution — and the War Powers Resolution enacted in 1973 — to insist that lawmakers fulfill their constitutional responsibilities.
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WAR: How we end it in the coming months
Watch videos of 12/12 rally at White House for inspiration.
Tell your representative to announce immediately that they will vote No unless the war funding is taken out and the unemployment insurance left in.
Tell them to commit now to voting No on any future bills that fund the wars, and to demand that the funding vote for the Afghan escalation be held prior to the escalation.
Ask them to cosponsor Kucinich’s resolutions to end the wars when introduced in January. (These will be privileged and come to a vote on the floor within 15 days.)
Ask them to cosponsor Lee’s bill to bock escalation funding, and McGovern’s bill to demand an exit plan.
The U.S. Constitution leaves the decision to wage war to Congress, and Congress can enforce its decision not to wage war by refusing to fund it. Blocking a funding bill for wars requires the House of Representatives alone, and both Democrats and Republicans in the House are rapidly joining us in saying No to war funding.
It’s time to finally get serious, to lobby, to protest, to sit in, to nonviolently disrupt and resist in local district offices until enough Representatives commit to voting No on any bill to fund more war.
Here’s a link to a rapidly-changing whip list in the form of a google document that you can embed on your own website:
http://defundwar.org
You’ll find your congress member’s phone number there. Please call them and post a report on what they tell you.
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Peace of the Action
Make plans now to join us in nonviolent resistance to war.
Washington, D.C.
March 2010
http://peaceoftheaction.org
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Only 15 Stops Left on 51-City Daybreak Tour
Jan. 5 Seattle, WA
Jan. 6 Portland, OR
Jan. 7 Newport, OR
Jan. 8 Corvallis, OR
Jan. 13 Santa Rosa, CA
Jan. 14, 15 San Diego, CA
Jan. 16 Van Nuys and Ventura, CA
Jan. 17 Phoenix, AZ
Feb. 19 Oxford, MS
Feb. 20 Atlanta, GA
Feb. 21 Woodstock, NY
Feb. 22 St. Louis, MO
Feb. 23 Chicago, IL
Feb. 24 Boston, MA