The House Republican leadership’s calls to cut the deficit ring hollow when one simply looks at the facts. Because not only will they not budge an inch on making the richest 2% pay their fair share in taxes, but they refuse to cut even one cent from the military as well.
This, despite the fact that Pentagon spending now accounts for over 50% of all discretionary spending in the budget, according to the CBO.
In fact, not only does House leadership refuse to cut the military budget, they want to increase it — above and beyond what even our highest commanding officers have requested. How’s that for fiscal responsibility?
But as Congress debates the 2013 Defense Appropriations bill this week, there’s one amendment where progressives and tea party members can agree. Introduced by two representatives from polar opposite sides of the fence, the Mulvaney-Frank amendment will freeze military spending to last year’s levels.
With a vote expected as early as Thursday, it will come down to the wire as many members are still on the fence. Tell your Representative to vote for the Muvaney-Frank Amendment now.
We need this common sense, bipartisan solution to put a stopgap on our out of control military spending that has exploded since George W. Bush took office.
And the American public is behind this. New survey data by the Stimson Center found that on average, Americans want to cut military spending by 18 percent. And this wasn’t just Democrats and Independents, but Republicans too! In fact, even voters living in districts with the most defense spending in the country believe the military needs to be cut.
The American people overwhelmingly support cutting military spending but Washington isn’t listening.
So we need to make sure Congress hears our voice loud and clear: the American people want to cut Pentagon spending, so do it now! Click here to tell your Representative to vote ‘yes’ on the Mulvaney-Frank Amendment.