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2020 Trump Budget: A Disturbing Vision

Paul N. Van De Water, Joel Friedman and Sharon Parrott Center on Budget and Policy Priorities
President Trump’s 2020 budget, released March 11, 2019, would make poverty more widespread, widen inequality and racial disparities, and increase the ranks of the uninsured.

America’s Post-9/11 Wars Have Cost $5.9 Trillion

William D. Hartung The Nation
240,000 civilian deaths and 21 million more have been displaced. And yet a congressional commission is urging yet more money for a bloated Pentagon. We should be spending less time figuring out how to fight wars, and how to forge partnerships...

The Pentagon Budget as Corporate Welfare for Weapons Makers

William D. Hartung Tom Dispatch
What company gets the most money from the U.S. government? Weapons maker Lockheed Martin. It took in $35.2 billion from the government, or close to what the Trump administration is proposing for the 2019 State Department budget. Boeing, in second place, with a mere $26.5 billion. When it comes to the Department of Defense, perhaps we should retire the term “budget” altogether, given its connotation of restraint. Can't we find another word entirely? Like the Pentagon cornucopia?

The US Has Military Bases in 80 Countries. All of Them Must Close.

Alice Slater The Nation
US bases are wreaking havoc to the health and well-being of communities across the world. The United States has approximately 800 formal military bases in 80 countries, a number that could exceed 1,000 if you count troops stationed at embassies and missions and so-called “lily-pond” bases, with some 138,000 soldiers stationed around the globe.

Muslim Americans and Opposition to Misguided Wars

Moustafa Bayoumi; Peter Certo; Clancy Sigal
While Khan's speech was meant to tell everyone that Muslim Americans are proud and patriotic citizens, which is fine and true, there are also other ways to work for the good of the nation than fighting in its wars. To be a Muslim citizen of the United States, you don't have to die as a Muslim American. You can live as one, too.

Tidbits - March 19, 2015 - Lessons from Syriza and Podemos; 2016 elections; Prison Reform, Israel; Culture; and more...

Portside
Reader Comments - Lessons from Syriza and Podemos; Kshama Sawant; 2016 elections; Prison Reform, Israel, Gaza, Palestine, Israeli elections; Venezuela, Greece, Ukraine; Measles; Culture - music, television, films; Franz Fanon; Roger Burbach - Presente! Announcements - Break the Cuba Blockade - Venceremos Brigade; WRL new "Pie Chart"; Mondragon and Workers Cooperatives; Fighting Inequality Conference
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