Hello friends. It’s been a memorable and eventful spring for the progressive cause. The passage of comprehensive health care reform is a landmark accomplishment that will make life better for millions of Americans.
But we have so much more work to do. Tragically, outrageously, the wars in
Iraq and
Afghanistan go on, exacting a terrifying human and financial toll every single day.
The military campaign in
Afghanistan is now 103 months old. There are American teenagers with no memory of peacetime. My own grandchildren have been born into a nation marred by violence and cynicism. This is not the legacy I want to leave them. But to reverse our nation’s course and bring our brave troops home, I need the support of generous friends and supporters.
One month from now, my name will be on the ballot as I seek a 10th term representing
California’s Sixth District. Please take a moment to make a contribution of whatever size you can afford. I promise it will be an investment in our shared vision of peace and justice.
We’ve now been in
Afghanistan longer than we were fighting both World Wars and the Korean War combined. And what do we have to show for it? Mounting casualties, astronomical costs and an utter failure to advance our national security interests.
The number of Americans killed has climbed above 1000, with one-third of those deaths coming since last summer. It costs a staggering $1 million a year to deploy a single soldier in
Afghanistan.
And what has been the White House response to the crippling failure that is the nation’s
Afghanistan policy? Unbelievably, more of the same! In a terrifying irony, just 9 days before accepting the Nobel Peace Prize, the President announced his decision to put 30,000 more troops in harm’s way in
Afghanistan.
If you agree with me, then please don’t sit on your hands. Take action. Click here to donate online – whether it’s $1000 or $25 -- and do your part to end this war and bring our troops home.
What’s most baffling is the money we’re squandering on
Iraq and
Afghanistan at just the moment Americans are reeling from one of the worst recessions in our nation’s history.
I could hardly believe it earlier this year when the White House proposed a freeze on domestic spending. How about a freeze on immoral and deadly wars that haven’t made
America safer?
As co-chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, I have offered very different budget priorities, based on the belief that we can cut military spending dramatically without doing anything to jeopardize our national security. In fact, by spending smarter, we would be making
America safer.
The Pentagon budget is larded up with Cold War relics that do little to address the national defense challenges of the moment. In the era of the iTouch, the Pentagon is continuing to throw money at developing rotary phones. We can recoup $3 billion just by killing the V-22 Osprey, a plane so wasteful that even Dick Cheney fought repeatedly to eliminate it when he was Secretary of Defense.
Cuts like this would give us more than enough to invest in the smart security platform that I’ve been pushing for years. We could put billions into non-military spending designed to fight the root causes of terrorism.
And there would be plenty left over to give the American people’s money back to the American people -- school construction, green jobs, transportation projects, food stamps, affordable housing, quality child care, veterans’ benefits, and much more.
This is all an ambitious undertaking. To turn our progressive values into actual policy, I need as many like-minded people on board. Please take a minute to help out my campaign. The
California primary is just around the corner on June 8. Together, we can usher in a new era of bold progressive leadership in a peaceful world.
Thanks so much.
