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APRIL 17, 2012
JOIN AN ACTION, START AN ACTION, BE AN ACTION DEMILITARIZE.ORG
Welcome to GDAMS 2.0, our second Global Day of Action on Military Spending on April 17, 2012. Were very excited that you joining people all over the world to protest the mind-boggling amount of money that were wasting on military spending. In 2010, the world spent over $1.6 trillion on preparing for and fighting wars, and were expecting that figure to rise in 2011 as well. Thats why were calling on people everywhere to Occupy the Military-Industrial Complex on April 17. Thanks to you, were beginning finally to see change. Some countries have actually reduced their military budgets, and theres now bipartisan support in the United States, the worlds leading spender, to cut back on the military. We have to make sure that this trend continues so that we can see real, serious reductions. If they dont hear from us and hear from A LOT of us government leaders will go back to increasing military spending when the economy improves or they think were no longer paying attention. This organizers packet will take you step-by-step through the process of organizing an event for our Global Day. We ask you to do two things on April 17: 1) Highlight last years figure for global military spending, which the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute will release on April 17. Well be able to share this figure with you one week before the release. 2) Do something public and visible and eyecatching. We want to maximize media coverage of our events worldwide. Beyond that, the focus of your action is up to you. You can build your event around the amount of money your government is spending or the relationship between the huge amount spent on the military and the pennies devoted to development. You can focus on military bases or arms exports. You can protest existing wars or conflicts that threaten to break out. We want this day to be an opportunity for you to raise awareness about the issues that matter to you. In the organizers packet, youll find: 1) A letter to send out to your networks to expand your action 2) Fact Sheets on: a. International Military Expenditure b. U.S. Budget Control vs. Military Spending c. The 2012 National Defense Authorization Act d. Tax-Dodging War Profiteers 3) Examples from GDAMS 2011 to help you plan your action for GDAMS 2.0 On April 17, you will be joining with thousands and thousands of people around the world who are saying NO to the military-industrial complex and YES to a peaceful and prosperous planet.
Raking in well over $50 billion in U.S. government contracts in 2010-2011, the Bethesda, Maryland-based Lockheed Martin remains a giant in military contracting. But deep pockets dont come cheap. In 2011, the year of our first Global Day of Action on Military Spending, Lockheed and its subsidiaries shelled out over $15 million on lobbyists. So far in 2012, the companys employee PAC has dished at nearly $1 million directly to the campaigns of members of Congress, with over 60 percent going to congressional Republicans. The Project on Government Oversight estimates that Lockheed has had to pay over $590 million in various penalties for fraud, misconduct, and worker abuse over the years. The company has apparently also cooperated with lobbyists for the repressive Gulf monarchy of Bahrain, where Lockheed has done hundreds of millions of dollars worth of business over the years. One of the most notorious tax dodgers in the world, General Electric has been making lemonade out of lemons for decades. Its contract to construct the controversial (and unnecessary) second engine for the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter was cancelled in 2011 shortly after GDAMS, but not before $3 billion was sunk on it. However, in return, GE received another long-term contract to research alternatives for the second engine, already widely considered unnecessary. In 2010, GE CEO Jeffrey Immelt took home $15 million, but the company paid an astounding negative 64.1 percent corporate tax rate, receiving over $3 billion from the IRS. Astoundingly, Immelt was tapped in 2011 to head President Obamas advisory council on jobs, even as GE relocated thousands of U.S. jobs to China that year.
Although currently implementing a five- year, $75-million contract with the U.S. Army among other lucrative deals Honeywell hasnt let its considerable earnings (over $33 billion in 2010) drive up its tax bill. Thanks to its five subsidiaries in offshore tax havens, the New Jersey-based contractor actually received $471 million back from the IRS in 2010.
Boeing, the worlds leading aircraft manufacturer, is also a contracting giant. After the company secured billions of dollars worth of new government contracts in 2010-2011, Boeings vice president appeared before Congress in 2011 to lobby against future defense cuts. And even though the company pulled in nearly $10 billion in profits from 2008-2010, Boeing nonetheless took $178 million back from the IRS during that same period.
INSULT
TO
INJURY
Its
bad
enough
that
billions
of
dollars
are
funneled
away
from
social
priorities
at
home
to
U.S.
military
contractors.
But
worse
still,
according
to
a
U.S.
government
report,
U.S.
taxpayers
lost
more
than
$1
trillion
to
contractor
fraud
in
the
first
decade
of
the
2000s.
Its
time
to
redirect
our
tax
dollars
away
from
fraudsters,
tax
dodgers,
and
war
contractorsand
back
to
nation
building
at
home.
Spending
Athens, Greece In the iconic Syntagma Square in front of the Greek Parliament, protestors set up a visual display showing world military spending, and comparing those figures with the estimated costs to achieve the Millennium Development Goals. Fairfield, California At Travis Air Force Base, activists from Code Pink, Veterans for Peace, the San Francisco AFSC and Military Families Speak Out delivered their message directly to members of the U.S. Air Force as they commuted to work. They displayed banners outside the bases entrance and handed out leaflets with information on military waste, and on alternatives to military spending. Augusta, Maine 400 activists from Veterans for Peace, the Union of Maine Visual Artists and Raging Grannies filled the statehouse where a local mayor spoke out against forced local budget cuts on account of the soaring costs of war that leave cities and towns underfunded. Another theme was unity: Its time we showed the links between all the issues and put out an alternative sustainable vision for the future. Seoul, South Korea Peace activists set up a display and held a rally featuring pro- peace parliamentarians outside the Parliament building. They called for an end to militarization, and a more peace-oriented foreign policy towards other countries in the region. Seminars, Conferences and Film Screenings London, UK The Movement for the Abolition of War brought dozens of people together for a 2 hour public meeting entitled Welfare of Warfare with presenters from groups such as Scientists for Global Responsibility, War on Want and Uniting for Peace. Dadabari Kota, India The Rural Development and Youth Training Institute invited budget specialists to discuss advocacy issues and development needs with rural villagers. Virtual Advocacy Religions for Peace incorporated GDAMS into their campaign to petition the UN Security Council seeking a 10% reduction in military spending among member states. Britains Campaign Against the Arms Trade launched a Twitter Campaign, asking followers to tweet alternatives to military spending to the Treasury Department.
Dont
Have
the
Time/Resources
to
Mount
a
Big
Action?
Dont
Worry!
Check
out
these
Easy
Actions!
1) Find
a
high-traffic
spot
in
your
city,
gather
a
couple
of
people
and
hand
out
informative
tax-day
flyers:
This
one
comes
from
the
War
Resisters
League,
and
it
shows
where
your
tax
dollars
really
go.
2) Create
a
graphic
representation
and
set
it
up
somewhere
where
many
people
will
see
it.
Use
the
pie
chart
from
the
War-Resisters
League,
or
use
this
chart
based
on
a
recent
study
from
the
Political
Economy
Research
Institute
at
the
University
of
Massachusetts,
Amherst.
It
shows
that
we
dont
need
the
military
to
provide
jobs,
wed
be
much
better
off
using
that
money
on
green
jobs,
healthcare
and
education!
3) Get your mayor to sign on to Code Pinks Conference of Mayors Anti-War Resolution, available here: http://codepink.org/article.php?id=5774 4) Occupy the Military Industrial Complex in your area! Pay a visit to defense contractors, military bases, or lobbyists with offices in your area. Ask them why they deserve to profit off our tax dollars and catch them on tape! 5) Ask Us! Email GDAMS organizer Noah Gimbel at the Institute for Policy Studies:
ngimbel@ips-dc.org