by Mary Ann McGivern
The Nation has an article about the Congressional Progressive Caucus budget proposal. It addresses the bloated budgeting of the Pentagon. It also proposes job creation by means of infrastructure repair, as well as investments in education, health care and food security.
I frequently blog about military boondoggles so it is especially gratifying to see others making points about waste, fraud and abuse within the Departments of Defense and Energy, especially when those others are members of Congress. You can find "The People's Budget" here.
A couple of interesting points: a big complaint about the burgeoning Pentagon budget is the growth of TRICARE, the military's health plan. But the Progressive Caucus doesn't reduce wages or benefits. It does decommission the nuclear weapons infrastructure. And it requires an audit of the Pentagon. Revolutionary!
P.S. The Coalition on Human Needs, which I report on occasionally, is co-hosting a webinar Thursday, March 31, on Understanding the People's Budget to help participants understand the hard numbers and the policy implications.*
*This blog was updated to include a link to the webinar.
