LAWRENCE S. WITTNER – The time has come to transform the United Nations into a federation of nations that can effectively uphold international law―a government for the world. With such a government, we would have a much better chance of restraining outlaw nations and averting the nuclear catastrophe that looms before us.
Tag: spending
Audit: U.S. Defense Department Can’t Account for Billions for Iraq
JOSH LEVS – The U.S. Defense Department cannot account for about $2 billion it was given to cover Iraq-related expenses and is not providing Iraq with a complete list of U.S.-funded reconstruction projects, according to two new government audits.
The Middle East and the Debt Ceiling Conflict — The Similarities and Challenges of Ideological Conflicts
DOUGLAS E. NOLL – Those of us outside of Washington D.C. are faced with potential disaster if our elected representatives cannot compromise on debt ceiling limits. The conflict has spiraled into pure ideology. As a mediator and peacemaker, I deal with this type of conflict frequently.
American Public Shows How it Would Cut the Budget Deficit
WORLD PUBLIC OPINION.ORG – An innovative study has found that when a representative sample of the American public was presented the federal budget, they proposed changes far different from those the Obama administration or the Republican-led House have proposed.
Defense Cuts? Military Cuts? Let’s Call the Whole Thing Off!
DAVID SWANSON – The New York Times has posted seven super-short columns on how to cut the U.S. military. All seven seem to support cutting the military in one way or another. That’s excellent, and I don’t mean to complain, but . . . .
NPP Analyses Obama’s FY 2012 Budget Request
JOE COMERFORD – On February 14, the White House released the Obama Administration’s budget request for Fiscal Year 2012, which begins on October 1, 2011. As expected, the estimated $3.7 trillion FY2012 request contains a number of critical policy and fiscal goals, including:
Reducing the government’s annual deficit by placing a five-year freeze on so-called “non-security” discretionary spending, while eliminating a series of fossil fuel-related tax breaks and projecting an end to the Bush-era tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans in 2012;
Investing in education, with a goal of training more than 100,000 new science, technology, engineering and math teachers over the next decade;
Rebuilding the nation’s infrastructure with a substantial infusion of federal funds into high-speed rail, nationwide wireless, the creation of a National Infrastructure Bank, and a $28.6 billion (68%) increase in highway planning and construction; and
Promoting clean energy technology with the goal of one million electric vehicles on the road by 2015.