In fiscal year 2015, Pentagon and related spending will total $598 billion, accounting for 54 percent of all federal discretionary spending. That's roughly the size of the next seven largest military budgets around the world, combined.
While the larger budgets makes some important strides forward, this discretionary proposal won’t provide security we need, in terms of costs of living, quality of life, climate change, or securing peace.
Each year Congress gives more than 50% of its discretionary budget to the Pentagon. and one of the most wasteful uses of this money is on contract spending.
In the face of massive suffering in Gaza and disregard for international law by the Israeli government, the U.S. must not provide additional military aid or weapons that would cause more deaths. Instead, the U.S. should use its considerable diplomatic strength to call for an immediate ceasefire.
“A ceasefire is the only way to stop innocent suffering,” said Lindsay Koshgarian, Program Director of the National Priorities Project at the Institute for Policy Studies.