Tuesday, March 21 Capitol Calling Party: Challenge Biden’s Military Budget and Ground the F-35!
Channel: CODEPINK
Date: 2023-03-22

Join CODEPINK Congress and Massachusetts Peace Action for our Capitol Calling Party featuring special guests David Swanson, Danaka Katovich, and Lindsay Koshgarian.

President Biden has proposed a record $886 billion military budget for 2024. This budget  includes $170 billion for new bombers, intercontinental ballistic missiles and ballistic missile submarines; $30 billion for missile defense, $11 billion for hypersonic weapons and long range missiles; $13.5 billion for cyber activities, etc. –and this doesn’t even include $$$ to fund the war in Ukraine! Join us as we break down the military budget and explore opportunities to oppose these weapons systems. In addition to examining the budget as a moral document, we will also learn about CODEPINK’s Ground the F-35 campaign and how the F-35 Coalition is building the anti-war movement as it plans for protests. CODEPINK will host Ground the F-35 actions in New York City, Chicago, Nova Scotia, Washington DC, Madison, Philadelphia, Burlington, the Bay Area, Massachusetts and Seattle to demand Congress defund the F-35 fighter jet, capable of carrying both conventional and nuclear weapons.

Featuring
David Swanson is an author, activist, journalist, and radio host of Talk World Radio. He is Executive Director of World BEYOND War and campaign coordinator for RootsAction.org. David’s books on war and peace include Leaving World War II Behind (an argument against the use of WWII as reason for more wars) and War Is A Lie (a catalog of the types of falsehoods regularly told about wars). David Swanson was awarded the 2018 Peace Prize by the U.S. Peace Memorial Foundation. David Swanson is on the advisory boards of: Nobel Peace Prize Watch, Veterans For Peace, Assange Defense, BPUR, and Military Families Speak Out. 

Danaka Katovich is National Co-Director of CODEPINK, overseeing a myriad of issue campaigns, including the Ground the F-35 campaign. Danaka graduated from DePaul University with a bachelor’s degree in political science in November 2020. Since 2018, Danaka has been working towards ending US participation in the war in Yemen. At CODEPINK, Danaka works on youth outreach as a facilitator of the organization’s Peace Collective, a cohort focused on anti-imperialist education and divestment.

Lindsay Koshgarian is the Program Director for the National Priorities Project. Lindsay's work and commentary on the federal budget and military spending has appeared on NPR, the BBC, CNN, The Nation, U.S. News and World Report, and others. At NPP, her work is at the intersection of military and domestic federal spending.
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Links of Interest: 
Live Stream of DC Anti War Rally 03/18/23: https://bit.ly/3Z6nghe 
Iraq and 15 Lessons We Never Learned: http://bit.ly/40quduQ
The Not-So-Winding Road from Iraq to Ukraine: https://bit.ly/3FEZEJT
CODEPINK Radio: The Peace Movement At Home and Abroad: http://bit.ly/40nAvLJ 

Action #1:  Petition to Defund the F-35 https://www.codepink.org/groundthef35 

Action #2: Petition to tell Politico to report on intersection b/w climate change & militarism https://www.codepink.org/politicopentagon 

Action #3: Call Capitol Hill at (202) 224-3121 
Calling Script: “Hello. My name is ________ and I'm your constituent in zip code _______.  Please announce that you are voting NO on President Biden's  $842 billion dollar military budget for 2024. This outrageous budget proposal includes $9 billion for the "Pacific Deterrence Initiative" to prepare for war with China and almost $40 billion for nuclear rearmament. Say NO to Biden's military budget."
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ABOUT CODEPINK
CODEPINK is a women-led grassroots organization working to end U.S. wars and militarism, support peace and human rights initiatives, and redirect our tax dollars into healthcare, education, green jobs and other life-affirming programs. Join us!
http://www.codepink.org
CODEPINK is a women-led grassroots organization working to end U.S. wars and militarism, support peace and human rights initiatives, and redirect our tax dollars into healthcare, education, green jobs and other life-affirming programs. Join us!
http://www.codepink.org