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John Amick published THE GOP FOREIGN POLICY DEBATE: ROBERT GREENWALD AND ED SCHULTZ DISCUSS in Press 2012-04-30 14:25:09 -0700
THE GOP FOREIGN POLICY DEBATE: ROBERT GREENWALD AND ED SCHULTZ DISCUSS
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CmzoIqujjdA&feature=player_embedded
Robert Greenwald and Ed Schultz review the Nov. 22 GOP debate, focusing on foreign policy. What is the outcome on War Costs?
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John Amick published TRUTHOUT: WAR IS A FORCE THAT PAYS THE 1 PERCENT: OCCUPYING AMERICAN FOREIGN POLICY in Press 2012-04-30 14:22:40 -0700
TRUTHOUT: WAR IS A FORCE THAT PAYS THE 1 PERCENT: OCCUPYING AMERICAN FOREIGN POLICY
by J.A. Myerson at Truthout
If the last decade was the era of occupations that everyone called liberations, then the 99 percent movement is seeking to make this the era of liberations everyone calls occupations.
“It’s clear that the interests of the majority of people in this country do not align with the military-industrial complex who put corporate profiteering based on destruction ahead of the needs of people,” said Alex Kane, a journalist and activist. “The nexus of power that Occupy is looking to challenge in this country does not stop at Wall Street. Military profiteering is an integral part of the system and it should be challenged.”
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SHEPARD FAIREY: MEET THE 0.01 PERCENT
While the Occupy movement targets the 1 Percent, we want to introduce you to the elite among the gang of superrich: the war profiteers. War industry CEOs make tens of millions of dollars a year, putting them in the top 0.01 percent of income earners in the U.S., and they use their corporations’ massive lobbying dollars to keep their job-killing gravy train rolling. We’ve got to stop them.
Help give your local Occupy group the tools they need to fight corporate power. Post our new video on their Facebook pages and ask them to show it at their events. For more info go here.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=ipM_wRnAzSY
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John Amick published THOM HARTMANN: MEET THE 0.01 PERCENT…WAR PROFITEERS in Press 2012-04-30 14:20:50 -0700
THOM HARTMANN: MEET THE 0.01 PERCENT…WAR PROFITEERS
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oMwLlS3UKHQ&feature=player_embedded
Derrick Crowe, War Costs Political Director, joins Thom Hartmann. Meet the top .01% – America’s war profiteers who are making enormous bucks hurtling our nation into one war after another.
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John Amick published MEET THE 0.01 PERCENT: WAR PROFITEERS in Blog & Videos 2012-04-30 14:14:07 -0700
MEET THE 0.01 PERCENT: WAR PROFITEERS
There’s the top 1% of wealthy Americans (bankers, oil tycoons, hedge fund managers) and there’s the top 0.01% of wealthy Americans: the military contractor CEOs.
If you’ve been following the War Costs campaign, you already know that these corporations are bad bosses, bad job creators and bad stewards of taxpayer dollars. What you may not know is that the huge amount of money these companies’ CEOs make off of war and your tax dollars places them squarely at the top of the gang of corrupt superrich choking our democracy. These CEOs want you to believe the massive war budget is about security — it’s not. The lobbying they’re doing to keep the war budget intact at the expense of the social safety net is purely about their greed.
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John Amick published BURSTING LEON PANETTA’S SPENDING SPIN BUBBLE (VIDEO) in Blog & Videos 2012-04-30 14:13:00 -0700
BURSTING LEON PANETTA’S SPENDING SPIN BUBBLE (VIDEO)
Leon Panetta becomes Defense Secretary and suddenly he forgets his experience as a professor and environmentalist: military spending costs jobs compared to other ways of spending the money. Still, Panetta pressures Congress to slash other spending that actually creates jobs rather than trimming a bloated war budget that’s strangling our economy.
Yesterday, Panetta defended the Pentagon from the Congressional deficit committee tasked with identifying at least $1.5 trillion in cuts before Christmas. As we’ve detailed, members of this committee are already on the war profiteers’ take, with Sens. Patty Murray and Rob Portman being favorites of military giants like Boeing and Northrop Grumman, for instance.
As Panetta lectures the chorus, and we’re seizing the mantle of responsibility and nuance with our latest video. If Panetta won’t be honest with Congress, we will.
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John Amick published STENOGRAPHY MASQUERADING AS JOURNALISM in Blog & Videos 2012-04-30 14:09:26 -0700
STENOGRAPHY MASQUERADING AS JOURNALISM
Read moreYesterday, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta brought his song and dance show to Congress. He was invited to speak by Congressional Republicans about routine defense subjects, but it quickly turned into a well thought out media ploy.
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John Amick published SALON: DEFICIT-CUTTING DEMOCRATS DEPEND ON PENTAGON CONTRACTORS, DATA SHOWS in Press 2012-04-30 14:06:08 -0700
SALON: DEFICIT-CUTTING DEMOCRATS DEPEND ON PENTAGON CONTRACTORS, DATA SHOWS
Members face choice between hurting their donors or cutting your entitlements
by Nick Turse at Salon.com
Arizona’s Republican Sen. Jon Kyl wasted little time. A member of the bipartisan congressional “supercommittee” charged with finding $1.5 trillion in deficit reductions, he did his best to forestall even discussion of cuts to the Pentagon’s budget. “When we had our first meeting the chairman asked, ‘Well, what do we think about defense spending?’ and I said, ‘I’m off of the committee if we’re gonna talk about further defense spending [cuts],’” he told the audience at a recent forum sponsored by several conservative think tanks.
The Senate minority whip may be the most outspoken member of the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction when it comes to the military budget, but the Democrats currently considering whether to cut the deficit via reductions in defense spending or programs like Medicare and Medicaid have received far more money from Pentagon contractors than Kyl or any of their Republican colleagues on the panel, according to an investigation by Alternet, with assistance from the Brave New Foundation and Salon.com.
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John Amick published LOCKHEED MARTIN’S CEO WANTS YOUR SOCIAL SECURITY CHECK in Blog & Videos 2012-04-30 14:04:43 -0700
LOCKHEED MARTIN’S CEO WANTS YOUR SOCIAL SECURITY CHECK
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=pVgvfnzwFPI
The law that created the deficit committee also created a zero-sum game: Any expensive program that escapes the budget knife does so at the expense of cuts to other programs. If the military contractors succeed in keeping the war budget intact, they’ll likely do so at the expense of Social Security and Medicare.
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John Amick published ALTERNET: WILL TIES TO PENTAGON CONTRACTORS PUSH ‘SUPERCOMMITTEE’ DEMOCRATS TO CUT ENTITLEMENTS? in Press 2012-04-30 14:00:07 -0700
ALTERNET: WILL TIES TO PENTAGON CONTRACTORS PUSH ‘SUPERCOMMITTEE’ DEMOCRATS TO CUT ENTITLEMENTS?
by Nick Turse at AlterNet
AlterNet teams up with Salon and Brave New Foundation to document how Dems on the Congressional “supercommittee” get far more military campaign money and contracts than the GOP.
Arizona’s Republican Senator Jon Kyl wasted little time. A member of the bipartisan Congressional “supercommittee” charged with finding $1.5 trillion in deficit reductions, he did his best to forestall even discussion of cuts to the Pentagon’s budget. “When we had our first meeting the chairman asked, ‘Well what do we think about defense spending?’ and I said, ‘I’m off of the committee if we’re gonna talk about further defense spending,’” he told the audience at a recent forum sponsored by several conservative think tanks.
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John Amick published PANETTA STARTS SINGING CONTRACTORS’ TUNE AFTER CLOSED-DOOR MEETING in Blog & Videos 2012-04-30 13:01:17 -0700
PANETTA STARTS SINGING CONTRACTORS’ TUNE AFTER CLOSED-DOOR MEETING
Well, that didn’t take very long.
Two days ago, while representatives of war profiteers were on the Hill trying to push elected officials to protect their profit margins from the deficit committee, heads of the war industry met in a closed-door meeting with Defense Secretary Panetta. The next day, the war contractors held a press conference to try to spin away the fact that military spending costs jobs compared to other ways of spending the money. And today, Panetta and his subordinates came out swinging with the same bogus spin on “jobs.” Panetta says that cuts to the Pentagon budget that would be triggered if the deficit committee doesn’t produce a plan that passes Congress could cause the jobless rate to jump 1 percent.
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John Amick published CBS: FACING HUGE POTENTIAL CUTS, DEFENSE INDUSTRY GOES ON OFFENSE in Press 2012-04-30 12:58:53 -0700
CBS: FACING HUGE POTENTIAL CUTS, DEFENSE INDUSTRY GOES ON OFFENSE
by Stephanie Condon at CBSNews.com
Some opposed to the United States’ ongoing military operations are concerned Congress is listening a little too closely. The liberal group Brave New Foundation, which earlier launched the initiative “Rethink Afghanistan,” launched a new campaign this week called War Costs to counter the AIA’s “Second to None” campaign.
The deficit discussion in Congress right now, the War Costs team argues, “is a zero sum game, pitting military spending against the exact kinds of spending that would create more jobs.” The group points to research suggesting government funds could more efficiently create jobs in sectors like health or education, as well as a study indicating the defense sector has inflated its significance in terms of jobs.
Click here for the full story.
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John Amick published WHY MILITARY SPENDING COSTS JOBS: ROBERT GREENWALD AND THOM HARTMANN DISCUSS in Press 2012-04-30 12:57:04 -0700
WHY MILITARY SPENDING COSTS JOBS: ROBERT GREENWALD AND THOM HARTMANN DISCUSS
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r5KC19A8deo&feature=player_embedded
Robert Greenwald joins the third hour of Thom Hartmann Radio to discuss Brave New Foundationâs new campaign, War Costs, and why the Super Committee has an ideal opportunity to focus on budget changes that have a chance of getting people back to work.
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John Amick published THE WAR INDUSTRY: BAD JOB CREATORS, BAD BOSSES, BAD STEWARDS OF TAX DOLLARS in Blog & Videos 2012-04-30 12:54:55 -0700
THE WAR INDUSTRY: BAD JOB CREATORS, BAD BOSSES, BAD STEWARDS OF TAX DOLLARS
On Tuesday, the military contractors behind the “Second To None” campaign pleaded “no comment” to our War Costs campaign’s full-page Politico ad exposing the economic damage caused by massive war budgets. The same day, they announced a press conference and the upcoming launch of a national campaign to scare people about job losses if we cut the war budget. It seems like they had a comment or two after all. But as these companies gather at the National Press Club on Wednesday morning to frighten you into funding their trust funds, remember: military spending costs us jobs compared to other ways of spending the money.
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John Amick published RTTV: DERRICK CROWE DISCUSSES THE RECENT ATTACKS IN KABUL AND THE US MILITARY STRATEGY in Press 2012-04-30 12:53:35 -0700
RTTV: DERRICK CROWE DISCUSSES THE RECENT ATTACKS IN KABUL AND THE US MILITARY STRATEGY
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ASTiwygY25o&feature=player_embedded
The increase of foreign troops in Afghanistan that has taken place during Obama’s administration has been followed by a corresponding increase in Afghan insurgency. “The US needs to let go of the military strategy and instead get serious about negotiations with the Taliban,” said Derrick Crowe on RTTV. “Throwing hundreds of thousands of troops and $2 billion a week at that problem… is just going to escalate the problem.”
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John Amick published UK GUARDIAN: DECLARING WAR ON THE MILITARY CONTRACTORS’ INVASION OF WASHINGTON in Press 2012-04-30 12:50:23 -0700
UK GUARDIAN: DECLARING WAR ON THE MILITARY CONTRACTORS’ INVASION OF WASHINGTON
by Robert Greenwald and Derrick Crowe at UK Guardian Comment is Free
The new deficit commission held its first substantive meeting on 13 September, and the military contractors were out in force to protect their profits. They’ll be working to cash in on hundreds millions of dollars in campaign donations and lobbying spending, and they will deploy their favourite (and bogus) “jobs” spin. But members of the committee should not be fooled. The war industry is interested in one thing: continuing profits at our expense.
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John Amick published CORRUPT CONTRACTORS MAKE THEIR MOVE ON THE DEFICIT COMMITTEE in Blog & Videos 2012-04-30 12:46:40 -0700
CORRUPT CONTRACTORS MAKE THEIR MOVE ON THE DEFICIT COMMITTEE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y8q2Xc0VgK4&feature=player_embedded
The new deficit commission will hold its first substantive meeting on Tuesday, and the military contractors will be out in force to protect their profits. They’ll be working to cash in on hundreds millions of dollars in campaign donations and lobbying spending, and they’ll deploy their favorite (and bogus) “jobs” spin. But members of the committee should not be fooled. The war industry is interested in one thing: continuing profits at our expense.
Read more
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John Amick published ALTERNET: DESPITE HEFTY PROPAGANDA CAMPAIGN, MAINTAINING THE WAR INDUSTRY ACTUALLY COSTS AMERICA JOBS in Press 2012-04-30 12:45:37 -0700
ALTERNET: DESPITE HEFTY PROPAGANDA CAMPAIGN, MAINTAINING THE WAR INDUSTRY ACTUALLY COSTS AMERICA JOBS
by Ida Hartmann at Alternet
“Every $1 billion spent on war costs us at least 3,200 jobs,” reads an ad by Brave New Foundation (BNF) in today’s print edition of Politico. Part of a new consciousness raising campaign called WarCosts, the ad was launched to put Second to None, an association of military contractors, on the defense vis a vis their propaganda and distortion of facts. Particularly, Second to None is staging a “march to the hill” Tuesday, September 13, to drum up support to protect massive military spending.
Click here for the full article.
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John Amick published THE WAR BUDGET IS BURNING DOWN OUR ECONOMY in Blog & Videos 2012-04-30 12:37:28 -0700
THE WAR BUDGET IS BURNING DOWN OUR ECONOMY
President Obama will talk jobs tonight. Good. That’s what we should have been talking about all year. Here’s all thirty-five words of our suggested script for the speech:
“Good evening. To get Americans working again, we must cut our massive war budget and find better ways to spend that money. Thank you, God bless you, and God bless the United States of America.”
This would be by far the shortest presidential speech on jobs ever given, and one of the most effective plans given in years to get people back to work.
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John Amick published 193,000 JOBS: THE TRUE COST OF THE WASTED $60 BILLION IN IRAQ/AFGHANISTAN in Blog & Videos 2012-04-30 12:34:42 -0700
193,000 JOBS: THE TRUE COST OF THE WASTED $60 BILLION IN IRAQ/AFGHANISTAN
193,000 jobs. That’s what we could have created, at minimum, for the money that war contractors wasted in Afghanistan and Iraq.
The Associated Press reported on Wednesday that “as $60 billion in U.S. funds has been lost to waste and fraud in Iraq and Afghanistan over the past decade through lax oversight of contractors, poor planning and payoffs to warlords and insurgents, an independent panel investigating U.S. wartime spending estimates.”
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John Amick
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