Chico Peace and Justice Center

March 18, 2009

With President Obama's announcement of his intention to cut the federal deficit in half, we began to aswer the question, "How do we want the deficit reduced? Which programs do we want cut?"

At a time when the economic crisis revivals the Great Depression and effects more Americans than at anytime in history, the coalition is calling on a careful examination of the almost 60% of federal discretionary spending on the military.  Without weakening our commitment to strong national defense, it is in the best interest of all Americans to examine whether military expenditures can be redirected to domestic needs.

On the eve of the 6th anniversary of the war on Iraq, we participated in a community forum to think about how we want our budget restructured.

Goals of the Community Forum:

• Educate ourselves on current military budget versus domestic spending.
• Discuss what a “peace economy” looks like.
• Collect citizens’ expression of local concerns about economy (e.g. healthcare).
• Learn about available channels to express community concerns to policymakers.

Click to download the flyer.