Little Lockheed Asked Kris Kongress for
More Missiles, and He Delivered
Win Without War
(December 26, 2022) — Did you get everything on your holiday wish list? Well, weapons contractors did.
This year, Christmas came early: Experts estimate over HALF of the $858 BILLION Pentagon budget will flow directly to Raytheon, General Dynamics, Boeing, Lockheed Martin, and the like.
If you read our emails regularly, you likely know that. But here’s something you may not know: Congress has rubber-stamped ‘Pentagon wish lists’ in an unaccountable, secretive process — funneling tens of BILLIONS to weapons and war every single year — for DECADES.
This year, as families across the country struggled to pay for gas and groceries, the Pentagon sent Congress TWO wish lists. They cost us $54 BILLION.
The end of the year is a time for reflection and resolutions, so here’s ours: 2023 will be THE year we turn the tide on a broken status quo where we waste $1.7 TRILLION on failed fighter jets while families go hungry.
Why are we so sure? Because we’re not working alone. Along with a powerful, bipartisan coalition in Congress that includes champions like Sen. Elizabeth Warren and Rep. Pramila Jayapal, Win Without War will fight to pass the Streamline Pentagon Spending Act — and END the backroom money grab.
We’re not naive about what we’re up against. Weapons lobbyists are furiously working to keep their profits flowing and influencing Congress is about to get even more challenging.
Just like spoiled children on Christmas, weapons contractors seem to get everything they want from Congress year after year. The amount of money we’re talking about is simply staggering: upwards of $7 TRILLION has gone directly from taxpayers into weapons makers’ corporate bank accounts over the past two decades.
That’s why what’s happening now is SO important. If Congress stops requiring the Pentagon’s wish lists (often called “unfunded priorities lists”), which pile on requests for on TOP of the president’s already massive Pentagon budget proposal, we could lop tens of BILLIONS of dollars off the weapons and war budget topline — every year. It’s just one way we’ll pry our priorities from weapons contractors’ power hold.
People just like you are tired of being told our communities’ priorities are ‘unrealistic’ and ‘too expensive’ while we spend BILLIONS on weapons and war every year. It’s gotten so bad that even Republicans are throwing up their hands.
Rep. Tom McClintock calls Pentagon wish lists “a lazy way to load up the defense budget with pet projects”. Senator Mike Braun calls them “a budgeting gimmick with negative results”.
This bipartisan support is proof our work is paying off — and it’s why we’re gearing up to go even harder in the New Year. We’re on the verge of something incredible — and 2023 could be our chance.
That’s why while others are logging off for the holidays, we’re working overtime to set the scene. All that work comes with a cost, and we rely on grassroots supporters to ensure we have the resources we need. We’ll have to work smarter and harder — but that’s where you come in.
Fundamentally shifting our country’s misguided priorities is going to take a MASSIVE effort, and we rely on grassroots donations from activists like you, who fuel our work.
