President Obama is scheduled to address Congress today to present his proposals for job creation in the face of 9.1% measured unemployment. Judging from press reports, ending the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq isn't likely to be among the President's proposals, even though this could save more than 400,000 jobs without a dime of additional revenue or deficit spending. [1]
But that's not because it's politically unrealistic to end the wars; in fact, there's more support for ending the wars in Congress than there is for cutting Social Security benefits or raising the Medicare retirement age, two things that the President has previously proposed as means of reducing the nation's debt. There's not much chance that the President will propose ending the wars as a means of job creation because the fact that we could save more than 400,000 jobs by ending the wars hasn't been placed on the table yet. It hasn't entered the mainstream political debate.
Just Foreign Policy has been working to get ending the wars on the table of every budget and job debate. When the headlines are dominated by discussion of efforts to reduce the nation's long-term debt, we point out that 1/6 of the Super Committee's $1.2 trillion debt reduction goal can be achieved simply by withdrawing our troops from Iraq and Afghanistan when we promised. [2] When the headlines are dominated by the need for government action to create jobs, we point out that every time you move a billion dollars from the military to domestic spending, you save at least 2,000 jobs. That's why bringing home our troops as scheduled, instead of cutting domestic spending, will save at least 400,000 jobs. [3]
Will you support our efforts to put ending the wars on the table of every budget and job debate by donating to Just Foreign Policy?
Thank you for supporting our work, and for all you do to help bring about a just foreign policy,
Robert Naiman, Sarah Burns, Chelsea Mozen and Megan Iorio
Just Foreign Policy
References:
1. "Jobs Plan? End the Wars, Save 400,000 Jobs," Robert Naiman, Huffington Post, 9/7/11, http://www.huffingtonpost.com/robert-naiman/jobs-plan-end-the-wars-sa_b_952430.html
2. "Ending Wars on Time Would Save $200 Billion, One-Sixth of Debt Reduction Goal," Robert Naiman, Truthout, August 2011, http://www.truth-out.org/ending-wars-time-would-save-200-billion-one-sixth-debt-reduction-goal/1314194678
3. "Jobs Plan? End the Wars, Save 400,000 Jobs," Robert Naiman, Huffington Post, 9/7/11, http://www.huffingtonpost.com/robert-naiman/jobs-plan-end-the-wars-sa_b_952430.html
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