E-News: Breaking News on Bomb Plant, Who Pays Taxes, and more
September 25, 2012
Breaking News: Congress Terminates Funding for New Nuclear Bomb Plant. Lobbying by FCNL and our colleagues successfully terminated funding for a new nuclear bomb plant in Los Alamos, New Mexico on Saturday.
This action, which came as part of the continuing resolution for the federal budget that Congress sent to the president last weekend, represents an important step to cutting the deficit and promoting disarmament. “The defeat of the $4 to $6 billion bomb plant was due to the hard work of many local and national organizations in New Mexico and Washington, DC,” FCNL’s David Culp told the Albuquerque Journal. Thank you for being part of FCNL’s efforts to promote nuclear disarmament and curb weapons spending.
Lead Story: Building Momentum on Pentagon Cuts
Across the country, people like you are talking with their members of Congress and their candidates. They're talking about why it’s important for Congress to keep the cuts already approved as part of the Budget Control Act to the Pentagon budget of nearly $1 trillion over the next 10 years.
- Four FCNL supporters from Pennsylvania brought a cherry pie to Rep. Allyson Schwartz’s office to start a conversation about Pentagon spending and budget priorities. They've continued talking with her staff since the first meeting.
- A group from Coeur D’Alene, Idaho, recently met with Rep. Raul Labrador’s office. Rep. Labrador wants to reduce the federal budget and sees the bloated Pentagon budget as a good place to start.
- Quaker meetings in Milwaukee and Eugene, as well as North Pacific Yearly Meeting, Illinois Yearly Meeting, and Western Yearly Meeting, have approved a minute suggested by FCNL’s Executive Committee urging action to advance Pentagon budget cuts.
What is happening in your community? Let us know by emailing Annie Boggess at annie@fcnl.org.
Congress is out of session and back home until after the election. Members are listening hard to what their constituents are saying now during this recess as they prepare to make critical budget decisions when they return to Washington in November. Join us at the Quaker Public Policy Institute and Lobby Day on November 15-16 here in Washington to lobby Congress for a fair federal budget.
What's New
- Who pays taxes? When you take state, local, and sales taxes into account, most people pay taxes roughly equivalent to their ability to pay. For more on misconceptions and realities about who pays taxes, see this report from the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.
- Election Day is coming, and recent changes might have affected where and how you vote. Make sure you have the right voter ID and know your 2012 district.
- Voter ID laws especially affect Native Americans. “Voter ID laws are at best a distraction from more urgent issues, and at worst a means to obstruct certain groups of eligible voters, such as Native Americans, from exercising their hard-won constitutional right to vote,” writes Program Assistant Damian Morden-Snipper.
- A few more words about our new program assistants:
Annie Boggess began swimming at an early age and has never stopped loving the water. Lakes, duck ponds, pools, seas, oceans – you name it, Annie will swim in it. On dry land, she works with Alicia McBride as a program assistant in Strategic Advocacy.
Spread the word: we begin accepting applications for the next class of program assistants on November 1.
Recent Letters and Statements
- 14 Faith Groups Oppose Delay of Defense Sequester (9/28/12)
- Understanding Drones (9/21/12)
- Faith Community Fair Minimum Wage Act Letter (9/10/12)
- See more letters and statements
FCNL in the News
- "No Funds for Lab Project in Senate Bill," Albuquerque Journal, 9/25
- "Iraq War combat veteran espouses Middle East peace" by Kathy Reed in The South Whidbey Record, 9/14/2012.
- "Three things you need to know about IAEA report on Iran" by Kate Gould in The Hill, 9/5/2012.
FCNL on the Road
- What is FCNL doing in Texas? Mary Stata leads our Peaceful Prevention of Deadly Conflict program and recently visited Fort Worth, Texas to talk with constituents.
- Katherine Philipson led a conversation about shaping the federal budget at Goose Creek Meeting in VA, and she’ll be speaking at Sandy Spring Monthly Meeting in Sandy Spring, MD on Sunday.
- Check our upcoming events calendar to find out when FCNL staff will be in your area.
War Is Not the Answer Photos of the Week: Iowa, 1969 and 2012
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In the fall of 1969, when the entire Scattergood |
On September 12, 2012, |
Order your own War Is Not the Answer sign and see where this movement is showing up across the country. Find out how to submit your photo.
