Cravaack defends NASCAR, defunds peace

On Friday, the House of Representatives passed a temporary government funding bill that included massive cuts to social security, heating and food assistance, infrastructure, environmental protection and non-military foreign aid. But is this really about fiscal restraint in the face of a growing deficit and debt? Consider the antics of Duluth's new Tea Party-backed representative, Chip Cravaack:

Cravaack's contribution to the bill was a amendment to strip all federal support for the U.S. Institute for Peace (USIP). The Reagan-era program is tasked with promoting global conflict resolution. Gutting it would "save taxpayers $42 million," Cravaack touted on his website. (For the record, $42 million is roughly .005% of the Pentagon's annual budget). The measure passed.

But when Cravaack had the opportunity to "save taxpayers" a similar amount of cash by supporting fellow Minnesota Representative Betty McCollum's amendment to stop U.S. military sponsorship of NASCAR, Cravaack all of a sudden got less stingy. Arguing that NASCAR sponsorship was in important recruiting tool, Cravaack, along with the House majority, voted no. 

But even when his Tea Party colleagues bucked Speaker Boehner and cut $450 million in funding for a second F-35 engine that the Pentagon didn't want (but happened to be made in Boehner's district by his buddies GE and Rolls Royce), Cravaack again showed his knee-jerk support for all things military and voted to protect Boehner's earmark. 

Cravaack's public statements would make it seem like he cares about balancing the federal budget. But his votes to date show a disturbing trend to oppose any funding for programs he ideologically opposes, while lavishly showering arms merchants with hundreds of millions of dollars in handouts. And sadly he has a lot of company on the Hill. The vote on the F-35 engine was a rare victory for common sense: both Obama and House Republican budget bills actually increase military spending while decimating or outright eliminating programs that millions of people depend on. The current budget "debate" between pro-war Democrats and the Tea Party are a ruse. Until people power changes the tide, we'll continue to see resources shifted from common good toward corporate profits and war.

Contact Rep. Chip Cravaack

Take action: Congress to vote on Pentagon cuts

Within a few weeks Congress must pass what's called a continuing resolution to fund the federal government. If the legislation fails, government will shut down. House Republicans are using this opportunity to push drastic cuts to domestic programs and non-military international relations. Alarmingly, their plans include an increase in military spending. This is only a more draconian version of the budget plan put forward by President Obama in his State of the Union address, in which he called for a 5-year freeze on domestic spending even as his administration put forward the largest military budget in history.

This week, Representative Pete Stark (CA) will introduce an amendment to the continuing resolution that would insist that the Pentagon budget be put on the table. Your Congressman needs to know that you support reining in military spending. If you live in Duluth/NE Minnesota, your representative is Chip Cravaack. If you live in Superior or NW Wisconsin, your representative is Sean Duffy. Urge him to support Rep. Pete Stark's amendment to the continuing resolution requiring immediate cuts in the Pentagon budget.


For more information about the amendment, including a list of 10 reasons why military spending should be dramatically reduced, visit Friends Committee on National Legislation.

UMD faculty union denounces FBI attacks on anti-war movement

On January 25th, the Executive Committee of the University Education Association-Duluth (UEA-D) adopted a resolution calling for an end to FBI harassment and grand jury investigations of the Midwest anti-war movement. UEA-D represents nearly 500 faculty members at UMD.

This follows an similar statement from the 17,000-member Duluth Central Labor Body in October. The DCLB was one of the first labor councils in the country to take a stand against federal attacks on our movement. 


Continue to read the text of the UEA-D resolution.

Duluth Peace Park in Rania, Iraq

Here are a few photos of the newly-minted Duluth Peace Park in Rania, Iraq! In the spirit of people-to-people diplomacy, the Duluth-Rania Friendship Exchange has been working to develop a relationship between the two communities since 2009. Last fall, five delegates from Rania visited Duluth as official representatives of their city.

If you live in Duluth and are interested in traveling to Rania with an upcoming delegation, the next planning meeting is this Thursday, February 10, from 7-9pm at the Fireside Room at Peace Church (1111 N 11th Ave E, Duluth).