Hi John,

President Trump’s $45 million birthday military parade is set for this weekend along the National Mall in Washington, D.C. You may have seen coverage of the tanks rolling into the district and wondered, “What will this cost taxpayers like me?”

Here’s a breakdown of just a few of the things that the Trump administration could be doing with that money instead:

About 1 in 5 veterans go to bed hungry each day. The money used for Trump’s birthday parade could provide SNAP food assistance for nearly 18,000 veterans for an entire year.

There’s an estimated 33,000 homeless veterans in the United States. With $45 million, our government could provide housing for nearly 6,500 of these forgotten heroes.

For $45 million, more than 10 million school lunches could be provided, enough to feed 56,000 hungry kids—whose only warm meal each day could be at school—for an entire year.

For $45 million, nearly 3,000 veterans could get GI Bill benefits, showing our nation’s thanks to our brave soldiers with the college or vocational training we promised after their service.

The birthday parade money could pay for 4 million meals through the Meals on Wheels program, enough to cover more than 10,000 seniors facing hunger and isolation for an entire year.

Last weekend, the labor movement joined America’s veterans on the National Mall for a very different rally to highlight the fact that veterans’ jobs, health care and essential services from the Department of Veterans Affairs are all under attack.

Working people need our leaders in power to work for us and put taxpayers’ interests first. A wasteful birthday military parade does nothing to help working families pay our bills, lower our costs or keep our health care.

Thank you for helping us stand up for the needs of working people and all of our families. And keep making those calls to the Senate to stop the cuts to Medicaid, SNAP food assistance, and all the programs that working people depend on. 

In solidarity, 

Team AFL-CIO

Source: Army Says Trump's Military Parade Could Cause $16 Million in Damage to Washington Streets (NBC News)

Text WORK to AFLCIO (235246) to join our text action team. (Message and data rates may apply.)