Dear John,
The U.S. military doesn’t belong in the streets of Los Angeles or Washington DC.
But this weekend, President Trump is sending the U.S. military to the streets of Washington DC for a dictator-style parade. And he’s sending U.S. Marines and the National Guard to the streets of Los Angeles for a dictator-style crackdown on protest.
It’s an understatement to say that this is dangerous for our democracy.
And of course, we took a look at what all of this costs.
The president’s military parade will cost $45 million for just a few hours of pomp. As Lindsay Koshgarian writes in Newsweek, we found ten things this administration has cut or threatened to cut - from HIV prevention programs to grants to help end child labor - that could be saved for about $45 million or less.
Then there’s the crackdown in LA. That’s estimated to cost $134 million. That’s enough to keep 716,578 people on food stamps, which the administration is also threatening to cut.
This is a microcosm of the administration’s priorities overall. They want a $1 trillion Pentagon budget at the same time that they want to cut lifesaving programs in the U.S. and around the world. It all amounts to a blatant power grab and a major challenge to both democracy and the sanctity of human life.
In solidarity,
Lindsay, Hanna, and Alliyah