Dear Councilmember Sherri Lightner,
I am writing to express my disappointment at your efforts to dramatize the potentially negative effects the reductions in military spending authorized by the US Congress could have on the San Diego economy and for proposing the corresponding resolution in the City Council to oppose them.
Perhaps, you are not familiar with the study conducted by the Political Economy Research Institute titled “The U.S. Employment Effects of Military and Domestic Spending Priorities”. This study concludes that $1 billion spent on domestic priorities will create substantially more jobs within the U.S. economy than would the same $1 billion spent on the military: 1.5 times more in Clean Energy and 2.4 times more in Education. Therefore, spending shifted from the defense to the domestic sectors of the economy will actually create jobs not the other way around.
There is nothing devastating about the proposed cuts in the Military budget: Military spending has sharply risen since the beginning of the War on Terrorism, from $294b in FY 2000 to $716b in FY 2012 (Budget of the United States Government: Historical Tables Fiscal Year 2013, Table 6.1). If mandated cuts go through, military spending will amount to $600b in FY2014, which is still more than was spent on “National Defense” in 2006 at the height of the war in Iraq.
It is important to support the 75% of the people in the local economy not just the 25% working for the military economy.
In light of the above mentioned information could you notify me whether or not you changed your position on the issue and if not why?
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Please copy and paste this letter and send it to Sherri Lightner or your other Councilmember, because the City Council approved the resolution unanimously.
