BRING OUR WAR $$ HOME!

The Bring Our War $$ Home campaign is directly inspired by CODEPINK's mission statement:

"…to end U.S. funded wars and occupations, to challenge militarism globally, and to redirect our resources into health care, education, green jobs and other life-affirming activities."
CODEPINK's BOW$H campaign had a national victory in 2011 when the US Conference of Mayors passed our War Dollars Home resolution, the first such resolution since the Vietnam War, showing civic leaders' (and their constituents') desire for our taxes to be spent on domestic needs, not endless war.

The 2013 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), at over $600 billion for a single year, consumes nearly 60% of the entire federal discretionary budget during a bleak period when the US economy suffers from record levels of long-term unemployment, home foreclosures, college student indebtedness, and deep cuts to education and social services. The so-called "fiscal cliff" is a mostly media-driven crisis, but the drain of US taxpayers' hard-earned money away from genuine needs, and into the coffers of war profiteers, is a long-lasting structural economic problem. For a brief, clever explanation of the federal budget and war costs, please watch and share "The Story of Broke" on the right above
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TAKE ACTION!

1. Spread our message
Communicate to your community how military spending leads to cuts in domestic programs:

  • Download the War Dollars Home Flyer (pdf) and pass it out at school board meetings, civic events, panel discussions on economic matters - wherever people are considering where their tax dollars go, or should go.
  • NEW! Bring this sign-up sheet to rallies and events to gather signatures of support for this campaign. Use it to build your own local group and listserv, and to build CODEPINK's national email list.
  • Need one or more banners? Buy these popular, all-weather banners in a variety of six different but related messages.
  • Write letters to the editor of your local newspaper, linking news articles about city and state budget crises, school cutbacks or other local issues to the tax dollars drained from your community to fund wars and militarism.

2. Reach Out
Contact your senators and member of Congress with a general Bring Our War $$ Home message. Call 202-224-3121 and ask for your member of Congress or senator by name. Or use our Letter to Congress tool.

3. Pass a Bring Our War $$ Home resolution in your city.
Dozens of city councils have passed these resolutions, and it's a great way to get the war dollars home message out to your neighbors, local elected officials and local/regional media. Here's how:

  • Print out a flyer with key points about the effects of military spending on your local budget.
  • Use the National Priorities Project website to find data outlining the cost of wars to your state, city, county, school district or even zip code.
  • Download the Bring Our War $$ Home template resolution.
  • Edit this template to include your city's specific information on war funding. (You may also consider adding information about the $3 billion in military aid the US gives Israel annually, enabling the occupation of Palestine.)
  • Gather signatures, hold one or more public events to build support, and take it to your city council.
  • For more info and great tips, see this toolkit.

4. Penny Poll on Real People's Economic Priorities
This is a fun activity to do at a farmers' market, in front of a post office or any popular community spot.
Here's your "recipe":

  • Assemble 100 - 200 pennies, and set up a table with "Penny Poll" sign, coins and jars.
  • Give participants 10 pennies to distribute among 5 glass jars labeled: Education, Environment, Health Care, Housing, Military.
  • Have a Bring Our War $$ Home sign-up sheet available so people can sign up to receive email alerts on these issues.
  • Invite the local media!
  • During the penny poll, greet reporters and photographers and help them get interviews and photos.
  • Afterward, send out another press release providing results of the action - including the results of your penny poll.
  • Or, send a letter to the editor of your local paper, announcing the results.

5. Use online/social media

  • When you read an article online about the federal budget, the "fiscal cliff", the costs of war, or related issues, go to the comments section and add your thoughts.
  • Follow @WarDollarsHome on Twitter, and/or use your own twitter account to post links to articles of interest, and your opinions on war spending.
  • Let your Facebook friends know your thoughts, and make suggestions about actions they can take.

For your inspiration:

See the gallery of nearly 1,000 photos from our Make __ Not War campaign.

"It isn't enough to talk about peace. One must believe in it. And it isn't enough to believe in it. One must work at it."
—Eleanor Roosevelt

“Not only is another world possible, she is on her way. On a quiet day, I can hear her breathing.”
—Arundhati Roy