Ralph Nader Proposes a New Congress Watch Initiative

Fortunately for all of us, Ralph Nader never gives up on developing innovative approaches to making the government more responsible to the American people.  His latest idea, developed  in his book Getting Steamed to Overcome Corporatism, is to develop a nation-wide network of volunteers willing to commit $100 a year and 100 hours of volunteer work dedicated to keeping pressure on their congressmen regarding ending corporate excesses and crime. (Of course, the military budget fuels many of the biggest examples of each.)

You can join the effort at several levels, not having to pay your money and donate your hours until:

 999 other Americans sign the same pledge (the pioneers) 9,999 other Americans sign the same pledge (the founders) 99,999 other Americans sign the same pledge (the drivers) 999,999 other Americans sign the same pledge (the critical massers)

I've signed up as a pioneer. You, too, can purchase Nader's book and sign the pledge, at the level of your choice, by clicking on:  http://csrl.org/

Please sign up and help this idea catch fire.

Guest Blogger Katherine Zager Examines Connecticut's Defense Establishment

                                                          The State of Connecticut

                                    

I have a complicated relationship with the defense industry in my home state of Connecticut. Currently, Connecticut ranks 5^th among all states in defense contract expenditures.  I know that building the tools of war and selling them to the government is what feeds and clothes many of Connecticut’s workers. But in the long term, this unimaginative industry has serious consequences for Connecticut, the U.S., and all people. Having worked as a lobbyist for a year now, both on the state level in Connecticut and on the national level in DC, I know the immediate pressure lawmakers feel to protect the specific people and businesses they’ve been elected to represent.  It would be hard to find a politician who really loves that the U.S. spent (or borrowed) $100 billion on the war in Afghanistan in 2011. But it’s easy to find one who is pleased that defense contractors in his district are profiting from war.

The issue of drones exemplifies this contradiction between what some legislators see as a business opportunity and what others see as a destructive step towards an institutionally militarized foreign policy, not to mention a complete reshaping of the popular conception of morality in warfare. There is a congressional caucus dedicated solely to encouraging the use and development of drones. The U.S. House Unmanned Systems Caucus is a congressional caucus whose goal is to “educate members of Congress and the public on the strategic, tactical, and scientific value of unmanned systems; actively support further development and acquisition of more systems, and to more effectively engage the civilian aviation community on unmanned system use and safety.” Meanwhile, the ongoing use of surveillance drones in Iraq by the U.S. State Department has angered Iraqis and been perceived as an “affront to Iraqi sovereignty.” The heavily-reported downed U.S. drone in Iran has been so meaningful for Iranians that one Iranian business reportedly makes 2,000 replicas of the drone per day to meet consumer demand.  Whether they are armed or not, drones tend to instill fear and resentment where they are used. Much can be said about drones, but suffice it to say that the foreign policy implications of our increased use of drones ought to be weighed with grave concern, rather than viewed as an opportunity to please a defense contractor in one’s district.

Joe Courtney is currently the only CT representative who is a member of the Unmanned Systems Caucus.

     

  RQ-1 / MQ-1 Predator  - Remote Piloted Aircraft

When we vote for someone to represent us in Washington, we do so with the hope that they will keep our interests in mind, but also that they will use the stores of information available to them to act as responsibly as possible on a national and global scale.  For me, that means prioritizing global and national stability over local industry.  After all, without peace, industry is irrelevant.

How can those of us working for Connecticut’s defense contractors support ourselves financially while also urging our lawmakers to legislate for peace, rather than merely look for opportunities to create more defense jobs?  (As my FCNL colleague Patrick Lozada recently pointed out, Einstein is quoted as saying “You cannot simultaneously prevent and prepare for war.”)

To read about how Obama’s proposed Pentagon cuts will affect CT’s defense contractors, see Ana Radalat’s recent CT Mirror article: ‘Military overhaul to have mixed impact on Connecticut’s defense industry”

To read about working as a drone pilot, see this troubling article from NPR.