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The new Republican majority in Congress keeps talking about cutting wasteful spending, yet the most wasteful spending imaginable: the Iraq War, the Afghanistan War, and the hugely bloated military budget are exempt because corporate and wealthy donors make money off of that spending.

Here's a chance to turn the GOP's faux deficit hawk bs against them. CODEPINK is asking people to contact their congresscritters and tell them to go after the real wasteful spending. From their Action Alert's Sample Letter:

Your position as my Congressperson at this time in history is a mighty responsibility. That responsibility includes finding a way out of the financial crisis we are in. As you well know, the number one issue on the minds of the American people is our ailing economy. We know that there is heavy pressure on you to slash government spending.

But where should that money come from? Not from social security, Medicare and programs shielding people from the ravages of the economic crisis. The only logical sector to cut is the military budget, which now consumes over 50% of our discretionary spending. Funding for war has created a financial drain that this congressional district and this nation cannot, and should not, pay any longer.

The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan—and the expanding attacks in Pakistan—helped plunge us into this financial crisis and have not made us any safer at home. The U.S. will spend more on the war in Afghanistan this year, adjusting for inflation, than we spent on the Revolutionary War, the War of 1812, the Mexican-American War, the Civil War and the Spanish-American War combined. The United States also spends nearly as much on military power as every other country in the world combined, plus we maintain troops at more than 800 bases around the world—often antagonizing the local people and making us targets for terrorist attacks.

We can’t afford these wars, we can’t win these wars, and they no longer have the support of the American people. We can’t afford to have military bases sprawled all over the world. We can’t afford to keep producing Cold War weapons that we don’t need and merely benefit a handful of weapons manufacturers. It’s time to end these unwinnable, unjustifiable wars and bring our war dollars home to tackle the most strategic task for our national security, rebuilding America.

I also urge you, as my Congressperson, to vote NO on any further war funding appropriations for Iraq and Afghanistan, whether in the FY2011 budget or in "supplemental" bills, in order to redirect this nation‘s resources toward improving our education system, infrastructure, and health care programs.

Please help us make our economy more robust and our nation more secure by bringing our war dollars home and taking a serious look at cutting other parts of our bloated Pentagon budget. We want a military that defends us here at home, not one that makes war overseas. And we want an economy that serves the people, not private military contractors.

Photo: madhavaji

As is the case for any suggested letter in an Action Alert form, it is a good idea for you to rewrite and personalize the letter so the congressmember's office doesn't get the same email over, and over, and over again. I definitely rewrote mine.

Please Take Action!