1. United States
2. Calif.
3. Letter

Vote against Trump's proposed $1.5 trillion Pentagon budget. That $500 billion increase alone could fully fund NOAA and the National Weather Service, restore the Department of Education, rehire every worker gutted from the Forest Service, the National Park Service, and the Bureau of Land Management, and clear the decades of maintenance backlogs Congress has refused to address. It could rebuild USAID and restore America's global investment in health care, education, and diplomacy. Half a trillion dollars could move this country within striking distance of universal health care. These are not fantasy priorities — they are choices. The government has the money. What it lacks is the will to spend it on people instead of defense contractors and weapons systems. Bombs, destruction, and death do not build a stronger America. Funded agencies, healthy communities, and scientific research do. As this country marks 250 years, the question is whether we live up to our stated values or keep shoveling public money into the Pentagon while families, workers, and public lands are left to deteriorate. Vote no on this budget.