Does the U.S. Spend Too Much on Its Military? Waltham Concerned Citizens Says Yes

WALTHAM, MA – Last month, local advocacy group Waltham Concerned Citizens took aim at President Trump's immigration. Now, its sights are set on military spending.

WCC will hold a peace vigil on Saturday, March 4 from 11 a.m. to noon on the Waltham Common to call attention to what specifically the government spends its budget on to arm the military.

According to the group, the United States spends more on its military than the next seven countries combined and accounts for more than one-third of military expenditures globally. With the president's announced intention to increase the military budget, WCC argues that other funds, such as the National Endowment for the Arts, environmental protection and public broadcasting may be vulnerable.

The group is also pushing for the nation's resources to be better used to create more jobs – according to WCC, every $1 billion spent on education would create more than twice as many jobs as spending the same amount on the Pentagon.

WCC was founded in 1981, initially to call for a nuclear weapons freeze. It has since expanded to other issues, including U.S. intervention in Iraq, Central America, Afghanistan and the Middle East, affordable housing, civil liberties and the environment. It holds regular peace vigils on the first and third Saturdays of every month.

Photo of WCC's protest against immigration policy submitted