Ben

Hi, I'm Ben Cohen, Co-Founder of Ben and Jerry's. Welcome to my MySpace page. I want to take this opportunity to tell you about an organization I founded in 1997, Business Leaders for Sensible Priorities. www.sensiblepriorities.org Our mission is to change the federal budget priorities of our nation. Currently we are spending more then half of our discretionery budget on the Pentagon alone, while each year crucial social programs like healthcare and education go underfunded year after year.

I think it is about time our nation stops spending money on obseolete weapons systems and maintaining an ridiculous large nuclear stockpiles and invest that money in the children and future our nation. Over 9 million children are unisured in this nation. In education, our students rank 14th in world in math and sciences. We consume oil and our natural resources without any regard for the future. We stand idly by while millions of children go hungry each year.

A group of prominent military advisors has shown us how to eliminate $60 Billion from the Pentagon budget and still maintain strong defensive military. By eliminating the waste we can invest the saving into social programs that reflect the values of our nation without raising taxes one dime.

• Retrain a quarter million laid-off workers &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp $5 Biilion/year
• Enhance Homeland Security &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp $5 Biilion/year
• Provide healthcare for all uninsured US kids &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp $10 Biilion/year
• Cut America's dependence on oil b 50% over 10 years &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp $10 Biilion/year
• Rebuild America's schools over 12 years &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp $10 Biilion/year
• Save 6 million starving kids a year in poor countries &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp $13 Biilion/year
• Eliminate cuts in life-saving medical research&nbsp &nbsp &nbsp $2 Biilion/year
• Begin reducing the national debt &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp $5 Biilion/year

Also check out these branch off organizations that are rally around the same issues.

Iowans for Sensible Priorities is a grassroots project of Business Leaders for Sensible Priorities. With the First-in-the-Nation Caucuses, Iowans play a vital role in the process of selecting our Presidential nominees. This unique opportunity allows us access to potential and current elected officials, the national press, and most importantly… drive the debate. Polling in Iowa shows that once people know how their federal budget is sliced up, they want change./
The Priorities New Hampshire campaign harnesses their unique stance in the primary election and the respected voices of business, military, religious and political leaders; creative marketing; professional public relations; and grassroots advocacy to show NH citizens how their federal tax dollars are spent and to give them the tools to demand sensible spending priorities.

TrueMajoirty is a grassroots organization I started to take this issue and the many other critical issues facing our nation. It has a national membership exceeding 550,000 that is committed to the following principles.

TrueMajority Principles: ( click here for a full description of each principle)

1. Attack poverty and world hunger as if our life depends on it. It does.
2. Champion the rights of every child, woman & man.
3. End our obstructionism to the world's treaties.
4. Reduce our dependence on oil and lead the world to an age of renewable energy.
5. Close the book on the Cold War and ease the nuclear nightmare.
6. Renounce Star Wars and the militarization of space.
7. Make globalization work for, not against, working people.
8. Ensure equal treatment under law for all.
9. Get money out of politics.
10. Close the gap between rich and poor kids at home.