Over 100 people took the “Penny Poll” on May 14 at the Walpole Peace and Justice Group booth at Walpole Day. The poll gave participants the opportunity to “vote” how they would allocate the U.S. Federal discretionary budget and how their taxes would be spent. The U.S. discretionary budget covers Federal spending that is allocated as part of the budget process as opposed to programs that are established by laws, like Social Security and Medicare. Each person was given 10 pennies that they could put in 12 jars representing the major U.S. Federal budget areas like education, transportation, and military spending. The number of pennies was counted by jar to give the vote.
The results of the penny poll at Walpole Day had people voting to “give” 18% of the U.S. discretionary budget to Education, 11% to Energy and Environment, 11% to Veterans Benefits, and 10% to Housing and Community. Military spending got 7% in the poll compared to 54% for the actual 2017 budget. The United States spends more on the military than the next eight countries combined.
The next meeting of the Walpole Peace and Justice Group is on Wednesday, May 30, at 7:00 p.m. in the Community Room at the Walpole Public Library. There will be a presentation on the Poor People’s Campaign with video highlights of the Boston rallies held on May 14 through May 28. The Poor People’s Campaign is a National Call for Moral Revival and is calling on people across the country “to challenge the evils of systemic racism, poverty, the war economy, ecological devastation and the nation’s distorted morality.” The meeting is open to the public.
