Brave New Foundation Releases 'How Would You Spend $1 Trillion?'

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 26, 2010
3:22 PM


CONTACT: Brave New Foundation
Martha de Hoyos
[phone], ext. 225
[e-mail]


Brave New Foundation Releases 'How Would You Spend $1 Trillion?' to Highlight $1 Trillion Spent on Iraq and Afghanistan Wars
“How Would You Spend $1 Trillion” Comes on the Eve of Memorial Day Following One Thousand American Deaths in the War in Afghanistan

LOS ANGELES - May 26 - Brave New Foundation and the National Priorities Project team up to remind Americans that on May 30th, the cost of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq is expected to reach one trillion dollars. This comes on the eve of an especially noteworthy Memorial Day, as the country has recently surpassed one thousand deaths of American soldiers serving in Afghanistan.

To convey the true costs of a sum of money as large as $1 trillion, Brave New Foundation has created "How Would You Spend $1 Trillion," an online short and application, to highlight the massive cost of war and contrast it with the benefits that Americans could be spending that funding on instead, such as job creation, education, and health care.

To view the application and video, please click below:

http://act.bravenewfilms.org/go/130?akid=1108.29662.niH0eH&t=3 <1>

"When one trillion dollars are spent on the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, it is very telling of our national priorities. Those trillion dollars could pay for a year of health care for 300 million Americans, Pell grants for 188 million students, or 8 million units of affordable housing; the list goes on and on. The trade offs are especially difficult to digest given the current economic recession the country is facing." Jo Comerford, Executive Director, National Priorities Project

"The amount of money that we've spent on these wars is tragic. With people losing their jobs and homes, our inability to provide basic healthcare to everyone, and a struggling economy, it is unfathomable that we have instead spent one trillion dollars on these two wars that are not making us any more secure. We need to get our priorities straight." Robert Greenwald, Director, Rethink Afghanistan



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http://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2010/05/26-15