December 22, 2021
Congress Approved $778 Billion for the Pentagon. That Means We Can Afford Build Back Better.
Some senators say Biden’s social and climate bill costs too much, but comparing it to the military spending plan they just passed suggests otherwise.
Pamela Garrison, a member of the Poor People’s Campaign West Virginia chapter, addresses supporters of the movement (Photo Rebekah Entralgo)
This week, the families of 61 million children received their final payments under the expanded Child Tax Credit. This credit has kept 10 million children above the poverty line, but it is expiring as the Senate delays a vote to renew it through the Build Back Better Act.
Instead, on the same day these last payments went out, the Senate voted to approve a $778 billion military spending budget — four times as much as the annual cost of the entire Build Back Better plan. Yet we’ve heard endlessly about how it’s Build Back Better that needs to be gutted so we can skimp and save.
Read the full piece at Politico.
Subscribe to our newsletter
Further reading
Articles | Feb 12, 2026
A Worker-Led Alternative to Billionaire-Owned News in DC
A Q&A with two founders of the 51st, a worker-led nonprofit newsroom launched after the closure of the beloved local outlet DCist.
Articles | Feb 12, 2026
ICE Out of Target: Why a Familiar Store Is at the Center of Nationwide Protests
Across the country, people are beginning to ask a hard question: what does it mean to shop at a company that is cooperating with ICE and Border Patrol?
Articles | Feb 10, 2026
Donor-Advised Funds and Foundations Could Eat Up Half of U.S. Individual Gifts by 2028
Charities depend more than ever on donations from our country’s wealthiest donors. Their gifts aren't directly reaching working charities.