Friends,

Abolitionists beware!  It would be easy to go through an entire bottle of ibuprofen (not in one sitting of course) while attempting to make any sense of all the analysis of the U.S. Fiscal Year 2012 Budget!  As for the “defense” budget the great shell game continues.  It gives peacemakers a tremendous headache.

As for issues of a nuclear nature, actions speak even louder than numbers.  While it is easy to get sidetracked by the figures (and I don’t mean to discount the costs; they ARE important), it is crystal clear from the projects currently in the works and those on the planning table that the U.S. Government’s focus is  much like a horse with blinders – Can you say “DETERRENCE?”

Our political team spent a couple of days last week making the rounds of key congressional offices to strategize, feel out the new political landscape, and push for action on ending the war in Afghanistan, taking further steps to eliminate the threat of nuclear weapons, and building out the development and diplomatic tools we need to deal with conflict peacefully.

Being so early in the year, and with committee assignments not even settled yet, there was still a lot up in the air. Here are a few of the interesting questions that surfaced and that will inform our organizing and lobbying in 2011.

Who will triumph in one of the last big political battles of 2010? The Republicans, Democrats, security experts, military officials and 73% of the American public who support ratifying New START? Or Senator Jon Kyl and his right wing cronies who are playing partisan politics with nuclear security?

You can help determine the outcome. Click here to tell your senators you want them to vote yes on New START and to do it now.

Sen. Kyl says Republicans need more time to think about this treaty. But in the year since the last START treaty expired, the Senate has held 21 hearings on New START and the administration has answered more than 900 questions from Republicans. Every reasonable national security expert has come out in favor of this treaty. There is no excuse for delaying an agreement that helps decrease the threat from nuclear weapons.

This past Tuesday was a rough election for many people, including supporters of a more peaceful foreign policy. While we know that there will be many more proponents of the war in Afghanistan and increased military spending in Congress, there are still a lot of questions about what specific challenges we face, and what opportunities will arise that we can take advantage of to move our agenda.

Sen. Jon Kyl (R-AZ) gazes adoringly at a nuclear weapon

While the media was obsessed with its favorite kidnapping story, they have failed to notice that Senator Jon Kyl (R-AZ) has been holding our security hostage by using partisan tactics to delay ratification of New START in exchange for $10 billion in ransom money for the nuclear weapons complex.

From the beginning, we knew that false claims about the need to “modernize” our nuclear arsenal (read: build new nuclear weapons) would enter into the debate around New START and the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty. Despite scientific evidence that current programs in place can safely maintain our arsenal as we reduce its size, Jon Kyl and other members of Congress are trying to argue that the exorbitant amount of money the Obama administration is allocating to the nuclear weapons complex is insufficient.