A. Read me first:

To download* the activity click on "BudgetPriorities.exe" and save to your computer (Windows only).
*large file size may take a long time to download

Then open the activity by double-clicking on the saved file: BudgetPriorities.exe

How this game is set up:  This game is designed to be highly participatory. The goal of the game is not to give answers but to help participants explore the issues and questions for themselves.

Moving around in the activity is described on the pop-up on the first screen of the game:
To move to the next screen, click the mouse anywhere on the right 9/10ths of the screen. 
To move back to the previous screen, click anywhere on the left 1/0th of the screen. 
On a few screens, you are directed to click on a small button provided.

The role of the leader: Because the activity is participatory, the role of the leader is not to direct the group, but to help participants explore issues and questions for themselves.  The leader is thus not    a teacher of information but a facilitator of the process of discovery. This includes several tasks:

1. Making sure everyone can see the screen and read the brief captions and text. Some leaders invite their group members to take turns reading the onscreen text of the activity.
2. Keeping the game moving along, while ensuring everyone has had a chance to absorb each screen.  
3. Giving everyone a chance to share their thoughts.

We would appreciate hearing from you with your comments and suggestions.  General comments are welcome, or use the brief evaluation form online or on the CD.  (You can refer to any frame in the activity by noting the small black number in the upper right hand corner of the frame.)  Your feedback is appreciated.

The Budget Priorities activity and Leaders Guide are available online and from LPF as a CD or in a print version.

B. Overview of the Budget Priorities activity

The Budget Priorities Activity has five sections. Here is an outline of what they contain and approximate amounts of time most groups spend with each.  If you have less than an hour, you may wish to move briskly through parts I, II, and IV to ensure you will be able to give adequate time to the discussion Questions and Next Steps.
    I. Options (4-8 min.) – brief intro to the federal budget and the ways it funds security from external threats
   II. Deciding (10-15 min.) – group activity (if you have less time, you may wish to move a few beans and then ask for participants to share their opinion on how many beans should be on each plate for each of the questions.)
  III. Questions for discussion (8-15 min.) – questions to help a group explore key budget priorities issues
  IV. Complications (4-8 min.) – two dimensions that to expand the group’s perceptions of the issues
 and  Next Steps (10-20 min.) – for most leaders this section is key to encouraging responsible citizen activity

(We would appreciate hearing from you with your comments and suggestions about this Activity. General comments are welcome, or you can fill out a brief evaluation. You can refer to any specific page in the Game by referring to the small black numbers in the upper right hand corner of each page.)

C. Activities for Discussion and Action
Go through the Discussion Questions and Next Steps in the Budget Priorities Game. Here are a few additional questions that with a little preparation ahead of time, you can use to add to what your group is able to explore, or for arranging follow-up sessions.

a. Compare US spending for the military with spending on housing, health, education. For help see: www.nationalpriorities.org, www.sensiblepriorities.org/budget_analysis.htm   www.warresisters.org/piechart.htm

b. Find out how much of the tax dollars in your state go to housing, health, education, the military: locate your state at:  www.nationalpriorities.org

c. Explore inspiring "Wall of Hope" stories and activities on the use of force beyond military action: see       Handout 3: Wall of Hope brochure; longer list in Appendix 2 and at www.LutheranPeace.org 

d. Discuss ways to express your opinion:  talk with friends, share this Budget Priorities Game, contact your elected officials, encourage a community group to host a forum on budget priorities, write a letter to the editor of a local newspaper…

e. Make use of sample letters to elected officials in Handout 1: Taking action for what we believe

f. Examine budget priorities trends over the past few years in Handout 4: Trends and FY 2008  See ten ways of expressing our budget priorities in Handout 5: Top Ten Reasons… Examine alternative priorities: www.nationalpriorities.org/tradeoff  and  www.fpif.org/protected/securitybudget.html

g. Share success stories of conflict resolution (www.cnvc.org), the peace corps (www.peacecorps.gov), development assistance (www.bread.org and  www.lwr.org), or the use of nonviolence to intervene in conflicts (www.nonviolentpeaceforce.org, www.cpt.org)

h. Explore ethical principles regarding security:  see ”It’s Time to Talk…” or the update “We are called to be peacemakers” or “The Invisible Option: Alternatives to War” or “Just War?” or “Shalom! The potential of deeper, distinctly Christian approach to Conflict and Violence” at www.LutheranPeace.org  

i. Examine reports of groups active on budget priorities (for an annotated list of advocacy groups, see Handout 2: Groups that can help   and   Handout 6:  For further information (a research guide)

C-2. Getting Involved      
An example in the activity:  In a democracy, it’s up to us. There are countless instances  of people changing budget priorities.  In this example, citizen groups urged Pres. Bush to increase  development assistance over recent years. He proposed the Millennium Challenge Account and the HIV/AIDS initiative. Four times in recent years, Congressional leaders withdrew funding from them;  each time we lobbied it back in. Now we’re working to hold onto and expand the biggest increase in poverty-based development aid in 20 years. So let’s join with others, learn together, share this budget game, contact our representatives in Congress, talk with our friends, write letters to the editor, and work for a new way of building real security.

Taking action for what we believe

Contacting an elected official: Many people don’t write or e-mail their elected officials because they find it intimidating, or wonder if it makes any difference. Yet, if we don’t do so, our point of view is undercounted. The solution: A simple 4-6 sentence note, written in 5 or 10 minutes. Begin by asking yourself what approach might work best for your particular member of Congress.  Early in your letter state what you want your elected official to do. Add several sentences offering your reasons and perhaps a statistic.  In your last sentence restate what you want and ask for a response.  If you get inspired and write more, fine.  If you want to make the most of your letter, send it to a local newspaper, too!  See Handout 1:  Sample letters on budget priorities

C-3. Groups that can help:
Many citizen groups and advocacy organizations offer a variety of ways for people to act on their beliefs about budget priorities.  For an annotated list of a couple dozen of the most useful groups; most of whom offer additional links,  see Handout 2: Groups that can help

Handout 2 contains a list of education and advocacy groups in these categories:

This is the education and advocacy list.  Handout 4 is the one geared for research.

E-1. Key US Budget Documents…E-2. Sources of Data in Activity
For 2005 to 2007 analyses and spending totals we used figures from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), especially the “Budget” and “Historical Tables” (at www.whitehouse.gov/omb), 2007. Several Dept. of State documents offered help with the various International Affairs (150) figures. The OMB’s “Analytical Perspectives” and “Appendices” as well as agency documents (e.g. Dept. of Defense, Congressional Budget Office) helped fill in other gaps. We are grateful for analysis and staff help from over a dozen think tanks and watchdog groups which added crucial insights (see sections D2 and D3). Here are breakdowns and sources of figures in the 6 areas of spending (the 6 half-plates) of this activity:

1. $694.35 billion: Defense Dept. functions (budget function 051) minus military aid, $548.88 billion; plus Energy Dept. nuclear weapons activity (function 053), $17.88 billion; NASA military programs (250), $3.08 billion; veterans benefits (701 to 705), $72.40 billion; OMB’s “other military programs” (054), $4.11 billion; civilian defense worker health and retirement costs, $47 billion.

2. $8.52 billion includes International Military Education & Training (IMET), $85 million (051). In International Affairs (150)it includes Foreign Military Financing (FMF), $4.45 billion; Economic Support Funds (ESF), $2.60 billion, two military-focused 150 drug war programs: Intn’l Narcotics Control and Law Enforcement (INCLE), $704 million, the Andean Counterdrug Initiative (ACI), $570 million; plus the Anti Terrorism Assistance Program (ATA), $125 million.

3. $6.3 billion includes State Dept. programs and personnel active in conflict resolution, diplomacy, negotiation, and nonproliferation, and the entire US Institute for Peace budget (all in 150).

4. $1.5 billion includes 2 lines in International Affairs, 150:  International Peacekeeping Activities (UN peacekeeping), $1.022 billion; and multinational Peacekeeping Operations, $517 million.

5. $8.35 billion includes all 7 international functions in 150 defined as development assistance by InterAction for the 160 major development groups, plus two programs initiated under President Bush: the Millennium Challenge Account, $1.14 billion, and the HIV/AIDS Initiative (PEPFAR), $1.85 billion. (The 7 programs are: Child Survival and Health, $1.52 billion; Development Assistance, 1.51 billion; Disaster Assistance & Famine Fund, $349 million; Transition Initatives, $34 million; Migration & Refugee Assistance, $750 million, Emergency Refugee & Migr Assistancet, $35 million, and International Organizations and Programs, $289 million.)

6. $320 million is the Peace Corps line in international affairs (budget function 150).

E-3. Articles offering further insight
Alternative military budget, www.fpif.org/protected/securitybudget.html offers a brief summary as well as a more detailed analysis
Explore ethical principles regarding security: see the NCC discussion guide and handout, “Ten Election Year Principles,” www.ncccusa.org/electionyearprinciplesguide.pdf and “What is Christian Peacemaking” members.tripod.com/~lutheran_peace/PP_christian_peacemaking_15.pdf
Analysis of the 2007 budget by Christopher Hellman, www.armscontrolcenter.org/archives/002239.php
For a longer academic paper on what's left out of most military spending figures, see: www.aug.edu/%7Esbajmb/paper-Brunswick.pdf        (you can click on these links on our web site.)

E-6. Sources of Further Information, Sources for this Activity
Each year, hundreds of think tanks, citizen groups, and trade organizations produce analyses on the budget and budget priorities. The following are among the most useful – indeed, it is hard for the average citizen to get much of a perspective on the budget without help from groups like these.  Most offer additional links: 

See handout #6,  For Further Information (a Research Guide)

Handout 4 contains a list of research and analysis sources in these categories:

This is the research lists, see handout #2 for list of education and advocacy sites.

For more information or to order revised versions of this activity, contact Lutheran Peace Fellowship
1710 11th Ave., Seattle, WA 98122 206/720-0313 (1-5 pm), lpf@ecunet.org,  www.LutheranPeace.org