Anti-Drone protest targets Boeing Company; anti-War Activists add Chicago to a National Campaign Against Drone War

When Boeing came to Chicago, most thought the city was gaining a company that made domestic airliners. The Sequester brought out the real Boeing: the second largest arms manufacturer in the U.S., and a corporation dependent on government contracts.

Boeing just reported that CEO W. James McNerny received a 20% raise in 2012, to $27.5 million a year, as he competes with other top arms manufacturers for the military’s unmanned aircraft budget. This year, the Navy is asking for designs for a new combat drone, and Boeing is expected to propose its “Phantom Ray.”

To keep its stock in the black, McNerny has also become a leader in the lobbying effort called “Fix the Debt.” Claiming to have a “comprehensive plan to fix our long-term debt and deficits,” the aim of Boeing (with $25.1 billion in defense contracts) is to maintain the spending on wars—$700 billion in the 2013 budget, which is 60% of discretionary funding. In addition, to safeguard its share of domestic spy drone spending, this week Boeing helped kill a Republican proposed law to regulate drones in Washington State.

Boeing the corporate welfare recipient gets help from Chicago politicians as well, gaining$63 million in tax breaks to move here. Now Mayor Emanuel has made the Riverside Plaza, where Boeing sits, a Tax Increment Financing (TIF) district. As a result, taxes paid on their building don’t go to the benefit of the children in the Chicago Public Schools.

This month, a coalition of anti-war groups across the US is holding actions against drone war. Drones became highly controversial because the Obama administration has used them to assassinate American citizens in Yemen, and because their use is officially a secret kept from Congress and the people of the U.S.

According to Kait McIntyre of the Anti-War Committee, “In Pakistan, where they have been most heavily used, the majority of their victims are not combatants on the U.S. ‘kill list,’ but civilians, including many children.”

Looking at the current crisis of school closings in Chicago, McIntyre added, “We need to cut the Pentagon and the war budget in order to have money for schools, jobs and healthcare. ” She added that “Boeing is our poster child for military spending.”

The protest will be held Saturday, April 6th, 12:30 pm at Washington & Wacker

For more info: Joe Iosbaker, 773-301-0109, Kait McIntyre, 815-988-8631.