Deficit expert says Pentagon hides true extent of Military Spending; Human Rights violations found at farms of two Publix tomato suppliers

By Rob Lorei

There is a lot of concern about government spending and the federal deficit, with many people pointing the finger at social programs like SNAP.And while there has been many attempts to curtail access and use of SNAP benefits, which is mostly used by the elderly, disabled and for children, there has been little scrutiny into the most expensive area of government spending: The military. Our first  guest on Radioactivity Thursday said that the Pentagon is deliberately try to shield the true extent of our military budget from the public. He was William Hartung who is the Director of the Arms and Security Project at the Center for International Policy. He’s also the author of the book PROPHETS OF WAR: Lockhead Martin and the Making of the Military Industrial Complex.

Then we spoke to Santiago Perez and Patricia Cipollitti from the Coalition of Immokalee Workers  about human rights abuses  that were uncovered at tomato farms that supply the Publix supermarket chain. The Department of Labor found that two suppliers with farms in the Tampa Bay and West Palm Beach areas discriminated amongst farm workers, committed wage theft, and concealed the presence of some workers by keeping seperate payrolls. CIW and other fair food supporters will be protesting at the Publix Greenwise Market Thursday night at 8 pm.