Business Leaders for Sensible Priorities (BLSP) is a nonprofit organization composed of 700 business leaders. In late 2008 the organization became a project of the Center for American Progress (CAP) and was put under the direction of Krisila Benson. The campaign's goal is to shift taxpayer money away from military programs to social programs like education, healthcare, alternative energies, and deficit reduction.
The Business Leaders for Sensible Priorities is supported by distinguished retired generals, admirals and defense planners from Republican and Democratic administrations who have urged cuts in American defense spending to provide funding for social and economic programs.[1] Membership include prominent business leaders and former military officers and advisors like Lawrence Korb, retired Vice Admiral Jack Shanahan, Ted Turner, Paul Newman, R. Warren Langley, Frank Spinney, and Stansfield Turner. Business Leaders for Sensible Priorities was founded by Ben Cohen, co-founder of Ben and Jerry's.
Ben Cohen explains the discretionary budget using Oreo cookies[2] and the U.S.’s nuclear stockpile using BBs.[3]
The United States of America will be a more sustainable society when we eliminate wasteful defense spending and instead invest in the foundations of a strong economy and a prosperous and productive future, by enhancing areas such as education, healthcare and green infrastructure. The role of Business Leaders for Sensible Priorities is to leverage the credibility of business leaders on fiscal issues to draw the attention of policy decision makers, the media and the public to how the federal budget is currently allocated and help to create a climate where changed budget priorities can become a reality.[4]