When you are struggling to keep the kids entertained during the summer, worrying about whether you actually remembered to take the sandwich out of the refrigerator and put it in your child's lunch box this morning, or engaging in a Worldwide Wrestling match to reapply sun screen on your child, the debt ceiling debates taking place in Washington D.C. can seem far, far away.

But, this is no time for moms and dads to let down our guard because you can bet that the pinstriped corporate lobbyists are working round the clock to make sure that their clients' interests are constantly represented at the bargaining table.

And that clock is ticking.

Right now our President and our Congressional leaders are in high-stakes, closed-door meetings hammering out how we are going to deal with our country's debt by the August 2nd debt ceiling deadline.  At stake in these negotiations is health care for more than 1 in 3 of our nation's kids, as well as critical education and nutrition programs that are an investment in our children’s future. [1]

Tell Congress and the President to stand with our kids, not corporate lobbyists!

http://action.momsrising.org/letter/budget4kids3/

Moms and dads know that if you don't treat children's health issues early, they will develop into much more serious and expensive health problems later. A deficit reduction strategy that cuts the health coverage for one-third of our nation's children just makes no sense.

Moreover, many of the same leaders who propose cutting health care coverage for our most vulnerable children and seniors insist that our nation has enough money in our federal budget to spend billions to give tax breaks for millionaires. These leaders think they should ignore bi-partisan recommendations to cut nearly a trillion dollars of unnecessary defense spending, and should continue providing $40 billion in giveaways to Big Oil at a time when oil companies are making record profits on sky-high gas prices.[2,3]

We're not buying it!

Stand up at your desk/kitchen sink/carpool lane (ok, don't stand in your car) and send a letter NOW to Congress and the President to prevent massive cuts and save health care coverage for vulnerable kids, people with disabilities, and seniors.

http://action.momsrising.org/letter/budget4kids3/

Together we can help our leaders stay strong and create a budget that cuts the deficit and ensures our children's future.

[1] First Focus, Fact Sheet June 13, 2011
[2] Center on Budget & Policy Priorities, Fact Sheet, April 8, 2011
[3] Sustainable Defense Task Force, Debt, Deficits, and Defense Report, June 11, 2010 (PDF)