MomThink.org is a public awareness campaign dedicated to educating mothers about important issues that will impact their children today and in the future. It is a project of Intellectual Takeout, a non-profit, non-partisan think tank. Before I tell you more, let’s take care of that gorilla in the room and talk politics briefly.
Yes, if you read through all of the information at Intellectual Takout, you’ll find a point of view that is right of center.
No, MomThink.org is not about politics, lobbying, or elections. It’s about education.
And now what you really want to know (she writes sarcastically…). I personally fall both left and right of center depending on the subject. Generally I’m fiscally conservative and socially very liberal. Those far to the left usually berate me for being conservative, and conservatives have been know to call me a flaming liberal.
Now that we’ve taken care of that, we can focus on what really matters – educating folks about the national debt.
The Orange Couch
When I moved into my first apartment in 1998, my parents gave me an eight piece sectional circa 1984 with burnt orange velor fabric. That phenomenally heavy Goliath of a couch served its time in that apartment for two years before making the journey to my first apartment with my then fiance, now husband. It again moved when we bought our townhouse and in 2003, the orange beast set up shop in the family room of our first single family home. Sometime between moving into our home and having our second child, I decided that enough was enough. Our family was fiscally fit, our daughter was not a furniture destroyer, and I wanted to – gasp! -purchase my own sectional. Preferably one that was not orange.
But we didn’t.
Instead I went with my great aunt to an upholstery fabric store, bought green pre-washed denim on sale, and turned my dining room into a third world quality factory. By the time my son was born I had completely recovered the orange beast and today our lovely green sectional furnishes our rec room.
The National Debt
Somewhere along the way our nation decided that it’s better to throw away completely useful orange couches and borrow money to buy gorgeous leather sectionals from overpriced furniture stores. Yes, this is a horrible oversimplification of the fiscal crisis our country is facing, but the point is this. The lessons that many of us learned and still follow in our own homes today are seemingly being ignored by our nation’s leaders.
Check it out:
- Currently the National Debt is more than 14 trillion dollars
- In 2010 Congress spent 1.3 trillion dollars more than it budgeted
- Congress raised the debt ceiling six times since 2006 and may again this spring
- Congress borrows 38 cents of every dollar it spends
- To pay off the National Debt it would cost every taxpayer $125,000. That’s 125 leather sectionals
What You Can Do
Now it’s time to share the resources we gathered on this fact finding mission, including:
House Democrats Re: the Economy
Balanced Budget Amendment Caucus
You can also check out the latest MomThink.org video:
So now that you’re thinking…what do you think?
MomThink Bloggers
Disclosure: I am a paid consultant to the MomThink.org communications team. I was not required to write nor compensated for writing this post. I was not compensated for my participation in this week’s events nor were my travel expenses covered. Bloggers participating in this program are independent bloggers and their opinions are their own. They have not been compensated for their participation. Their travel and related expenses were paid.