Do you ever wake up and think, “Well, now, this is completely absurd?”

Today is one of those days, because some members of Congress have decided that attempting to deny millions of people healthcare coverage is more important than lost paychecks, access to education and food for our children, or even just keeping our national parks open.

This is craziness.

And, while it may seem like all this craziness is just about the Affordable Care Act, there is also a bigger fight brewing about the budget.  The shutdown occurred in the first place because Congress failed to pass a federal budget this year. And now as the budget debate continues, in the coming weeks we’ll continue to see growing serious threats to programs that are essential for families and for our national economy like SNAP (food stamps), Medicaid, Head Start, WIC, child care, and more.

This is not a political game. Extremist members of Congress are acting like children when they should be standing up for our kids!

Tell Congress: Stop the madness. Stop balancing the budget on the backs of children while big corporations and the wealthy continue to receive outsized tax breaks: action.momsrising.org/sign/protectkidsinbudget/

Children were the silent victims of our last economic downturn. One in four children in America now lives in poverty. And while children are nearly a quarter of our population, only 8 percent of our nation’s budget is currently spent on kids—and this investment has dropped over the past three years! Now these investments are in even more jeopardy.

Our children have suffered cut after cut, some missing meals with nearly 1 in 4 children experiencing food insecurity. At the same time, wealthy individuals and corporations have continued life as usual and not had to cut back.

These crazy antics will continue unless America’s families speak up!

Don’t forget to take a moment now to tell Congress to stop the madness: action.momsrising.org/sign/protectkidsinbudget/

It’s time for everyone to stand up for hard working families and for our nation’s leaders to create a budget that places our children’s future as a top priority.

P.S. We would also love to hear about your experience with programs in the budget and why you think their funding needs to be protected. Your voice is so important in this fight!