Earlier this year, Congress approved a $168 billion economic stimulus
package that aimed to provide a temporary boost to the economy through
handing out checks to the masses. Many presidents are tempted to try
to stimulate the economy in this way. While Bush did it recently, our
next president might try it, too. The package was a bipartisan
compromise, but critics have spoken from both sides. While some feel
that granting a tax rebate to hardworking Americans will help ease the
strain of troubled economic times, others, including myself, argue
that it is a short-term solution to a long-term problem.

Inherent in the foundation of Bush’s stimulus package is the idea that
money is the antidote to all of our social problems. What is missing
from this equation is the reverence of community and tangible social
support that the Bush administration has slowly but surely eroded in
the last eight years through slashing funding for social service
programs all over the United States.

If issuing stimulus checks is a flawed remedy, what would a long-term
solution look like? The answer is simple: committing to the overall
health of families is the key to securing a favorable economic future.
A stimulus package for mothers would be a holistic, progressive move
toward supporting healthy communities, and strengthening the social
networks that are crucial to the positive development of our children.

The online, grassroots organization for building a true
family-friendly America is MomsRising.org. The foundation of their work is manifested in the M.O.T.H.E.R. acronym, which calls for, among other things, maternity and paternity leave, open and flexible work,
reliable after-school programs, and healthcare for all children. These
resources are crucial to communities and have the power to allow
parents to simultaneously build careers and families, without having
to sacrifice one at the expense of the other.

If reliable childcare was available to all families, extra money would
not be needed to help pay for a past-due day-care bill. If basic
healthcare was provided for all American children, the government
would not have to issue a check to help parents pay for astronomical
costs of check-ups and routine medical care. If parents had
family-friendly, flexible work schedules, moms and dads would not have
to worry about sacrificing a day of pay to tend to the needs of a sick
child or other family emergency.

Imagine what $168 billion could accomplish for our families if we
committed to a real economic stimulus package–one that stimulated
parenthood, rather than proposed a fleeting solution to a problem that
is here to stay. We need well-rounded and educated kids to help solve
the problems that we are creating for the future. Building a
family-friendly America is possible, if we look to long term,
community-oriented solutions, rather than near-sighted political
gimmicks that may seem appealing at first, but ultimately do more harm
than good.

A Peaceful Revolution is a blog about innovative ideas to strengthen America’s families through public policies, business practices, and cultural change. Done in collaboration with MomsRising.org, read a new post on the Huffington Post each week.