Families Online Magazine

My vision is a world of compassion where caring for and empowering children and their families around the world is the first priority of nations. – Octavia Allis

From Mothers Acting Up

5 Questions to ask EVERY elected leader and candidate

Ask these questions whether you’re at a Town Meeting, a cookie drop off or on a Field Trip with fellow community members and a great raft of children. For more information: www.mothersactingup.org.

1. World leaders have committed themselves to the 8 Millennium Development Goals, the most universally agreed to framework for ending extreme poverty. Will you vote for full funding of our country’s promise to contribute .7 percent of our GNP to the Millennium Development Goals?

2. In order to address the growing threat of global warming, scientists tell us that we need to reduce global warming emissions by an average of 2 percent each year through the middle of the century – achieving 80 percent reductions by 2050. Do you have a plan to meet these or other targets? (source: www.heatison.org.)

3. Our military budget is as big as all other countries’ military budgets combined. Will you support shifting 15 percent of our military budget into preventative programs that provide human security, e.g. funding the health, education and safety of the world’s children? (Warning: This question may cause discomfort, squirming and/or drowsiness.)

4. What do you consider the most serious issue facing future generations? How are you addressing that issue?

5. Will you create a new issue page on your Web site dedicated to the Wellbeing of the World’s Children?

Voting

A critical element of Acting Up is VOTING. First step: make sure you, your friends & relations, your colleagues and the woman in front of you in the grocery line are registered to vote. Visit www.vote-smart.org to register and to get your hands on voter registration cards. Or go to www.rockthevote.org, if you’re really hip (you know you are). Pass out voter registration cards WHEREVER you go: ballgames, subways, school meetings, etc. The week before Election Day, get together with friends and discuss the candidates and the ballot issues. Don’t be shy about not knowing everything – that’s what questions are for. Remember to vote in your State's presidential Primary and on Tuesday, November 4, 2008, encourage EVERYONE TO VOTE! Offer rides, babysitting, your opinion and chocolate.

Our foremothers worked for more than 70 years for the privilege to vote. Honor their voices and the lives of the world’s children. Children need your vote, mothers.

Be an informed voter: Visit these Web sites for voter scorecards (how elected leaders have voted on issues relating to the Mother Agenda) and information on U.S. candidates: www.heatison.org, www.onevote08.org.