Editorial

Your emails and calls to Congress and President Bush were successful, you helped 500,000 low-income pregnant women, infants, and children who receive needed baby formula, milk, cheese, eggs, cereals, peanut butter, or dried beans peas, and fruit or vegetable juices through the Women, Infants and Children program (WIC).

It also included continuing funding for the CHIPS- Thank you for signing onto the petition to fund the Children's Health Insurance Program( CHIPS) program!

Thanks to those of you who:

Tried A Oreck Vacuum and generated a $50 Donation to Cure Cancer

Generated $3 to Susan G. Komen for Breast Cancer Cures for every pink Sport Armband you bought.

Downloaded a free eCookbook and generated a $1 donation to fight hunger

Participated in the Seventh Generation program to donate feminine products to a Women's Shelter in your state.

You helped make the world a better place in 2008!

Families Online Magazine is pleased to provide our reader opportunities to help those in need. if you know of a way we can help get the word out, please contact us

You Can Help Now!

AT&T has announced a new text messaging program that will support the USO -- and U.S. military families -- with free prepaid phone cards. The program launches at the AT&T Cotton Bowl in Dallas. Beginning Jan. 1, and running through March 31, 2008, customers can make a $2 donation in support of the USO by text messaging USO to short code 740 from their AT&T wireless devices. In addition to text messaging, anyone wishing to support the effort can donate online at http://www.uso.org/cottonbowl08.

President Bush’s plan to veto the Agriculture Appropriations bill will cause 500,000 low-income pregnant women, infants, and children to be denied needed baby formula, milk, cheese, eggs, cereals, peanut butter, or dried beans peas, and fruit or vegetable juices.

The Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) program faces budget cuts, a program which provides nutritious foods, counseling on healthy eating, and health care referrals to low-income pregnant and postpartum women, infants, and children under age five who are at nutritional risk.

The WIC program has been proved to reduce infant deaths, pre-mature births, and decreases low birth weight births by up to 25 percent, WIC has reduced the prevalence of childhood anemia and is more effective than food stamps or other cash income in improving preschoolers' intake of key nutrients. WIC also contributed significantly to improved rates of childhood immunization and regular medical care. Data suggest that WIC can act as a gateway, guiding low-income women and children to additional services such as immunization, smoking cessation programs, and parental counseling. In addition to these health benefits, WIC services also save the federal government an estimated $337 million by reducing expenditures for Medicaid, disabled children, and special education.

Increased food costs for dairy and fresh fruits and vegetables in 2007 is causing more low-income families to turn to the WIC program for assistance, The program serves 8.48 million women, infants, and children. If Congress adopted the President’s proposed budget, 510,000 participants would be denied services. The bill adopted by the Senate Appropriations Committee provides $5.720 billion, or $333 million more than the President’s proposal and the House version of bill would serve approximately 270,000 more WIC participants than the President’s proposed funding level but still leads to cut in the program.

WHAT’S BEHIND THE BUDGET BATTLES BETWEEN THE PRESIDENT AND CONGRESS? (see bottom of this item)

As part of President Bush’s strategy of reducing domestic spending so there is enough money to pay for the Iraq war, he is threatening to veto both the House and Senate version of the Agriculture bill, demanding that they fund the program at his requested level, even though his own staff acknowledges that they did not take into consideration increasing food costs causing more families to be in need.

Congress is now working on an Omnibus Appropriations Bill that would “split the difference” between the levels the President seeks for domestic funding bills and the levels Congress has approved. If Congress sets the WIC funding level halfway between what the House has passed and the level the President proposed, the number of participants will be cut by more than 400,000. If Congress sets the level halfway between the Senate level and the President’s, the number of participants will be cut by 295,000.

In the past there has been a broad bi-partisan support due to the proven success of the WIC program but it is unknown if that support would lead to an override of the President’s veto.

What can you do to help?

10 minutes of your time can help 500,000 poor women, infants and children.
Call and/or email at least three on the list below. (e.g Pres. Bush, One US Representative. and One US Senator - please contact those from your state first).

President Bush and ask him to fully fund the WIC program at the Senate Agricultural Appropriations Bill levels.
Phone 202-456-1111 Email comments@whitehouse.gov.

Members of US House of Representtives and US Senate and ask them to fund the WIC program at the Senate Agricultural Appropriations Bill levels –ask them not cut the funding in the appropriations “split the difference” bill.

These members of Congress are Appropriation Sub-Committee Chairs and are especially important to contact:

U. S. Representatives
David R. Obey (D-WI) [Chairman] 202-225-3365 Not Available http://obey.house.gov/HoR/WI07/Miscellaneous+Information/
email+sign+up+form.htm

John P. Murtha (D-PA) 202-225-2065 Fax- 202-225-5709 http://www.house.gov/murtha/write.shtml

Jack Kingston (R-GA) (202) 225-5831 jack.kingston@mail.house.gov

Norman D. Dicks (D-WA) 202-225-5916 Fax- 202-226-1176 http://www.house.gov/dicks/contact.html

Rodney P. Frelinghuysen (R-NJ) 202-225-5034 Fax-202-225-3186 http://frelinghuysen.house.gov/contactus/form.cfm

Alan B. Mollohan (D-WV) 202-225-4172 fax - 202-225-7564

C.W. Bill Young ( R-FL) 202-225-5961 Fax-202-225-9764
Bill.Young@mail.house.gov

Peter J. Visclosky (D-IN) 202-225-2461 Fax-202-225-2493
http://www.house.gov/writerep/

David L. Hobson (R-OH)202-225-4324 Fax- 202-225-1984 http://hobson.house.gov/contact.aspx

Nita M. Lowey (D-NY) 202-225-6506 Fax - 202-225-0546 http://www.house.gov/lowey/get_address.htm

Ralph Regula (R-OH)202-225-3876 Fax -202-225-3059
http://regula.house.gov/zipauth.html

Jose E. Serrano (D-NY) 202-225-4361 Fax -202-225-6001
jserrano@mail.house.gov

Harold Rogers (R-KY) 202-225-4601 Fax-202-225-0940 http://halrogers.house.gov/Contact.aspx

Rosa L. DeLauro (D-CT) 202-225-3661 Fax- 202-225-4890 http://www.house.gov/delauro/IMA/issue.htm

Todd Tiahrt (R-KS)202-225-6216 Fax-202-225-3489
http://www.house.gov/tiahrt/IMA/issue_subscribe.htm

James P. Moran (D-VA) 202-225-4376 Fax -202-225-0017
http://moran.house.gov/zipauth.shtml

James T. Walsh (R-NY) 202-225-3701 Fax-202-225-4042
http://walsh.house.gov/zipauth.shtml

John W. Olver (D-MA) 202-225-5335 Fax- 202-226-1224 http://www.house.gov/olver/contact/index.html

Zach Wamp (R-TN) 202-225-3271 Fax -202-225-3494 http://www.house.gov/wamp/contact_email.shtm

David E. Price (D-NC) 202-225-1784 Fax- 202-225-2014 http://www.house.gov/sites/members/nc04_price/
contact/contact_form.shtml

Roger F. Wicker (R -MS) 202-225-4306 Fax-202-225-3549 http://www.house.gov/wicker/contact/

Chet Edwards (D-TX) 202-225-6105 Fax-202-225-0350 http://edwards.house.gov/html/contact_form_email.cfm

Frank R. Wolf (R-VA)202-225-5136 Fax-202-225-0437 http://www.house.gov/formwolf/contact_email/emailzip.shtml

Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL) 202-225-7931 Fax-202-226-2052 http://wassermanschultz.house.gov/zipauth.htm

Joe Knollenberg (R-MI) 202-225-5802 Fax -202-226-2356 http://www.knollenberg.house.gov/Contact/write.htm

US Senators

Robert C. Byrd (D-WV) [Chairman] 202-224-3954 Fax-202-228-0002 http://byrd.senate.gov/byrd_email.html

Robert Bennett (R- UT)202-224-5444 Fax-202-228-1168 http://bennett.senate.gov/contact/email_opinion.cfm

Daniel K. Inouye (D-HI) 202-224-3934 Fax- 202-224-6747 http://inouye.senate.gov/abtform.html

Richard Shelby (R-AL)202-224-5744 Fax-202-224-3416 http://shelby.senate.gov/resources/contact.htm

Patrick J. Leahy (D-VT) 202-224-4242 Fax 202-224-3
479 senator_leahy@leahy.senate.gov

Ted Stevens (R-AK)202-224-3004 Fax-202-224-2354 http://stevens.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=Contact.EmailSenatorStevens

Tom Harkin (D-IA) 202-224-3254 Fax -202-224-9369
http://harkin.senate.gov/c/

Pete Domenici (R-NM) 202-224-6621 Fax-202-228-3261 http://domenici.senate.gov/contact/contactform.cfm

Barbara A. Mikulski (D-MD) 202-224-4654 Fax-202-224-8858 http://mikulski.senate.gov/mailform.html

Sam Brownback (R-KS)202-224-6521 Fax-202-228-1265 http://brownback.senate.gov/CMEmailMe.cfm

Herb Kohl (D-WI) 202-224-5653 Fax202-224-9787
http://kohl.senate.gov/gen_contact.html

Thad Cochran (R-MS)202-224-5054 Fax-202-224-9450 http://cochran.senate.gov/contact.htm

Patty Murray (D-WA) 202-224-2621 Fax-202-224-0238
http://murray.senate.gov/email/index.cfm

Wayne Allard (R-CO)202-224-5941 Fax-202-224-6471 http://allard.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=Contact.Home

Byron L. Dorgan (D-ND) 202-224-2551 Fax-202-224-1193
senator@dorgan.senate.gov

Arlen Specter (R-PA)202-224-4254 Fax-202-228-1229 http://specter.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?
FuseAction=Contact.ContactForm

Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) 202-224-3841 Fax-202-228-3954 http://feinstein.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?
FuseAction=ContactUs.EmailMe

Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-TX)202-224-5922 Fax-202-224-0776 http://hutchison.senate.gov/contact.html

Richard J. Durbin (D-IL) 202-224-2152 Fax-202-228-0400 http://durbin.senate.gov/contact.cfm
Tim Johnson (D-SD) 202-224-5842 202-228-5765 http://johnson.senate.gov/contact/

Judd Gregg (R-NH)202-224-3324 Fax-202-224-4952 http://gregg.senate.gov/sitepages/contact.cfm

Mary Landrieu (D-LA) 202-224-5824 Fax-202-224-9735 http://landrieu.senate.gov/contact/index.cfm

Christopher Bond (R-MO) 202-224-5721 Fax-202-224-8149 http://bond.senate.gov/contact/contactme.cfm

Jack Reed (D-RI) 202-224-4642 202-224-4680 http://reed.senate.gov/contact/contact-share.cfm

Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ) 202-224-3224 202-228-4054 http://lautenberg.senate.gov/contact/

Ben Nelson (D-NE) 202-224-6551 202-228-0012 http://bennelson.senate.gov/contact/email.cfm

WHAT’S BEHIND THE BUDGET BATTLES BETWEEN THE PRESIDENT AND CONGRESS?


In his conflicts with Congress over issues from taxes to children’s health insurance to appropriations bills, the President is casting himself as the defender of fiscal responsibility. His actions, however, tell a different story.

In fighting congressional efforts to pay for tax-cut legislation, rather than to let the deficit rise, the President is insisting that tax loopholes for extremely affluent equity-fund and hedge-fund managers remain untouched. Similarly, in threatening to veto Medicare legislation being developed in Congress, he is insisting that billions of dollars in government overpayments to private health insurance companies remain untouched. He is also demanding that Congress cut billions of dollars from domestic programs ranging from education to medical research to help for poor families and elderly people with soaring winter heating bills.

It's about time! Parents are acting on their concerns about their child's media consumption. More parents are monitoring Internet usage and limiting the overall affect of media on children.

A new study form Pew Charitible Trusts show that parents are engaged with their children's media consumption, but have less positive views of the internet today than they did in 2004.

Finding include that 59% of parents think the internet has been a good thing for their children, down from 67% in 2004.

The majority of parents check up on their teens' internet use-65% say that they check to see what websites their teenagers visit. An even larger percentage of parents have rules about media consumption; 77% of parents have some sort of rule about what their regulated their teenage children's media use.

The majority of parents also say that digital technology makes their lives easier, but their children are even more positive about the benefits of digital devices. 88% of teens report that information and communication devices make their lives easier, compared with 69% of their parents.

Learn more about teens and the Internet at http://www.familiesonlinemagazine.com/child-safety/internet-safety.html

"What's for dinner?" "Let's sit down and eat." Echo's throughout many households, and if not heard very often is yours, it is time for a change, time to have dinner together. Family dinner a time for sharing, caring and food, has now been shown to reduce drug use in teens.

No matter if you are a single parent family, blended family, or traditional family it is hard to imagine how one finds the time and energy for a family meal with long work hours, car pooling and chores. The good news is that it doesn't matter if you order take-out, eat on the go, or have a traditional home-cooked meal, what your kids really want during dinnertime is YOU!

So Take the Pledge, see Public Service Announcement

A report from The National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse (CASA) at Columbia University shows that the benefits of eating dinner together are:

• At 70 percent lower risk for substance abuse;
• Half as likely to try cigarettes or marijuana,
• One third less likely to try alcohol;
• Half as likely to get drunk monthly.

And lists these other things you can do to reduce use by kids:

• Set a good example.
• Know your child’s whereabouts, activities and friends.
• Set fair rules and hold your child to them.
• Maintain open lines of communication.
• Surround your child with positive role models.

• Learn the signs and symptoms of teen substance abuse and conditions that

  increase risk.

Learn more at http://www.casafamilyday.org

The Harry Potter series has galvanized the world's book industry into going green, from spurring the development of 32 new ecological papers, six for Potter exclusively, to igniting a shift where 300 publishers have adopted environmental policies that are helping to protect Canada's Boreal forest among others, says Markets Initiative, the Vancouver-based environmental group that worked with J.K. Rowling starting in 2003 and hundreds of publishers and paper mills since to turn other books green.

The last book in the Potter series, to be released later this week, is considered within the industry to be the most environmentally friendly in publishing history with 16 countries printing the book on eco-friendly paper up from one publisher in 2003.

"When it comes to green, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows is at the top of the book pile," said Nicole Rycroft, executive director of Markets Initiative. "We foresee other publishers and major paper consumers being inspired to take similar action to protect species and forests such as Canada's Boreal."

The English-language editions of the latest book result in a savings of 197,685 trees (an area equivalent to 2.5 times the size of New York's Central Park) and 7.9 million kilograms of greenhouse gases (equivalent to taking 1,577 cars off the road). The book uses the highest standard of eco-friendly paper for the majority of its print runs.

Sarah Nelson, Editor in Chief of Publisher's Weekly, considered the source for publishing and book news in the world, said, "The world of publishing may never see the likes of Harry Potter again, but that doesn't discount its importance to readers, to booksellers and to the way publishing has melded its needs with that of the environment. To think that Potter is the largest print run in history and may have actually helped the planet."

Starting with the first Harry Potter book published on Ancient Forest Friendly paper by one publisher - Canada's Raincoast Books in 2002 - the Potter series has:

- Helped shift 300 publishers around the world, including in Germany,
Israel and Australia, to print a growing number of their book titles
on eco-friendly papers - books include Margaret Atwood's Blind
Assassin and Rohinton Mistry's Family Matters.

- Spurred demand in such a way that mainstream paper companies created
six new eco-papers specifically for the Potter titles, such as
Cascades' Enviro 100 and Schleipen's RC Volumen. Thirty-two new
Ancient Forest Friendly and eco-friendly papers have been produced
for book publishers in North America overall, as a result of this
shift.

- Triggered 84 printers across North America to stock Ancient Forest
Friendly or eco-friendly papers for the first time (printers include
Transcontinental and Friesens).