Voices for America's Children - nonprofit, nonpartisan advocacy for better child policy » Children & the Federal Budget

Protect Social Security!

Bill Bentley — Thu, 03 Mar 2011 20:53:45 +0000

Social Security has been targeted for cuts by many in Congress, as well as President Obama’s debt commission. We care because Social Security isn’t just a retirement program; it’s also the largest federal program for children. Millions of children and youth receive survivor’s and disability benefits or live in a family that does.

Our friends at Generations United are holding a panel discussion today to show how Social Security provides vital protection for the whole family. Titled “Social Security: What’s at Stake for Children, Youth, and Grandfamilies,” it should help educate policymakers and the media on how important the security of Social Security is. Generations United is liveblogging choice quotes from the panel on their Twitter feed — check it out!

Texas targets kids for cuts; children there at disadvantage

Bill Bentley — Mon, 28 Feb 2011 21:37:55 +0000

Paul Krugman has a good column in the New York Times about how low government spending in Texas simply means low investment in children there. ”Who will bear the brunt of these cuts? America’s children,” Krugman concludes. New research by one of our Texas members suggests children are already paying the price.

Texans Care for Children, a member of the Voices network, analyzed data from state demographers and economists on the impact of unmet needs in children. For the first time in history, researchers now project the next generation of Texans will live less educated, more impoverished, and shorter lives than today’s adults. Only improvements to the state’s educational system, including early education and children’s health, will change the trajectory.

Now is not the time for budget slashing

Joanna Shoffner Scott — Mon, 10 May 2010 22:01:05 +0000

A budget deficit hysteria has gripped some parts of the policy world lately, and the results could be disastrous. Voices, too, would like to see balanced budgets, but family budgets are more important to us. And now is no time for cutting the services they depend on.

So while we applaud President Obama on efforts to increase education funding and bolster child nutrition efforts, now is no time for a “budget freeze.” Likewise, some tea-party groups should rethink dramatic budget-cut rhetoric that could damage vital social programs even as jobless remains around 10 percent.

In a column for the Huffington Post, Dave Johnson of the Campaign for America’s Future sums up the warped logic of budget cuts during tough times. As he notes, the bad times started when we cut taxes on the rich and abdicated our responsibilities to regulate and nurture the economy.