On Monday, May 9th, Vote Kids began running the following ad in Iowa and New Hampshire.

The Vote Kids television ad will be airing throughout Iowa and New Hampshire beginning Monday, May 9 through Friday, May 13.

Vote Kids want to bring attention to how children will be harmed as a result of federal budget proposals which already have passed the House of Representatives. The so-called Ryan budget slashes programs vital to children and families, including Head Start, child care, public safety, child nutrition, education, Pell Grants, Community and Development Block Grants, and jobs programs. These are shortsighted actions that would weaken America’s global economic competitiveness, which is why we want kids’ issues to be a prominent part of the debate in the forthcoming presidential campaign.

The Ryan Budget would convert Medicaid into block grants and result in $1.4 trillion in cuts, while doing nothing to reduce health care costs. These cuts would affect the 30 million children nationwide served by Medicaid. It also would cut the Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program by $127 billion, or 20 percent, over the next ten years. Millions of families would be affected, leading to increased hunger and poverty.

While cutting health care and nutrition programs for working families and children, the Ryan Budget gives those Americans earning more than $1 million an additional $125,000 yearly tax break.

When the Republican presidential candidates and President Obama come through these states campaigning, we want voters to ask them where they stand on investing in the health, education, and safety of children. No candidate should be allowed to avoid spelling out a detailed platform of what they are FOR when it comes to children.