Copyright New York Times

We are Kentuckians! We believe we have the chance today – right now – to create a better future for our children and our communities.

We don’t want much – just the same things everyone else wants. We want good jobs, good schools for our kids, affordable health care, food, and energy, a safe environment where we can drink the water and breathe the air without worry, and a government we can trust and be proud of. Not much – but a lot more than we have today.

Major decisions are being made in Washington right now that will determine whether we have a decent shot at the better future we deserve, from funding Pell Grants next year, to our very ability to protect Medicare and Social Security. We recognize the important role that the Kentucky delegation has in those decisions.

We also recognize that while Congress needs to address our long-term deficit trends, the current “debt crisis” has been manufactured. The biggest cause of our deficit trends has been the Bush-era tax cuts. In 2000, we had a budget surplus and the Congressional Budget Office projected that our federal government would be debt free by 2009. Instead, the Bush tax cuts cost about two and a half trillion dollars between 2001 and 2010. Limiting what we can do through our federal government will not reverse those deficit trends. Neither will cutting Medicare and Social Security--built, protected, and valued by generations of Americans.

Congress needs to fix its mess. It needs to raise the debt ceiling to prevent economic upheaval, and it needs to fix the budget to protect what Kentuckians value and count on--including Pell Grants, safeguards for clean water, Medicare and Social Security. Then, it has the opportunity to reverse our deficit trends through rolling back those Bush tax cuts.

Now is when the Kentucky delegation needs to hear from you. Can you call your congresspeople today and urge them to stand with Kentucky? Here's a sample message:

"I'm a constituent. Generations of Americans and Kentuckians have worked to build and protect Medicare and Social Security. I want you to stand with Kentucky by raising the debt ceiling and creating a budget that protects Social Security and Medicare and moves Kentucky forward."

Don't know who your Representative is? Go here to find out.