Amy Lupold Bair was one of our amazing speakers during the 2010 BlogWorld conference, a part of the Mom Bloggers: Blog for Money, Not Swag! session. I recently had the chance to chat with her about another topic of interest to Mom Bloggers (and any United States Citizen for that matter) – the national debt. Amy is working with Intellectual Takeout and their project, MomThink.org, which is sending ten Mom Bloggers to meet with Congress next week about this issue – the first of many the organization plans to tackle. Amy explained further:

How did MomThink.org come to exist?
MomThink.org is a project of Intellectual Takeout, a non-profit, non-partisan think tank. It came about as a public awareness campaign designed to educate mothers about important issues that will impact their children today as well as in the future. While the first topic of focus is the national debt, MomThink.org will continue to develop to cover a variety of topics ranging from education to health care reform.

What is your role in the website/organization?
I am an independent blogger who is working as a strategic advisor to Intellectual Takeout’s communications team.

How were the ambassadors chosen for the position? Was their blogging background a requirement?
The bloggers were chosen for a variety of reasons, including how they would impact the overall make-up of the group. We are proud to have engaged bloggers who bring a diverse skill set, blogging background, and audience. Some ambassadors write regularly for traditionally conservative collective blogs, while others write for sites known to lean strongly towards liberal. Some bloggers have an educational background that fits nicely with the national debt topic, while others blog about fiscal responsibility on a regular basis. Together they nicely represent the moms of this country; diverse in interest and lifestyle yet all invested in creating the best life for our children.

Why was the national debt chosen as the first issue of focus?
The national debt is on the minds of many Americans as we continue to recover from an economic crisis and watch hopefully as a new Congress is sworn into office. The debt currently stands at nearly 14 trillion dollars. That means every taxpayer would have to come up with $125,000 to pay it off. As moms, we could use that money to pay for 12 years of groceries for a family of four, 7 years of health care, or 7 years of public education. While the national debt is on the minds of many Americans, we think that it specifically should be on the minds of moms.

What will be the format for making others aware of the issues? The blog? Social networking? The media?
MomThink.org is currently sharing information through videos on the site as well as YouTube that can be shared throughout social networks and embedded on blogs. The MomThink.org bloggers have also helped to make others aware of this first issue through posts on their own sites and networks as well as through interviews with the traditional media. Outreach will expand as MomThink.org continues to develop future public awareness campaigns.

What is the goal of the upcoming trip to Washington DC?
The goal of the upcoming trip to Washington, DC is to bring awareness to the issue, allow prominent members of the online mom media to gather information from Members of Congress about the national debt, and at the same time demonstrate to Members of Congress and the traditional media that Thinking Moms are deeply concerned about the issues that affect our children’s futures.

Where can we follow the interviews and dialogues taking place?
Watch MomThink.org for updates.

What have the bloggers been doing to prepare for the trip?
The bloggers have been learning more about the national debt and what it means to each individual taxpayer both today and in the future.

What is the message you hope everyone takes away from MomThink.org?
Socrates said that “Knowledge is power.” I hope that readers visiting MomThink.org take away a deeper understanding of the issues that our nation faces. Once the audience understands the impact of public policies on them and their loved ones, they will likely want to learn more and spread the word about the resources provided by MomThink.org.

How can other bloggers (Moms and non-Moms alike!) participate and help?
Bloggers can participate and help by sharing the MomThink.org videos and key points with their own audiences as well as by signing up to learn more here.

Thanks Amy! And I look forward to seeing how the bloggers at MomThink.org interact with Congress, and learn about the future issues they plan to tackle.