drove to DC last week to join CODEPINK in anti-war rallies and the Congressional hearings on the notorious AIG bailout/bonuses, inspired by what I've seen in my hometown, a typical rural and economically depressed upstate New York village.

Nearly each day on my commute through six similar villages to work at an E.R., I've noticed new "FOR SALE" and "GOING OUT OF BUSINESS" hand-printed cardboard signs tacked on doors of small, family-owned businesses. These notices shout to me, reminding me of a disappointing Congress that does not represent THE PEOPLE who are losing everything and instead choses to support the wealthy and powerful on Wall Street.

I am a registered nurse and the mother of a soldier enduring his second lengthy tour in Iraq, and I feel our government poses an economic draft on the youth of the rural poor of America. Area youth often find military service their only realistic opportunity amid astronomical taxes, shrinking job possibilities, skyrocketing state college tuition and health care costs. So while taxpayers lose their jobs, businesses and farms, lose their homes to foreclosure, and lose their sons and daughters when they go off to serve their country, Congress rewards dishonest, corporate greed and squanders our resources on senseless, endless war.

I AM ANGRY AND I AM NOT ALONE. When I sat behind AIG CEO Edward Libby in the Congressional hearing, I channeled public anger over Congress' abandonment of Main Street and plundering of our treasury for Wall Street and War.

We deserve a bailout-the American people, not wealthy corporations and investment firms. And I truly believe women, organized and mobilized, can be a formidable, powerful force in the movement toward a world free of war.

So, to speak truth to power, I will join CODEPINK for Mother's Day actions May 9 and 10 in DC, as we converge on the White House in a 24-hour vigil to honor all women who have been affected by war and economic devastation.CODEPINK has invited the First Lady and her mother and invites YOU to join us, too. I hope to meet you there, as we work toward a more just and peaceful planet. Click here to join us now!

Yours in Peace and Justice,

Cynthia Benjamin

P.S. Calling all knitters! Help create our mother's message of peace and decorate the White House with a creative display inspired by the original Mother's Day call- click here to find out how you can contribute to a radical act of knittivism (knitting + activism = knittivism!) in honor of women around the world!