Some facts that support my cause...
From the U.S. Census Bureau:
1. Fathers with Joint Custody pay 90.2% of all child support ordered while fathers with limited visitation rights pay 79.1%, fathers with no visitation rights pay 44.5%. Bottom line: You want fathers to pay child support: give them what is theirs to start with - their children!
2. 30% of custodial mothers have never asked for or wish to recieve child support.
3. 25% of custodial mothers who do not receive child suport it is because the father is unable to pay (unemployed, disabled, dead, etc.)
4. 11% of custodial mothers not recieving child suport do not have a support order.
5. Of over ten million custodial mothers only 7% (1 in 14) recieve no support because of a "deadbeat dad".
OK, so all of this begs the question: WHERE IS THE EPIDEMIC IN "DEADBEAT DADS" THAT HAS BEEN SO AVIDLY PORTRAYED IN THE MEDIA AND POLITICIANS WHINE ABOUT REPEATEDLY? The fact of the matter is that vast majority of fathers pay child support and pay it on time (particularly if they see their children on a regular basis). The other very tragic and sad fact of the matter is that most of the fathers who do not pay are indigent, unemployed, homeless, wanderers, vagrants, or cannot pay due to some life issue. So what happens is that the majority of us get blamed for what a few bad apples do...we are present and we are available and so the custodial mothers, the courts, the legislatures, the child support machine of the government, etc. vigorously pursue those they can and treats us ALL like we are deadbeats. If you don't beleive me just get in the system and get involved.
In the eyes of the system: we are ALL guilty until proven innocent and must pay exorbident amounts of "child support" (read: alimony) that far exceed what is reasonably needed to raise a child. In addition we are told we must provide healthcare, dental, vision insurance, insure our lives for large sums to the benefit the custodial mother if we die, pay 50% of all "extramural activities", and then have to give up dependency exemptions on our income tax to the custodial mother....is this not absurd?!?! Honestly, think about it: If our children are not "dependent" on us, why is the mother so tyranical when it comes to us providing support?
Let me give you one example of the system treating one as guilty from the get-go: I just got through sending my "annual fee" to the Clerk of the 18th Judicial Circuit in Illinois. What is the "annual fee" for, you may ask? It is for the privilege of having them deduct my "child support" (read: alimony) payments as a garnishment of my wages from my employer. I have never missed a child suppport payment but this is mandated by the state of Illinois. You must have your child support deducted from your wages whether you have ever missed a payment or not. Its done automatically. And for this lovely act, they charge you an "annual fee" of $36.00 and are thinking about raising it. Here is what bothers me: A "fee" is what is paid for a service that is rendered. Services are acts performed at the request of an individual. I have never requested this service, so it is not a service in reality, it is tax, duty, or fine. How does one pay a fine without an infraction having evere occurred? Well, there we go again, the infraction is I am a noncustodial father and therefore presumed guilty until proven innocent and since this is called a fee rather than a fine, I cannot prove my innocence. This is crazy, circular logic in my book.
The other aspect of this that just irritates the heck out of me is that the federal government gives the state kickbacks for collecting child support through this system. So, actually, the state is double-dipping from the feds (read: my income taxe money)and from me (my annual fee)to collect money directly from my check to send to my children's mother that far exceeds what she reasonably needs to raise the children....oh, and by the way, does she bare any responsibility financially for raising the children? Evidently not..... What a crock of fecal matter this is.
The system is so full of inconsistencies, injustices, etc. that it truly embarasses me to be be an American citizen when I think of it.
1. Fathers with Joint Custody pay 90.2% of all child support ordered while fathers with limited visitation rights pay 79.1%, fathers with no visitation rights pay 44.5%. Bottom line: You want fathers to pay child support: give them what is theirs to start with - their children!
2. 30% of custodial mothers have never asked for or wish to recieve child support.
3. 25% of custodial mothers who do not receive child suport it is because the father is unable to pay (unemployed, disabled, dead, etc.)
4. 11% of custodial mothers not recieving child suport do not have a support order.
5. Of over ten million custodial mothers only 7% (1 in 14) recieve no support because of a "deadbeat dad".
OK, so all of this begs the question: WHERE IS THE EPIDEMIC IN "DEADBEAT DADS" THAT HAS BEEN SO AVIDLY PORTRAYED IN THE MEDIA AND POLITICIANS WHINE ABOUT REPEATEDLY? The fact of the matter is that vast majority of fathers pay child support and pay it on time (particularly if they see their children on a regular basis). The other very tragic and sad fact of the matter is that most of the fathers who do not pay are indigent, unemployed, homeless, wanderers, vagrants, or cannot pay due to some life issue. So what happens is that the majority of us get blamed for what a few bad apples do...we are present and we are available and so the custodial mothers, the courts, the legislatures, the child support machine of the government, etc. vigorously pursue those they can and treats us ALL like we are deadbeats. If you don't beleive me just get in the system and get involved.
In the eyes of the system: we are ALL guilty until proven innocent and must pay exorbident amounts of "child support" (read: alimony) that far exceed what is reasonably needed to raise a child. In addition we are told we must provide healthcare, dental, vision insurance, insure our lives for large sums to the benefit the custodial mother if we die, pay 50% of all "extramural activities", and then have to give up dependency exemptions on our income tax to the custodial mother....is this not absurd?!?! Honestly, think about it: If our children are not "dependent" on us, why is the mother so tyranical when it comes to us providing support?
Let me give you one example of the system treating one as guilty from the get-go: I just got through sending my "annual fee" to the Clerk of the 18th Judicial Circuit in Illinois. What is the "annual fee" for, you may ask? It is for the privilege of having them deduct my "child support" (read: alimony) payments as a garnishment of my wages from my employer. I have never missed a child suppport payment but this is mandated by the state of Illinois. You must have your child support deducted from your wages whether you have ever missed a payment or not. Its done automatically. And for this lovely act, they charge you an "annual fee" of $36.00 and are thinking about raising it. Here is what bothers me: A "fee" is what is paid for a service that is rendered. Services are acts performed at the request of an individual. I have never requested this service, so it is not a service in reality, it is tax, duty, or fine. How does one pay a fine without an infraction having evere occurred? Well, there we go again, the infraction is I am a noncustodial father and therefore presumed guilty until proven innocent and since this is called a fee rather than a fine, I cannot prove my innocence. This is crazy, circular logic in my book.
The other aspect of this that just irritates the heck out of me is that the federal government gives the state kickbacks for collecting child support through this system. So, actually, the state is double-dipping from the feds (read: my income taxe money)and from me (my annual fee)to collect money directly from my check to send to my children's mother that far exceeds what she reasonably needs to raise the children....oh, and by the way, does she bare any responsibility financially for raising the children? Evidently not..... What a crock of fecal matter this is.
The system is so full of inconsistencies, injustices, etc. that it truly embarasses me to be be an American citizen when I think of it.
posted by ILDAD at 6:00 PM
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