So, I was watching TMJ4 last night and saw a story about Deadbeat Dads, but to be fair, there are some deadbeat moms out there, too.
Anyway, first, why is the federal money drying up to prevent these guys from getting away with not providing for their children?
Second, why are states like Texas allowing these jerks to not pay their child support?
Third, why aren't more of us doing something about it?
While we sit in our comfortable homes, we really should be out there getting our legistlation to put these guys in jail, garnish their wages or not allow them to flee to states that don't enforce child support payments. (What the Hell did Bush do as Governor of Texas? Why didn't he stop this crap?) We should have a federal law that will allow one state to garnish the wages of a non-paying parent who lives in another state.
Screw state rights -- could care less if Texas is offended -- our nation's children should come first.
God Bless.
Top Of My Head
3 comments:
Julie, I am amazed at the consistency with which you get things wrong - or at the very least how often you only report 80% of the facts.
USC Title 18, Section 228 (a)3 is a Federal law that does exactly what you say you want done. It "goes after" a non-custodial parent who lives in a state other than the custodial parent, and who has not paid court-ordered child support payments.
It carries a penalty of up to 24 months in a Federal Correctional Facility and a $250,000 fine.
This law exists because of the 10th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution (something you should read some time) - law enforcement from one state cannot in fact travel to another state and enforce the first state's law. You may blithely dismiss this, but it is a cornerstone of our Federal system.
Regarding Texas - whipping boy of all pseudo-intellectuals - it has one of the most aggressive child support enforcement mechanisms in the country. Texas most assuredly does garnish wages on behalf of other states in order to collect child support, and it most assuredly does at the county level place liens against "dead-beat" dads on behalf of other states in order to collect child support. I have person, direct, first-hand experience with this. Under Governor Bush - despite your obvious hatred for the man - the entire Child Support Enforement Agency within the Attorney General's office was massively expanded.
As I say, I have first-hand, personal experience with Texas. I moved with my two children to New York from Illinois and filed for divorce from my husband. He left Chicago and moved back home to Austin, Texas. A judge in New York ordered (at a proceeding to which my ex never bothered to show up) that I receive $1,100 a month child support. New York began sending my children's father notifications regarding his obligation. He never responded. New York asked Texas to help, which they did. The Texas AG began garnishing his wages - so he quit and has not worked since (officially....I am sure he worked for a construction company in Austin "off the books").
So, the New York Child Support Disbursement Unit contacted the U.S. Attorney for the southern district of New York, who secured a Federal indictment against my ex-husband. After receiving his summons, he magically came up with $5,000. The U.S. Attorney told him if he could come up with 25% of the arrears, he would let him plea bargain to a mis-demeanor. The dead-beat, of course, could not come up with the rather sizeable amount.
So, he went to trial, was found guilty, and is currently serving a 14 month sentence in a minimum security facility in Las Vegas.
So, Julie, do not slam George Bush and Texas and the Federal Government and our Federal/State system.....they all worked together in perfect harmony to get me justice.
Your friend Suzanne in NYC
I went back and found the TMJ4 story which includes the following information:
"Then we found the king of Waukesha County deadbeats: Jeff Salczenko. Jeff has an 18 year old son here in Milwaukee
And he owes $113,000 in child support. We tracked this delinquent down to Texas. Hiding out. Supporting a new wife and three kids. He told the court he doesnt have a job. Turns out, that's not true.
We tracked him down to one of Houston's ritzy suburbs, the neigborhood where singer Beyonce and pro athletes live.
And where we caught Jeff, the delinquent dad, running his landscaping business. We scout out Jeff for a couple of days.
One of our producers even approaches Jeff....who brags about how well business is going. He even has employees.
What we unearth infuriates Jeff's ex-wife Theresa Mester.
"I remember at times things got bad where i had to put groceries on the credit card bill cuz the money wasn't there," she remembers.
When we ask this deadbeat about his Wisconsin son, he tells us it's the judge's fault. "The judge set this child support at a really high, outrageous rate."
$2000 a month. That's what the landscape architect was ordered to pay.
Zero dollars a month. That's what the bum has paid this past year..
Theresa Mester has plenty to say about this. "He needs to be held accountable. That's the botom line. It's not about anything except for the fact that he has not supported his son."
Folks down here like to say that everything is bigger in Texas. Jeff Salczenko's prolems may have just gotten a lot bigger. Wisconsin officials say they'll use what we've uncovered in Houston to try to make deadbeat Jeff pay up."
"You should know that we in Wisconsin are following and pursuing all possible courses of action to make sure you met your responsibilities as a parent," Roberta Gassman says."
Thanks for pointing out that there is a federal law, but as TMJ4 discovered, it's not working -- at least not all the time -- and it needs to be.
I have read the Constitution, by the way. The 10th Amendment states: "The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people."
So, it doesn't really say that one state law enforcement cannot travel to another state and enforce the law.
I'm glad to read -- not glad it happened -- that you received what you expected from our legal system. It gives me a little faith in our system of rooting out deadbeat parents. Almost nothing angers me more than someone who will not step up to their responsibilites as a parent.
One last point, I don't think I've ever said that I hate Bush. I don't like his policies and I very rarely agree with him, but I don't hate him. When I have written his administration, I have always received a nice letter back -- not from him, but please, the guy is the President. I try -- although I'm sure you'll point out when I might've slipped -- not to refer to him in a manner which disrespects the office he holds. (I really hate it when someone refers to him as Dubya -- he's the President for pete's sake, at least show a little respect!)
Thanks for reading and God Bless.
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