Want Your Child Support Payment? Pay $25!
By: Lowell
Published On: 8/22/2007 7:07:22 AM
The "fee" insanity is spreading. First, we had the "too clever by half" abuser fees, a way for Republicans to raise revenues but technically not "taxes." We know how THAT one turned out. :) Now, we've got more "fee" insanity:
By Connie Williams' count, her ex-husband owes her about $70,000 in child support payments.
So when the Chesapeake mother received a letter from the state's Division of Child Support Enforcement saying that she would be charged a $25 annual fee for the government's help collecting it, she thought it was wrong.
"I think it's deplorable," she said. "We should not be penalized in any way. I know $25 is a small amount, but it's like a little slap in the face."
About 130,000 people in the state will receive the letters - 40,000 of those in Hampton Roads, according to Carol Vanderspiegel, assistant director for the Virginia Division of Child Support Enforcement.
The fee goes into effect in October and is being charged to custodial parents who receive at least $500 a year in their child support cases. Parents who have received public assistance such as welfare payments will not be charged the fee.
What the hell? Women need to PAY the government to get their law enforcement assistance? They need to send a check for $25 in order to collect the money that is legally owed to them?!? And who were the geniuses who came up with THIS brilliant idea?
Local legislators who voted for the Deficit Reduction Act include U.S. Rep. Thelma Drake, R-2nd District; Rep. Randy Forbes, R-4th District; and U.S. Sen. John Warner.
Another big surprise: not a single Democrat in the House of Representatives voted for that bill, while 212 Republicans voted "yea." In the Senate, this was pretty much an all-Republican affair as well.
What it comes down to is an entire approach to governing that is simply wrong: charging absurd "fees" in order to avoid raising "taxes," and generally failing to act like responsible legislators. We see it at the national level and we see it here in Virginia. As far as I'm concerned, anyone who legislates like this, Republican or Democrat, deserves to be defeated. Charging a woman $25 to help collect her child support? That's seriously screwed up.
Comments
This is insane (vadem - 8/22/2007 7:16:14 AM)
Glad to see this leading off RK this morning, Lowell. I had just read it in my "clips" and couldn't believe what I was reading. On the heels of the story of millions being collected from the "dead-beat dads" (and moms, too) when applying for a passport, I was appalled to see that we are now charging people already in the hole to do the job of the child support agencies.
This diary has the information to compose some great letters to the editor, especially with our elected officials who voted Yea.
Excellent diary, Lowell (Dianne - 8/22/2007 7:29:37 AM)
Like VaDem, I think it has great talking points. You do great work, Lowell. Thanks.
Thanks, I just can't believe this one. (Lowell - 8/22/2007 8:10:52 AM)
What next, are they going to start charging us when we call 911 or to prosecute the people who robbed us? Craziness.
This is absurd (Donkey Hotay - 8/22/2007 9:57:22 AM)
But don't forget that some (albeit very few) cases of child support payments go from the mother to the father and as such, men are also being charged these fines.
Of course, this brings up another issue of judges almost by default declaring the mother as custodian in single custody battles to be in the best interest of the child. But I digress, that is for another diary on another day.
The GOP plan has been to make the rich richer (beachmom - 8/22/2007 10:29:42 AM)
and the poor poorer (unless the rich decide to throw them a few crumbs aka the "trickle down effect"). This seems to jive completely with that plan -- single women who need child support are often not as well off as, say, the top 1% of the nation that got the most from the Bush tax cuts. The question is when this Robber Barons Guilded Age will end. I would say the fact that guys like Webb ran and won, is telling since his heroes like Jackson went after this sort of thing.
Tom Davis voted the wrong way on this, too. (jsrutstein - 8/22/2007 5:12:21 PM)
Someone please ask Jeannemarie if she sides with the victimized parents and children or with her husband on this.
$25 less for my child is $25 too much (Deelybop - 8/29/2007 2:02:43 AM)
Bottom line--the state of the VA and the Federal Government are stooping to new low levels to skim money off a child's support payment. The state of VA could've chose from a list of ways to implement the fee, one of which includes just absorbing it into the budget and giving the money back to the feds. Instead, they chose to distrust both the custodial and non-custodial parents, and woos out on taking any responsibility for the federal deficit and take candy from a baby. I told my 5 1/2 year old daughter what Sen. Warner, (former)Sen Allen, Rep Goodlatte and George Bush were doing like this, "You know that sucker that you get from the bank when you make your deposit into your savings account? Well, the mean ole Republicans want to see how many licks it takes to get to the center of a tootsie roll pop...one, two..three..." She started crying and said, "But they can't have my tootsie roll pop". Then she said, and I quote, "Those 'Publicas are not nice at all. I'm glad we're Democrats." **sigh** Taking candy from a baby is not nice. Even she gets that.