child support ponderings

Does anyone else think this is a "Catch-22"? In researching child support enforcement laws I found the February 2002 GAO office report to the Subcommittee on Human Resources, Committee on Ways and Means, House of Representatives.

"The act also requires that states have laws requiring procedures to suspend, withhold, or restrict the driver’s licenses of non-custodial parents who are delinquent in their child support payments. In this report the term license suspension also includes withholding or restricting a driver’s license. Withholding a license includes not allowing a person to obtain an initial license. Restricting a license means limiting when a non-custodial parent may drive, such as only to and from work. All three of these procedures are permissible under the act."

It just seems illogical to me to take away that person's ability to get to and from work, or make it that much more difficult to find employment because so many employers require a valid drivers license now, and still expect them to be able to pay the delinquent child support... Then I came across this quote

"The time has come for someone to speak in defense of ‘dead-beat dads.’ Divorced or separated parents who do not pay support have been taking a beating from everyone, including the President.

1 have seen some parents who refuse to pay child support even though they have plenty of money to do so. . . . However, I have seen far more parents who are ordered to pay child support who pay some support but not all they are ordered to pay. Many of these parents are engaged in a financial struggle that they cannot win. These are the working poor."

-Hon. Anne Kass. Presiding Family Judge,

Albuquerque, New Mexico, District Court

Anyone who tries to tell me right now that economic outlook for America is looking up will likely get a long icy glare from me as I consider the consequences of punching them in the face. I agree that the non-custodial parent needs to help financially support his or her child, but it fry's me when I read things like:

I can't get by on what's left of my paycheck. How can I get my child support lowered?
and the answer...
You'll need to petition the court for a lower amount, and you'll need to be able to justify a reduction to the court. Unfortunately, the courts will not always agree that not being able to live on what's left of your paycheck is a valid reason for a reduction. Even making less money than you did before is often disallowed as a valid reason for a reduction; the court may instead rule that you are 'voluntarily under employed'.

Why is it so hard for the courts and government to understand that the 'voluntarily under employed' non-custodial parent may be just damned lucky that he or she has a job at all. How many jobs have been lost the past 4 years? Hundreds of thousands according to the news reports I heard this past week. Wages are no where nearly close to increasing at the same rate as the cost of living, the cost of health care, housing, food ... you know, living.

Which brings me to another topic of concern ... remember the nail fungus from last week? Well I went to pick up the prescription. The pharmacist handed me the pills and said "That comes to $50.00". I sighed and mumbled that my insurance must not have covered this prescription. I about fell over when she told me that it was covered and would have cost me $218.00 otherwise. Maybe it's a bad thing that I'm finally becoming outraged at the rising cost of things like this - I much preferred my little bubble of ignorance. I take back almost everything I said about Medicare previously (though I'm not going to edit it out for historical reference).

weight loss payoff

Yesterday I went to see the doctor about my toe-nail, after receiving several comments regarding how bad it looked. It doesn't hurt very often, so I don't usually worry about it, but Scott was insistent that I at least have it looked at. Was no surprise to me when the doctor looked at it and said "you have a nail fungus". We then started talking about my blood pressure and reviewing my medical history. He told me what my blood pressure reading was in November and then looked back to 2002 and was surprised by what my weight was in 2002 because he never saw me that year (I rarely visit the doctor for more than my annual visit to the OB/GYN doctor.) He really encouraged me to keep losing weight and was thrilled when I told him I've lost a total of 19 pounds since I started doing Weight Watchers 8 weeks ago. He also said that my goal should not be to reach the mythical ideal weight as each person's muscular and skeletal frame is different it's more of a guild line and trying to reach that ideal weight might only lead to disappointment and frustration. Since my blood pressure was really good back in 2002 he suggested that I try to get back to that weight and then maintain that weight. Over all it was a good visit and I'm actually glad that I went.

Social Security rant...

Scott did an awesome job with the floor in the den. He suffered through the primer/bonding agent (it even made me ill so the fumes were really really strong) last night and then today he finished painting the floor. I have got to say that gray was the right choice with the purple walls and white trim. It just looks great!!

Today I got my 401K statement along with the usual flier with various articles regarding retirement planning and investing and such. So I start reading the articles, starting with one about how presidential politics might affect my retirement where Medicare and Social Security are involved. I work hard, put in long hours for adequate pay and still find myself having to choose between paying bills and buying groceries. This epidemic is wide spread and is only getting worse. The Federal government takes approximately 20.773 percent of my paycheck, 13.3 for Federal withholding, 1.4 for Medicare and 6 for Social Security. The total withheld from me each month is roughly 78 percent my monthly house payment, but I digress. Because I tend to receive a refund for a portion of that Federal withholding my real problem is with the 7.4 percent that is being taken out of my pay to help provide for a program that appears to be destine to collapse. According to the articles that I’ve read, by the time I actually reach the age that I would receive some of these federal benefits there will be nothing left in the money pot. It may not sound like much to anyone else, but that 7.4 percent extra per month would mean I could both pay bills AND buy groceries. It’s like the ultimate charity for people my age to contribute too except we are not given the choice to not donate.

That astounded me, but then I started thinking about the loss of jobs for Americans that our country has experienced the past year and realized that because fewer Americans are working then it would follow that there would be fewer mandatory contributions to the charities known as Medicare and Social Security. When I read something about American companies outsourcing to foreign companies I was deeply troubled, then I read something about illegal immigrants being able to apply for American tax identification numbers so they can work here in America… NO, not just no, but HELL NO. Send the illegal immigrants back to their land of origin and bring the outsourced jobs back to AMERICANS.

Please understand that I know it is very hard for the senior population because of growing health care cost I think I read that health care cost has risen more than 9.6 percent above the rate of inflation and if that is true it is absolutely insane! I also have at least one friend who shared with me that her what both of her parents receive in social security benefits is about $500 a month - for both of them and out of that they need to pay insurance, housing, food - YIKES! What bothers me even more is that there are working class people faced with the same problems except the source of income for them is a underpaying job.

The banks and credit card companies don't help matters any either, offering loans ect. claiming that you can be debt free in 36 months if you borrow from them, so you buy into that promise only to find out the hard way, as I am learning, that you only get yourself deeper in debt and then suddenly the hole you are in is so deep you can't see the top of it anymore. (I'll save this topic for another day though).

The current Social Security program is a product of the Great Depression that followed the October 24, 1929 stock market crash and was signed into law by President Roosevelt on August 14, 1935. I could go on about the history of the program, but you can read more about it here if you would like. It has been amended several times, but I wonder if it was ever intended to last forever. I know that there are very valid reasons for having the Social Security program, but taxing the working class even more is not the solution. All I can see a tax increase doing is forcing more people to have to choose between paying bills and buying groceries...

Thus ends my tirade.

Last night I swept and mopped the floor of the room that will soon be Scott's office/den. I rather excited because we are just 3 steps (well, 4 if you include touching up the trim) about having that room finished. I don't know how long I will be able to live in this house (or will want to for that matter) but I really feel that it's important to start living in it rather than just staying in it... hope that makes sense to more people than just myself.

This past weekend I cleaned out another box of papers (actually two because I filled the same box up twice). What I wound up keeping fit in a bag smaller than a standard backpack. I felt so good about the whole thing. It all started sometime last week because I decided I just had to find a missing checkbook register. During that time I rediscovered, and admitted again, that I am such a packrat. A huge plus to the purging binge I've been on this past week is that I found the photo scrapbook I started of Micah & Sarah's wedding, so now I have a place to put the pictures I took at Katie & Brian's wedding.

reliving the day!

WOW, what a 4th of July! Scott and I were able to sit on the patio and watch the neighborhood across the road set off their aerial displays. It was really quite fun, that combined with our own fireworks made the night (at least for me). We didn't get any rain on the 4th, but it rained the entire next day and it's been rather cool and cloudy ever since then. Not much else going on really.

Today I took an online health assessment. Spent 15 minutes answering questions just to find out that I need to improve my health. WOW, what insight! Weight Watchers is going pretty good so far. Over all (as of last Friday) I've lost 8 pounds. I don't seem to be losing weight as quickly this time, but that is probably better than losing it too fast. My 20th Class reunion will be next year and I would like to have reached my goal weight and be in much better health by then, so that's my incentive right now.

I found a acreage in Alaska that is just AWESOME and I really wish that 1) I had the money 2) I had a job up there and 3) it wasn't so extremely far away from my family, because the pictures of both the house and the surrounding area were just BEAUTIFUL. Ok, back to real life...

4th of July!

Here's wishing everyone a happy and safe 4th of July! We plan to celebrate living in the land of the free by blowing up a small chuck of it. Have hot dogs & hamburgers? CHECK Have buns and condiments? CHECK Have soda and or beer? CHECK Have enough OFF to survive the night? CHECK Have explosives? CHECK ... Ok, ready for the 4th!

Remember

A co-worker of mine, who is currently undergoing stem cell replacement, sent us a thank you card and in the message of it she shared with us her favorite quote. "Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming WOW--WHAT A RIDE!!!"

Another co-worker sent me the following message today:
I thought I would share this, so we can appreciate our true meaning of Independence Day.
REMEMBER:
IT IS THE SOLDIER, NOT THE REPORTER, WHO HAS GIVEN US THE FREEDOM OF THE PRESS.
IT IS THE SOLDIER, NOT THE POET, WHO HAS GIVEN US THE FREEDOM OF SPEECH.
IT IS THE SOLDIER, NOT THE CAMPUS ORGANIZER, WHO GIVES US THE FREEDOM TO DEMONSTRATE.
IT IS THE SOLDIER WHO SALUTES THE FLAG, WHO SERVES BENEATH THE FLAG, AND WHOSE COFFIN IS DRAPED BY THE FLAG, WHO ALLOWS THE PROTESTER TO BURN THE FLAG.

back yard beautification!

Happy July everyone! Well, my month got off to a bit of a rocky start, well, more like Scott's did... Last night Scott had begun digging out a place to put a patio and wouldn't you know it, the last 3 foot section he had left to dig unearthed a poorly poured garage footing. He started laying the patio stones before I was even out of bed this morning (ambitious man, stubborn too, but I digress). While I was getting ready for work he came in and said that he was sorry he messed up the yard. That footing really messed up the way the patio stones lay and without either filling all the dirt back in or purchasing another 100 bags of sand, there was no way it would ever be level. I didn't really have much to say, totally not his fault and I had to get to work, but I knew he felt really bad about the whole thing.
While I was at work, I chatted with one of my co-workers about it and her idea made so much sense to me. Just finish setting the rest of the stones, remove the uneven corner and make either an herb or flower planter box in that corner instead. I could hardly wait to get home, but it was still early afternoon. Anyway, when I got home I found a very sore, very tired, very grumpy man sitting in the living room. After getting home from buying more sand we started laying the rest of the stones (went pretty quick with both of us working together. It reminded me of helping Dad build a retaining wall when I was a kid.
As we were moving stones from the driveway to the back yard Scott noticed a pile of edging stones that he had removed from the yard to dig the patio base and the thought came to him that we could use those edging stones to build tiny retaining wall in the uneven corner. Then, as I was moving the extra bags of sand into the garage, another idea came to me. Instead of building a planting box, I could just level off the lower end of the now empty corner and place a half barrel there, filled with annuals and maybe even try planting some tulips in it to see if they survive the winter. Scott suggested that we fill the rest of that corner with white rock to give the area a more finished look and I could fill it with smaller potted plants next year.

Overall, though the day started a little rough, it was a great start to July. The patio is done and just needs to be swept off to be ready for the 4th of July weekend!