How much does it cost to read a bedtime story?
If you are a father that no longer lives with your child’s mother-or never have-then you will find out. Even if you have been an integral part of you child’s life since birth you will find out the cost of a hug. The price of a kiss on the forehead rivals the current market price for He-3 and the rise on potty breaks will bankrupt you.
Being a single father is expensive. The costs grow exponentially when the mother of your child decides that you owe her for child support. It matters not how much time you spend with your child. It matters not how much money you spend on your child. All that matters is that you are the father so you must pay. Period.
Is it fair? Is it equal? Is it just? Is it right? No. But that does not matter because it is legal. In the great State of I find it hard to believe that a court or an agency can tell me that I do not have the right to see my child. I submit to the wisdom of Andrew Jackson whom said when the Supreme Court said that it was illegal to force the Cherokee nation from their land: “ [the Supreme Court] has made [its] decision; let [them] enforce it now if [they] can."
One of the questions asked during the support hearing is whether or not the mother is receiving welfare assistance. If she is then you automatically have to pay. If she isn’t it really doesn’t matter because you’re going to be paying for her welfare anyway. What child support boils down to-for the attentive and active father-is state sponsored extortion.
The Child Support Enforcement Agency knows that the system is unfair. They know that it is unjust and severely biased towards mothers. But they don’t care. The CSEA does not care about the welfare of the child only that mothers are taken care of. If they were concerned for the well being of the child, then they would not force men who parent to pay mothers who want a check for checks sake. If they were concerned about the child then they would not allow a situation to occur when the mother has all of the power in the child’s upbringing. It takes two people to have a child but only one to parent and one to pay-apparently.
The system is there to protect children from falling in to squalor as the costs of raising a child are great and many. If that is the case then why does the money go directly to the mother and not towards the things that the child needs? If the child is the focus them why aren’t there vouchers for food, clothes, medical care, etc instead of cash going into the pocket of the mother-who can then use it however she sees fit. Are there regulations to state that the money must be used only for the child? No. Are there any measures that state that the mother must submit receipts to show that the money being collected is being used for the child and not for a gambling habit or drug addiction? No.
The system is broken.
The CSEA does serve a purpose in some cases but not all. The fact that there is a formula that figures out how much it costs to raise a child is ludicrous. It is called a “schedule” and it is broken as well. The best part about the ‘schedule’ is that even if the child’s cost of living decreases-meaning that the child needs less stuff-the support you must pay increases. Nice. The CSEA says it is because you have more money to spend on the child since their costs have decreased. A rational, sane, parent would point and laugh at that conclusion.
--To Be Continued--
