Ellen Rosenblum believes what is important is "going after deadbeat dads." Emphasis on dads. Deadbeat females are apparently wonderful. When sexist words such as these come out of the mouths of our justice system and from candidates for Attorney General there is something truly rotten in Oregon’s courts. http://www.rebelwords.org/2012/04/ellen-rosenblum...

Mrs Rosenblum will “take on deadbeat dads” because this is “what matters most." This is a direct quote from her TV ad. There is such a thing as deadbeat moms (though apparently they're safe if Mrs Rosenblum is elected) and this thinking speaks to a willing lack of interest in the large mess that is the state and federal child support system. When sexist words such as these come out of the mouths of our justice system and from candidates for Attorney General there is something truly rotten in Oregon’s courts.

JD - I think we agree that government should not dictate how we live our lives. I'm with you on that 100%. The truth is, right now, the government does tell us how to live our lives. And the entitlement programs I agree with you as well - they are too much. Why are we paying for a system that is ultimately broken? PERS is killing our state's economy. I don't believe in free tuition or free healthcare. And yes, I stopped voting for the same old's. Registered independent and licensed free-thinker. Cheers!

Yeah, just changed it. You're right - it was offensive. I felt it also showed the extent at which some of the public feel that our country is at odds. The site also randomly selects which picture it shows in the right frame.

I also believe in smaller government and reducing its reach in social and financial matters and I'll check out Herman Cain. The quote from Dennis Kucinich is valid because I think most would agree that there is something fundamentally wrong with banks using bailout money to fund overseas jobs and executive incentives.

I'm all for representation that can fix the above problems. If Conservatives can fix those problems, I'll vote for that. Please forward information on how Conservatives will fix those problems.

The Occupy protests are the most important thing in United States democracy right now. The things these people are protesting affects all of us:

Bank bail-outs
Rubber-stamping foreclosures
Chronic high unemployment (currently 9.1%)
Accelerating cost of healthcare from privitization
Social (in)Security is evaporating, soon to be unavailable for those who now pay
Pending European financial crash
Lack of accountability for financial executives during the bailout and post bail-out period.
Military spending for wars on foreign soil.

The protesters are not simply college kids or the unemployed. It is represented by 99% of the public. http://www.rebelwords.org/2011/10/occupy-portland...

If you search child support in any of the Oregon newspaper web searches, you'll find that the volume of community dialog, both heated and thoughtful, is huge. I think my situation is definitely not uncommon. When you start to piece together stories, things start to bubble up.

For example,
"Oregon Deadbeat parents hunted down..."

then...

Delinquent Parent Arrests Bring In Only $40K

hmmm...can't really pay, can they? Take them to jail and they can't cough up 1/10th of the owed amount. I'm sure being in jail for 6 months helps the cash come in.

Also, the OCSD has a tag line, "Most child support in the State of
Oregon is collected by income withholding regardless of whether past due
child support is owed." This is inaccurate according to my child support liaison. If you're an obligor, immediately your employer is obligated to garnish your wage. What're we calling voluntary again?

Also an interesting factoid about the Oregon Child Support Program that they don't draw alot of attention to: one of their goals is to "...return crucial funds to the public treasury." This is fascinating in that this has nothing to do with children.

Finally, when there was that boo-boo with the OCSP employee stealing child support funds from recipients, she was jailed for only 120 days. People who are past due on their child support obligations are routinely sentenced to 180 days. Underprivileged parents are a bigger scourge to society than thieves, apparently.

So many problems with the family court system. Why should we re-elect this man again?

I fully empathize with your issue. I continue to experience the reverse of your experience. My ex receives in excess $1,000/month and makes more money than I do, some of which is unreported to the OCSD. I've calculated the annual expense for the two children for care, groceries, etc. Essentially, it's completely covered by my obligation. What expenses she has for the kids is a complete mystery to me.

I think the polarity between your situation and mine (which I fear is not uncommon) reflects very poorly on the department (ahem, Mr. Kroger) that is handling our respective cases. I wish you well and hope things get fairer for the both of us.

I agree that unpaid child support is wrong. However, more laws to go after back child support does not guarantee that a recipient will see more money. Is it the goal to get more money or to punish the obligor? Frankly, we should see more reasonable child support orders. According to my child support liaison, "Most child support in the State of Oregon is collected by income withholding regardless of whether past due child support is owed." This is appalling. Equally appalling is that there is no legal requirement that the money the obligee receives is actually spent on the child. This is not "child support." This is indirect spousal support for, in many cases, people who do not really "need" a good portion of the awarded amount. Additionally, people are incarcerated for grievous child support debt in Oregon. Licenses are suspended, too. What other laws does a person need? The laws are there, believe me. Oregon's pretty harsh.

Are you listening, John? "Child support" is a big problem in Oregon. I have a hard time emphasizing how big. Let's deal with it and you'll have my vote. Your office, the senators, Gov Kitzhaber's office, and my district rep's have yet to have even a single reply in my documented letters.

While it is troubling to know that the Oregon Child Support Program did not have checks and balances to stop this fraud from happening, it is equally troubling that non-custodial parents who are delinquent towards their obligation are routinely sentenced to 180 days in jail, not just 120 days. Apparently under-privileged parents are a worse scourge of society than thieves.