Dear Senator Boxer,
I sent a copy of these suggestions to Senator Feinstein, too.
At this time when Republicans are pressuring Democrats to cut spending, and Democrats are asking which services we can afford to cut, what if we did the following?
1--Raise the standard deduction above the poverty level to protect those in poverty from being taxed? It seems more honorable to tax prestige than survival income. Second, it could cut down on the cost of running a huge IRS. Isn't it better to cut taxes at the bottom and middle than at the top?
2--Put people back to work by cutting down hostile takeovers, mergers, off-shoring, and discrimination against the unemployed and those over 50.
3--Child Support and Divorce legislation reform.
a)Cut federal funding of Child Support where it is not justified
b)Keep federal funding where Child Support is well justified.
Item 3 may be unclear.
If child support encourages adultery, abuse, and bad behavior, if it destroys the families of children for profit, if it bullies and extorts from the faithful, if it encourages the unfaithful to gang up on the faithful, if it deprives the children and their faithful parents of their rights to live together, and if it brings injustice upon the faithful and their children, then cut it.
If child support protects the children and the faithful and holds the abusive and the adulterous accountable for their actions, if it encourages faithfulness and stability in marriage and makes this nation better, then by all means assess it and enforce it.
No-fault divorce is a good thing when both partners agree. It can help make divorces more peaceful. If couples have a choice between a fault based divorce and a no-fault divorce, then the rights of the faithful and their children are protected.
A man cheats. His wife says, "I want a divorce. We can do it the easy way and keep this a no-fault divorce if you will give me the house, the children, the property, and child support payments. If not, we can do this the hard way and have a fault based divorce. Your choice."
But, what happens when "fault" based divorce is no longer an option and either spouse can file for divorce without fault?
A woman cheats. She hooks up with a rich man at a bar. They plan with their attorney how to divorce without losing anything. They take their time. They plan with their friends. They hit the library and get advice from various attorneys. Their plan is in place, and they execute on it. The poor husband is waylaid--slaughtered in court. He did no wrong. He was a faithful husband and an excellent father to his kids. But his wife was willing to shred the family for her own lust.
So, now this poor husband is dragged into court. His marriage is stolen from him. He is kicked out of his house and the other man is moved in. And the children reside in this house of adultery while the faithful husband is out in the cold.
The excuse given is that this is best for the children since they get to stay in the same house with as few changes as possible. They keep their school, their mom, and friends, but not their dad.
The dad is out in the cold, and child support processes begin. The other man may be a billionaire. If so, he can afford better attorney services. But, his salary is not considered in the calculations. The faithful husband once had a good salary though perhaps he found it impossible to concentrate on work because of his desire to save his family and his marriage. So, the judge tells him to get back to work, earn a salary and pay child support payments to his wife who betrayed him.
He ends up cursing the country he once loved. He knows this is unconstitutional and that judges and others who say otherwise are lying. He has nothing but bitterness for the divorce process.
Some go off the deep end and go postal, and the rest of us pay the price for that. There are countless suicides among both adults and children related to this kind of divorce activity. We read about murder-suicides all the time in the news. We have a regular number of people leaping off the Golden Gate Bridge and the Oakland Bay Bridge and other bridges as well. Some hang themselves. Many blow their brains out with guns.
Many suicides are related to mental illnesses such as depression or bipolar disorder. But, among military professionals, the break up of a relationship is the highest cause of suicide. Imagine the soldier coming home to find his or her spouse in the marriage bed with someone else. Then imagine how we, as a nation, can rob that soldier who fought for us. Imagine our nation shredding his family, taking his children and giving them to another man. Imagine our nation taking his property and requiring child support payments be paid to his wife and the other man who stole his family.
Divorce courts are expensive. Why not get rid of them and go back to the Constitutional courts--civil and criminal courts? Why not cut child support services and apply it only where it is just? Why not get rid of child support courts and move it into civil courts?
People who are robbed unjustly tend to resist. People who are assessed child support charges may be scoundrels who whine, but if you ask them whether they cheated, abused, abandoned, then they might be more inclined to accept and admit that the child support payments are assessed honorably. But, people who are robbed unjustly just become very angry and bitter unless they have a tremendous amount of patience and forgiveness. And we should not be robbing those people.
So, bottom line,
Cut the IRS down by raising the standard deduction and limiting taxes to prestigeous, luxurious expenditures.
Do away with child support courts and divorce courts and roll those functions back into the courts provided for in the Constitution--criminal and civil courts.
Do away with federal funding for child support enforcement by eliminating unjust judgments and allowing for fault based divorce to protect faithful spouses from robbery and injustice.
Put a stop gap for divorce. Require mediators to follow specific procedures and policies to make sure couples can get counseling, marriage training, and help to save their marriages. Couples are better for the economy than broken families and people stricken by poverty.
