EDITORIAL
Deadbeat parents
targeted by new law
States have tried a number of methods to get parents
who are delinquent in paying child support to pay. Want
ed posters, garnishing wages, garnishing tax returns, jail
time — you name it, some state in the union has tried it.
Unfortunately for families affected by this problem,
many of these tactics remain empty threats because law'
enforcement agencies do not have the time or the man
power to enforce them.
So what would make a delinquent father or mother pay
overdue child support?
The state of Maine thinks it has the answer, by revok
ing the driver's licenses of parents who do not pay their
court-ordered child support.
Not only does the slate have the power to take away
driver's licenses, it also has the power to revoke pro
fessional licenses such as those required to practice med
icine or law.
Residents of Maine affected by this law were warned
repeatedly about the possible loss of their licenses before
the state actually made good on the threat. Jane Sheehan,
Maine Human Services Commissioner, told the Associ
ated Press that the initial warning letters "yielded the
state Si 1.5 million in back payments."
Maine’s governor, John R McKernan. decided to pro
pose the Family Financial Responsibility Act after he
realized that the state was paying millions and millions
of dollars to people who have become impoverished
because one parent or the other was delinquent in mak
ing the required < hild support payments.
On July 1 some Oregon residents who fail to pay child
support will also bo subject to the same type of child sup
port enfor< oment The new law. OKS 25.750, will not lx*
applied to doctors and lawyers but it will be applied to
truck drivers, commercial fishermen and some other state
licensed professions.
Prior to ()KS 25.750 taking effect there were a number
of things that could be clone to extract overdue child sup
port from deadbeat parents.
I’he first step, according to Doug Mitchell, a deputy
distric t attorney for laneCkiunlv. is a simple letter request
ing child support. This letter is followed by others.
Next comes garnishment of wages, or the taking of child
support money directly from the parent's wages. If that
does not work, the state can put a lien on property. If tin*
parent continues to be delinquent the court can hold him
or her in contempt and send the parent to jail.
If a delinquent parent lias his or her professional license
revoked, how can he or she be expected to work to pay
back the overdue child support? I bis is the argument
used by many opponents of laws like those in Oregon
and in Maine.
It is true that the delinquent parent will not be able
to pay back the money owed their abandoned family if
he or she is in prison, hut the pain of poverty experienced
by the delinquent parent in jail is essentially the same
pain suffered by the impoverished child he or she has
neglected to support.
Maine and Oregon are to bo applauded for their vorv
sincere efforts to put an end to the problem of delinquent
parents. I lowever, there is still much work to lie done on
this front, most of which must start at home.
If we as a nation want to rid ourselves of the problem
of deadbeat parents we must make those parents feel their
worth before they become mothers and fathers — when
they are children. Children who grow up to feel worth
less will treat their children as though they are worth
nothing.
Oregon Daily
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■
LETTERS
Agenda
Homosexuals aren't a constitu
tionally recognized minority. vet
the media and opposition make
a lightning jump to sav that
homosexuals are and the Oregon
( iti/uns Alliance is taking mvav
their rights as such
Homosexuals all have consti
tutionally guaranteed rights as
American citizens Thev |ust
don't have i nert ion of law to
force accept ante and approval of
homosexuality
That’s the dehate Will homo
sexuals be allowed to force at
i eptance of a lifestyle people
don't agree with?
Hu* homosexual agenda allows
religious beliefs, people just can
not exen ise them Making homo
sexuality a minoritv, a Jewish del
icatessen owner observing kosher
law t old lie forced to hire homo
sexuals who are considered
unclean.
What people do in the bed
room's privacy (within law) is
their business But when homo
sexuals demand minority status
and to teach our children ho
mosexuality as equal to rat e or
nationality, then the public has
the right to debate.
Since America's inception,
communities have set their stan
dards OCA's initiative doesn't
"lake away" rights It ensures the
right of communities to set their
standards.
fob protection is guaranteed
everyone equally. Oregon law
states personnel decisions can
not be based on non-job related
fiutors m state government. One's
sexuality isn't job related It isn’t
a job qualification, duty or func
tion Since sexuality is "non-job"
related, personnel decisions (hir
ing, firing, promotions, raises,
etc ) cannot tie based on it Our
initiative allows all branches at
government to pass such ordi
nances protecting all people
equally.
Merle Pacewicz
OCA Area Captain
Junction City
Gone too far
In the name of saving jobs
America has gone to bizarre
lengths We keep on subsidizing
tobacco so as not to put farmers
out of their chosen work. The
same, of course, is happening on
and on here in the Northwest
where we clearvut old-growth for
est to save logging and mill towns
from going under and losing their
job base
I know. I know, it's their way
of life! Isn't it obvious bv now
that them are different values and
fott.es at work now that tobacco
companies have cheated for vears
to hide the deadly effect of their
drugs from us. or that the timber
barons have known for half a cen
tury that America could run out
of trees to cut?
Them is another sacred cow of
)oi»s —the permanent highpaying
|obs at the Pentagon. The United
States is the biggest arms mer
chant in the world and there is
no sign of a decrease in this most
lucrative business or any sign of
our own disarmament Any law
maker would !«• voted out if his
district lost defense jobs' The
United Stati-s space program
operates in the same vein, hold
ing on to job security, which costs
us plenty
We cannot go on at this insane
pat e. paying no heed to the envi
ronment or the "dumb middle
class" which pays for all these
programs with its taxes (corpo
rations do not pay)
Alternative job opportunities
am them and need to tie explored
more seriously.
Hllde K. Cherry
Eugene
Disgrace
Comparing homosexual prac
tices to a person's ethnic heritage
is a disgrace to the trials and
struggles of America’s true
minorities Attempting to create
a minority classification based on
wrong and potentially destructive
behaviors is an insult to the cit
izens of this great country
Today, homosexuals are at
tempting to compare their wrong
sexual practices to tieing denied
the right to vote, the right to use
public restrooms and fai ilities
and being forced to si! at the fwi k
of the bus How can anyone com
pare such public disgrace and
humiliation as that to the prat
tices one chooses to do in the pri
vacy of the bedroom?
If homosexuality is granted
minority status, government en
tities and offic ials will lie forced
to present homosexuality to our
children as something good,
equal to race, gender or nation
al origin, etc. This minority clas
sification will forc.e everyone's
private* sexual behavior into the
public arena for evaluation.
Those identified ns participating
in homosexuality will be given
special classification and con
siderations.
Granting civil rights protection
for homosexuality is nothing
more than special rights. Who
else is afforded minority status
based on their wrong behaviors?
Stop minority status for homo
sexuality. Sign the OCA "Minor
ity Status and Child Protection
Act" at your local mall or call the
Brooks offii e to get a petition and
vote yes in November.
L. Miller
Deputy Director
OCA Lane County
Dependency
Decrying the cycle of depen
dency tfiat keeps millions of
Americans on the welfare rolls
fur years, President Clinton on
June 15 unveiled his new $9.it
billion welfare reform initiative.
This presidential effort is
meant to save the treasury mon
ey and silence the critics of fed
eral entitlement programs.
American politicians have
been elected and reelected by
appealing to the darker side of
voters by lambasting welfare
mothers and indolent fathers for
receiving federal subsidies.
The same politicians, howev
er. are themselves on the welfare
rolls of political action commit
tees which have their own agen
das For example, take pro-Israel
PACs Recently they succeeded
in convincing members of Con
gress to supplement Israel's annu
al aid of $.1 billion with nearly
S242 million Also, on March 31,
President Clinton authorized the
Defense Department to give Israel
Sltit 9 million in military' equip
ment; and on April 29, Congress
approved an SHI) million grant to
Israel tor Jewish refugees Amer
ican treasury and private dona
tions will bring the total aid [xm k
age to $5 billion this fiscal year
alone I bis translates to Stood for
every man. woman and child in
a country of 5 million people.
Since the creation of Israel in
194H, American taxpayers have
doled out S70 billion in aid to
that country.
How can anyone complain
about Americans on welfare
when the state of Israel has been
on welfare since its birth?
M. Reza Behnam
Eugene