Debtors prison- A DUmmies Tale of Woe

[JohnnyReb]

I doubt this would ever making onto their lovely little liberal website, though. They love stories about how evil and mean the government is...but never stories about how incompetent and apthetic it becomes. They love the idea of government so long as they're the only ones in charge.

I have felt your pain. My 4 year long problem wasn't about child support, it was over federal highway use taxes. I got the old, "Oh, I see the problem sir and I'm fixing it right now". Sure you are honey, why do I keep getting these threatening letters about having the sheriff arrest me. Sometimes you have to cuss, fuss and raise immortal hell to get a damn government employee to just punch the right damn button.

They all seem to be prime examples of "The Peter Principle".

[Karin]

I'm sorry you had to go through that harrowing experience, SSB.  This is why we inherently distrust big labyrinthine government.  And the DUmbasses wonder why?  Imagine these people in charge of your life and death circumstances with healthcare!   

[SSG Snuggle Bunny]

...This is why we inherently distrust big labyrinthine government.  And the DUmbasses wonder why?  Imagine these people in charge of your life and death circumstances with healthcare!

You want to know what they're beloved healthcare system will look like?

One of a medic's many duties is to keep soldiers current on their immunizations. I wish I could tell you how many shots I've had to repeat (sometimes at ~$100/shot) because someone, somewhere further down the line did not properly update a soldier's shot record. Of course, duplicated effort for some means others go without so we have to do cheetah-flips to get a soldier back in or send them elsewhere. This doesn't even count what happens when they deploy and get a whole new regimen of immunizations. I'm seeing thousands of dollars a month wasted and that's just from within my constricted, soda-straw view.

And then there's how the patient sees it...

[BEG]

You want to know what they're beloved healthcare system will look like?

One of a medic's many duties is to keep soldiers current on their immunizations. I wish I could tell you how many shots I've had to repeat (sometimes at ~$100/shot) because someone, somewhere further down the line did not properly update a soldier's shot record. Of course, duplicated effort for some means others go without so we have to do cheetah-flips to get a soldier back in or send them elsewhere. This doesn't even count what happens when they deploy and get a whole new regimen of immunizations. I'm seeing thousands of dollars a month wasted and that's just from within my constricted, soda-straw view.

And then there's how the patient sees it...

I too saw a ton of waste at a school district I worked at in the DFW area (I was in purchasing). They would buy a new employee a new computer yet had a warehouse full of perfectly fine used computers. Buy employees of the school district $5 pens while teachers had to buy supplies for their own classrooms themselves.  Buy new chairs while they had a storeroom full of office chairs. I asked once why they don't use any of the items they had in strange and they told me they had to use it (all the money in the budget) or lose it. It seemed so backwards to me. No incentive to buy smart or use the stuff in their warehouse.

If I were running the school district I would give a bonus for saving the district money.  Be it a small monetary bonus or "flex time".  Also another one of their stupid rules were if one year they used less of their budget the next years budget would be cut.  A budget should be made on what they think they will need that year, not on the previous year.  One year you may have a larger expense that you don't have yearly, like updating software or something. It just seemed so friggen backwards.

[JohnnyReb]

I'm sorry you had to go through that harrowing experience, SSB.  This is why we inherently distrust big labyrinthine government.  And the DUmbasses wonder why?  Imagine these people in charge of your life and death circumstances with healthcare!   

Citizen, "Hello, is the government healthcare office."

Government Healthcare worker, "Yes sir. How may I help you?"

Citizen, "I just did something stupid and I need to go to the emergency room."

Government Healthcare worker, "What stupid thing have you done?"

Citizen, "I ran over my foot with the lawn mower and cut it off."

Government Healthcare worker, "Well, sir you'll need to file a form 2918C Express Care request with the Express Care Department of Obamacare. Have a nice day."

Citizen, "WAIT! WHAT? WHAT? HELLO! HELLO!....anybody there?"

Government Healthcare worker, "Hello and welcome to the Obamacare Express Care department. How may I help you?"

Citizen, "I Did something stupid and I nee.........."

Government Healthcare worker, "Please hold sir while I transfer to you to the I Did Something Stupid Department of Obamacare."

Government Healthcare worker, "Hello. This is the computer automated answering service of the I Did Something Stupid Department of Obamacare. Your call is very important to us but we are very busy at the moment and can not take your call. Please stay on the line.  If you would like, you may select the type music you would like to hear while holding by selecting one of the following. If you like soul, push 1 now. If you like rap, push 2 now. If you like gospel, push 3 now. If you like jazz, push 4 now. If you like blues, push 5 now. If you are not dead yet, push 0 and the operator will disconnect you so you can dial us again."

Government worker, "Hello."

Citizens wife, "Hello, is this the deceased benefits department of Social Security?"

Government worker, "Yes it is. Are you or someone in your family deceased?"

[Tucker]

Citizen, "Hello, is the government healthcare office."

Government Healthcare worker, "Yes sir. How may I help you?"

Citizen, "I just did something stupid and I need to go to the emergency room."

Government Healthcare worker, "What stupid thing have you done?"

Citizen, "I ran over my foot with the lawn mower and cut it off."

Government Healthcare worker, "Well, sir you'll need to file a form 2918C Express Care request with the Express Care Department of Obamacare. Have a nice day."

Citizen, "WAIT! WHAT? WHAT? HELLO! HELLO!....anybody there?"

Government Healthcare worker, "Hello and welcome to the Obamacare Express Care department. How may I help you?"

Citizen, "I Did something stupid and I nee.........."

Government Healthcare worker, "Please hold sir while I transfer to you to the I Did Something Stupid Department of Obamacare."

Government Healthcare worker, "Hello. This is the computer automated answering service of the I Did Something Stupid Department of Obamacare. Your call is very important to us but we are very busy at the moment and can not take your call. Please stay on the line.  If you would like, you may select the type music you would like to hear while holding by selecting one of the following. If you like soul, push 1 now. If you like rap, push 2 now. If you like gospel, push 3 now. If you like jazz, push 4 now. If you like blues, push 5 now. If you are not dead yet, push 0 and the operator will disconnect you so you can dial us again."

Government worker, "Hello."

Citizens wife, "Hello, is this the deceased benefits department of Social Security?"

Government worker, "Yes it is. Are you or someone in your family deceased?"

H5

The nine most terrifying words in the English language are, "I'm from the government and I'm here to help."

    Ronald Reagan
    40th president of US (1911 - 2004)  

[BannedFromDU]

     So let me understand this...a guy is on shaky financial ground and decides that's a good time to start running a business without doing even a minute's worth of due diligence.

     ****ING MORON.

     Let me explain something to you stupid lurking liberals that you won't believe and you won't want to hear: most rich people get that way not by falling into a lucky situation, like this jerkweed tried to do. Believe it or not, people get rich by WORKING HARD and by BEING CAREFUL.

     And if this idiot spent nearly the time working on his debt that he spent whining about it on the internet, it would be manageable.

[dixierose]

I was very lucky. When my ex and I got divorced, he was ordered to pay 630.00/month. I never had to go through the state to get the money. He mailed me a 315.00 check twice a month like clockwork. When he got remarried and had another child with his new wife, I agreed to let him reduce his support to me to 500.00/month because he had been so regular for 7 years. (Also, my son was 17 at the time, so there was only a year left on his order). My ex DID help me buy my son a car since then, though. I hear horror stories about men not paying support all the time, and I remind myself how blessed I was to have a considerate ex.

My boyfriend has been ordered to pay support, and he does faithfully. He was out of work for a few months due to the economy (he's a plumber, and the housing market was terrible as y'all know). He picked up scrap metal and sold it in order to pay his child support...it CAN be done. I hate to hear deadbeats try to defend their lack of caring for their child.

[Tucker]

msanthrope (10,972 posts) Profile Journal Send DU Mail Ignore
116. I suspect this item on the POLICE BLOTTER might explain why the wife left....

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Last edited Tue May 8, 2012, 07:55 AM USA/ET - Edit history (1)
http://tonawanda-news.com/local/x1896318115/BLOTTER-Police-reports-published-Aug-20


Look, I did family law for a long time. I don't do it anymore, but it took me about 5 paragraphs into Mr. Croft's screed to know what was what---the only $600 a month for two kids was another tip off.

The 'wife is a b-word' routine is a very common denial mechanism male addicts use when trying to explain why they don't see their kids, why their lives are dysfunctional, and why the court system is shitting on them......

It's never them, or their addictions.

Info at link:

http://tonawanda-news.com/local/x1896318115/BLOTTER-Police-reports-published-Aug-20

August 19, 2009
BLOTTER: Police reports published Aug. 20

City of Tonawanda

DWI: Garth S. Croft, 38, 1306 Ellicott Creek Road, Town of Tonawanda, was arrested Tuesday for DWI, speeding and refusal to take a breath test. He was held for court.

Kaleva (7,203 posts) Profile Journal Send DU Mail Ignore
124. I posted the question at Kos with a link to the police blotter.

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http://www.dailykos.com/story/2012/05/07/1089502/-I-May-be-Going-to-Debtor-s-Prison

Unca Jim (410 posts) Profile Journal Send DU Mail Ignore
146. The responses to this thread...

View profile
The responses to this thread just made me think: "Damn! The people on DU are all judgmental, persnickety, absolutist assholes who can never look at the other person's perspective for five ****ing minutes!"

I thought this site was for liberals.

Not long for this world.

[BEG]

Oh man, the guy said he hopes he doesn't have to sue Kos over this. 

[BannedFromDU]

Oh man, the guy said he hopes he doesn't have to sue Kos over this. 

     Easier than jumping in front of a speeding car and calling an ambulance chaser.

[Tucker]

     Easier than jumping in front of a speeding car and calling an ambulance chaser.

The Breck Girl is indisposed at the moment.

[Evil_Conservative]

$7800 a year is ****ing outrageous, who has that kind of money?

We pay more than that for daycare for our daughter so we can go to work and support you freeloaders.  So I guess our household has that kind of money. 

[DumbAss Tanker]

There are plenty of injustices to go around on the way child support cases get handled.  Incidentally, DUmmies, that's exactly why Conservatives don't care for all-powerful government social control and policies leading us down that path.

[NHSparky]

All the more reason why I don't bitch so much when my ex stuck me with one of her credit cards to pay off (over $10K) when she filed for bankruptcy DURING THE DIVORCE which as anyone who has been through a divorce knows is a big no-no.

Beats the shit out of alimony, and no child support since there were no kids.  IOW, a small price to pay to get rid of her dumb ass, and really, if I feel particularly evil, perhaps I can contact my lawyer to see if I have any recourse in getting it back out of her.  Not like she can't afford it, since I keep hearing about how she takes cross-country trips to Disneyworld, buys new cars, new iPhones every time a new one comes out, etc...

[BlueStateSaint]

All the more reason why I don't bitch so much when my ex stuck me with one of her credit cards to pay off (over $10K) when she filed for bankruptcy DURING THE DIVORCE which as anyone who has been through a divorce knows is a big no-no.

Beats the shit out of alimony, and no child support since there were no kids.  IOW, a small price to pay to get rid of her dumb ass, and really, if I feel particularly evil, perhaps I can contact my lawyer to see if I have any recourse in getting it back out of her.  Not like she can't afford it, since I keep hearing about how she takes cross-country trips to Disneyworld, buys new cars, new iPhones every time a new one comes out, etc...

Sparky, I'd go for it if I were you.

[NHSparky]

Sparky, I'd go for it if I were you.

I've gotten a couple of VERY small ($100 or so) payments out of her.  I can demonstrate that I've been paying this CC for long before the divorce, even though it was HER card (balance transfer from another CC to lower the interest rate) that she alone had.  Only problem was, dumbass me figured we were still possibly reconciling, so I agreed to be co-signer for the transfer, which put me on the hook for the balance when she filed for bankruptcy, even though the divorce papers still show her as being responsible for it.

IOW, give her enough rope to hang her with, and get her for all of it, including the stuff I paid for before the divorce, not just after.  The only question is whether or not I can go after her since she did file for bankruptcy and listed that card as one of her debts.

[AllosaursRus]

Actually, probably not.

One senses the pie-and-jam primitive's watched this in her own family; if I recall correctly, there was a recent episode where a great-grandson (or something) of hers had to go all the way from Oregon to Maine on Amtrak, staying at the home of primitives in Massachusetts, while some family matter was settled involving a young child.

The pie-and-jam primitive's not even 70 years old yet, and already she's a great-great-grandmother of what appears to be a five-year-old male child.

In case one needs the mathematics done, that's five generations of 13 years each.

The hormones must get going early, in Sherlock Judy's family.

WOW! A great great grandma at 70?! I didn't think that was possible! My oldest had a great great grandma but he was 1 and she was 93!

Hormones hell, sounds more like pedophilia!

It pisses me off to no end when a man (or woman) says they are too poor to pay child support. Your kid still has to eat, go to the doctor/dentist, be clothed, etc. Take a ****ing job at McDonalds until something in your field comes up. It doesn't matter what your ex spends on themselves, your kid still needs to eat and have a roof over their head.   You had the kid/s, take care of them you ****ing loser.

Ya know my idea is just don't get divorced! When me and "Toots" got married it was forever. Sure we've had ups and downs in our 39 years, but we stuck it out and fixed the problems. Too many of these good for nothings take the easy way out. I have no sympathy for any of 'em!

Taitertots
55. Imprisoning poor people after assigning them debts they could never pay is wrong

The court should have never ordered him to pay in the first place. $7800 a year is ****ing outrageous, who has that kind of money?

To all those with moral poutrage because it is child support. When is a child EVER better off having their parent imprisoned for being unable to pay? It just makes it impossible for the children to ever receive any support.

$7800 is outrageous? I take it you don't have a child, do ya, TitlessTaters? I had two kids, and I guarandamnteeya I spent waaaaaaaaaay more than 15 though a year to raise them! Stooooopid ****in' DUmmies!

Oh, BTW, has anyone here besides me kept married to the same spouse? Seems as everyone here has an "Ex"! What the hell has happened to "until death do us part"?

[DumbAss Tanker]

Oh, BTW, has anyone here besides me kept married to the same spouse? Seems as everyone here has an "Ex"! What the hell has happened to "until death do us part"?

I'm here, bud, I haven't worn out my first one yet.  Married in 1981.

[AllosaursRus]

I'm here, bud, I haven't worn out my first one yet.  Married in 1981.

Well in our 39 years, I have to admit the "death do us part" sounded pretty good a few times. Heh, heh!

[DumbAss Tanker]

Well in our 39 years, I have to admit the "death do us part" sounded pretty good a few times. Heh, heh!

True, true.

 

[BlueStateSaint]

Oh, BTW, has anyone here besides me kept married to the same spouse? Seems as everyone here has an "Ex"! What the hell has happened to "until death do us part"?

Things happen, AR.  I try not to judge anyone else on here, because I got married late (36) and we're still going strong.  It'll be 11 years, one month from today.

[Chris_]

Well in our 39 years, I have to admit the "death do us part" sounded pretty good a few times. Heh, heh!

[BEG]

Oh, BTW, has anyone here besides me kept married to the same spouse? Seems as everyone here has an "Ex"! What the hell has happened to "until death do us part"?

I have been married for 25 years, to the same man. 

[obumazombie]

I'm still on my 1st marriage. 25 years of bliss. Thank goodness she finds my irresistible animal male lesbian attractiveness so appealing.