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Hillary Clinton has launched a vision that she calls "Youth Opportunity Agenda". Within the powerful agenda is contained the seeds for unprecedented federal spending and power. As part of this vision, Ms. Clinton seeks to "restore funding for child support enforcement to make sure that fathers do their part to support their children. But she will also reward responsible fatherhood by ensuring that every dollar of child support payments directly benefits children and expanding the EITC to give fathers more economic opportunities to do right by their kids."
On the surface, what Ms. Clinton proposes appears to be visionary. She desires to restore and enforce, to ensure and to expand. That is language for spending more money. "Hillary believes that fathers who have the financial resources must pay their full and fair share of child support." The text reasons, "Child support payments lift more than one million children out of poverty each year and enable 300,000 families to leave TANF rolls. Child support payments can represent half of these men's income, and can provide a strong incentive to work in the underground economy." The statement made by the campaign is a myth. Then, Ms. Clinton proposes to reverse "deep cuts" to child support enforcement that we made through "the Bush Administration". She projects that $11 billion will be lost over the next 10 years because of these "cuts". She will 'make certain' that states and counties have the resources necessary for collection through more federal funding. Ms. Clinton will also "encourage states to take more realistic and cooperative approaches to managing arrears, so that fathers leaving prison are not immediately saddled with unrealistic payment obligations." Could this also be for parents that are arrested for non-payment of child support through the federal Bradley Amendment in the first place?
Ms. Clinton's policy also states that she wants to ensure that every dollar of child support goes to the children through "incentives" and "support", doubtless through more funding with more rules and guidelines. The federal government currently maintains that every dollar of child support is going to child support right now. So what's up with this need for incentives? The dirty secret is that 4% of child support gets lost in the money stream through mismanagement of the system even though every dollar is sent for the children. She holds that her reform will increase child support payments and result in administrative savings. Do you smell more power and larger federal government without results? Honesty would dictate that she address the current money mismanagement in the system. Instead, she has chosen to pretend the problem does not exist.
Ms. Clinton proposes to "make work pay for responsible fathers by expanding the EITC." EITC is the "Earned Income Tax Credit" for low-income workers and families. Ms. Clinton sees the EITC as "one of the most successful anti-poverty programs in the U.S." Have any of you seen this tax credit lift anyone out of poverty or does it simply support more of the same? Ms. Clinton suggests tripling "the size of the benefit for single workers, providing 4 million people with a tax cut averaging $750." Does a $750 tax rebate eliminate poverty? For whom would this eliminate poverty? This sounds more like creative social engineering and promotion for single parents rather than promoting the honesty of marriage.
Ms. Clinton expects the cost to top out at $5 billion a year, financed by the "carried interest loophole" which allows some Wall Street investment managers to pay a lower tax rate on their earned income than middle class workers. How many Wall Street investment managers does the United States have? Only Ms. Clinton knows, but I think you know. This is clearly a smoke and mirrors approach to funding. The savings will be so great that she says that she will generously dedicate a portion of the savings to improve government efficiency. Does this sound real to you? Where will she improve spending? She says that she will improve government efficiency by mandating a freeze on expenses, reducing a vehicle fleet and managing surplus property. What money is needed for that? She proposes to eliminate improper federal payments. What improper federal payments will Ms. Clinton eliminate that we don't know about and who decides what those are?
Currently the federal enforcement of the Bradley Amendment for child support runs at $6 billion yearly with 55% of child support being paid and collected. Ms. Clinton proposes to add another $5 billion to that sum every year with her plan. The $11 billion "saved in reversing budget cuts over a decade", if those cuts exist, would result in additional funding of roughly $1 billion a year. This would lift federal funding through enforcement of child support through the Bradley Amendment from $6 billion to $12 billion. Additional state expenses to meet federal Bradley requirements are still outstanding and remain the responsibility of each state. There is no free money. This projected $12 billion is a federal expense that did not exist before 1994. Before 1994, there was no federal funding for child support collection. Why does this matter?
What Ms. Clinton is not telling you is that she is intent on reforming the Bradley Amendment federal enforcement laws that were enacted beginning in 1993. Who created those laws to begin with? Hillary Clinton, Donna Shalala and other feminists rose to the challenge to beat out "deadbeat dads" no matter what the cost. Through federal legislation, they removed state rights assigned by the Constitution and worked to exercise control over the rights of Americans that had never been exercised before. They pulled it off without a hitch because of public sentiment that they drummed up as they promised welfare reform and poverty resolution. The democratic Bradley Amendment had sat on the law books since 1986 without the capability of enforcement. Hillary's crew of feminists was the enforcement agency for the Bradley Amendment. Opportunity was transformed into power. Bill and Hillary are, in theory, single-handedly responsible for federal child support enforcement as it exists today and have mangled the Constitution and the rights of Americans to do it. The really fascinating part of the whole drama is that none of the legislation has worked. Costs are up. Court orders are up. Welfare has not been reduced as promised. Poverty has not decreased. Child support collections are down. Hillary aims to fix the situation with more invasive methods. Are you prepared for that reality?
The Bradley Amendment must be repealed to restore order in the United States of America. Ms. Clinton is preparing to elevate Bradley Amendment enforcement and reform to new heights. The plans and proposals are real. Hillary Clinton is here to rule your world. Hail to the King.
Elvis Manning
Repeal Bradley Blog
