I was at Java Joe’s Coffeehouse to meet with Presidential Candidate Dick Gephardt Oct. 24. I was the first one to ask a question about the plight of many single moms in regard to healthcare. One reason our children have to turn to Medicaid or Hawk-I is the lack of enforcement of court-ordered medical orders.

On top of this, lack of enforcement of court-ordered child support makes it impossible for us to purchase health insurance on our own, even through our employers if it is offered. If it is offered and we manage to purchase it, we can’t use it because we cannot spare the money for the deductible/co-payments — again because of not receiving our court-ordered child support!

No one is willing to bring up these facts. It is all about creating another social program paid for by taxes, which can be terminated whenever some politician decides, like former President Clinton, to balance the budget on the backs of poor children, or to be reelected by eliminating these programs.

Taxpayers are fed up with paying the bill. Unfortunately, they aren’t fed up enough to demand accountability from irresponsible parents as well as irresponsible judges or irresponsible legislators who don’t address this child neglect. They aren’t fed up enough to not support these candidates who won’t address the real social issues.

Gephardt said it was “immoral” for families to not have healthcare. Right on! So address the real issues for many single parents: the enforcement of medical orders as well as court-ordered child support. It is immoral to send the tax payers the bill while sheltering irresponsible parents. Dick Gephardt did agree child support collections should be turned over to the Internal Revenue Service for collections. However, for several years Rep. Lynn Woolsey (D-Calif.) and Rep. Henry Hyde (R-Ill.) have been trying to get a bill through Congress to do just that.

Why was that not done while Gephardt was speaker of the House and Clinton was president?ÿ

The “feminization” of poverty continues to grow at a rapid pace in America, and one of the main drives of this growth is the lack of adequate child support and child support enforcement.ÿ

Maja Rater

Casey, Iowa