LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Question about people who owe child support not getting assistance
Question to ponder... I would like to know why the ONLY reason a COVID-19 stimulus check will not be given to you is because a person owes back child support? Does the Health and Human services department or the IRS assume tha if a mom or dad owes child support to a STATE, that he or she must not be financially affected by the pandemic?
How do the lawmakers who make the decisions as to who gets financial help generalize that all people who owe back child support must not need any money?
How about a couple who share custody of their child and have been trying to make ends meet in these difficult times and are struggling financially, won’t get ANY HELP AT ALL because they both owe back child support to their respective state?
This not only seems like an unfair outcome for people behind on payments, but it also seems like a moral blow to the undeserving because there are FAR WORSE individuals out there who are getting their stimulus payments without even raising an eyebrow.
I believe there’s a difference between people who don’t pay their child support because they don’t want to, and those who try to keep up with their payments but can’t because of their own necessary financial obligations. Ted Higle Porterville
Thank you Porterville City Council
Thank you Porterville City Council for thinking of the safety of all in Porterville who may be immune compromised and following the Governor’s ruling that Porterville should still be in Phase 2.
Also, thank you everyone who wears a mask in any business. You are thinking of others. You understand that even though you are healthy, you may be asymptomatic and unknowingly passing the COVID-19 virus. Jean Vafeades Porterville
What we need now is love
In 2012, Jackie De Shannon had a hit recording titled “What The World Needs Now Is Love, Sweet Love.”
That statement was true for the world in 2012 and still is today. It also applies to the United States.
For a long time, we have been lacking in our expression of love for one another. We definitely have not been following the Biblical command to “Love Your Neighbor as Yourself.”
Instead, we have learned to be selective in who we love and we have ostracized large numbers of our neighbors. We have discriminated against them based on race, nationality, religion, social class and education. This practice has been disgraceful and we should be ashamed.
To make matters worse, we have categorized people and put them in kind of boxes. In one box, there are our family members, friends and those we tolerate. The remaining box contains all “those others.” They are the ones we don’t want to be around. We have segregated themf rom the rest of us.
It is difficult to find anything positive to say about the coronavirus, but it has significantly changed the way we look at one another. All those prejudices we previously entertained now seem rather meaningless. Who really cares about the race or nationality of a person who is helping you or maybe saving your life. That applies to millions of people, including health care personnel and first responders, as well as grocery store clerks, sanitation workers, truck drivers and so many more.
Now is the time to reach out to all our neighbors in love. It’s not to difficult. All it takes is a friendly hello or a small act of kindness. Just imagine all the good that will come from those gestures. I believe that would be called “Sweet Love.” Ray Cauwet Porterville