From the DPVA:
As Virginians continue to learn about the extreme anti-women’s rights groups Ken Cuccinelli has supported over his career, new details about his allies’ agenda continue to surface.
American Coalition for Fathers and Children President Stephen Baskerville is a leader in the anti-women “Fathers’ Rights” movement and a staunch supporter of Cuccinelli’s. When Cuccinelli introduce legislation to penalize the spouse who filed for a no-fault divorce in child custody cases, Baskerville praised Cuccinelli for fighting against the no-fault divorce ‘epidemic.’
In 2006 when Cuccinelli was the only Virginia State Senator to vote against raising child support to keep track with inflation, Baskerville was there to provide cover, saying such efforts are designed to “railroad through higher child support, though it already is at punitive levels.”
Cuccinelli’s support for Baskerville’s Fathers' Rights agenda and Baskerville’s public defense of his efforts raise questions about how far their shared approach to divorce and custody issues extends. For example, does Cuccinelli agree with Baskerville’s suggestion in 2005 that “child support awards are so high that the children have become a profit center for middle class divorcing moms – an additional financial incentive for them to divorce?”
It seems likely given the Fathers' Rights affiliate group's letter to legislators urging them to oppose raising child support argued “the proposed child support increase will harm, families, provide greater incentive for divorce, and increase fighting with more money at stake.” Thirty-nine legislators didn't buy that argument–but Cuccinelli did.
Outrageous and offensive statements like these from key Cuccinelli “Fathers’ Rights” allies betray a deep hostility toward any Virginia woman who would seek to end a bad marriage without her husband’s permission. Ken Cuccinelli still hasn’t explained his ties to these groups and figures like Baskerville, and his support for their agenda.
Virginians need leaders who are focused on creating jobs and making life better for all Virginia families, not on a dangerous ideological agenda that tips the scales of justice away from Virginia women and families.
ACFC President: “Child Support Awards are So High that Children Have Become a Profit Center for Middle Class Divorcing Moms—An Additional Financial Incentive for Them to Divorce”
In October 2005, ACFC President Stephen Baskerville wrote, “Child support awards are so high that the children have become a profit center for middle class divorcing moms – an additional financial incentive for them to divorce. As Kimberly Folse and Hugo Varela-Alvarez write in the Journal of Socio-Economics, “Strong enforcement…may… lead to the unintended consequence of increasing the likelihood of divorce.” Yet in a striking slight-of-hand, disbursements under the “healthy marriage” mantra have actually gone less to counseling than to child support enforcement.” [Stephen Baskerville, “Wedded to the State,” 10/21/05; accessed via Way Back Machine]
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