Jonathan Smith is a web designer, graphic designer, and photographer in Harrisburg, PA.

I find it a bit bizarre that we as a nation go through so much strife to fuel our comfort levels. Some may disagree, but I believe some of the reason we’ve been involved in war in the Middle East is because of oil. Thousands of soldiers have died. But it’s ok, because we’re still roaming the expansive highways here in our country with big gas-guzzling SUVs.

Now, without any wars whatsoever we have millions of gallons of oil just floating to our shores in the Gulf of Mexico. Hallelujah! Oh wait a minute, it’s killing the environment and is an ecological disaster. Oops. We got what we wanted, just not quite in the way we wanted it.

I am amazed at how times are changing. It seems like the last two presidential elections have been very heavily involved with social networking sites and new forms of media to gain attention.

Now with our new President the White House has it’s own blog! Needless to say, I have subscribed to the rss feed to keep up to date on the happenings of our government. Maybe this is old news but I just found it thanks to Ross Karchner and thought I would share it with my readers.

I couldn’t help but link these two subjects together. With all of the news of large corporations getting bailout money from the government we often see these companies making the news when we see how the money is being spent. Big bonuses and new corporate jets for everyone! Ok, so I am exagerating a bit there. But it has taken the public eye because it is our taxpayer money that is going to these companies. We hope that they will be able to turn their companies around and pay every penny back with interest.

Maybe now more people will understand the anger people feel who pay child support. This is something we have felt forever and yet our concerns fell on deaf ears. Leaving the sexist comments out of this topic because I know that both men and women can pay child support. Our money goes to Domestic Relations which is then sent to the custodial parent. The custodial parent can then spend that money any way they like. They do not have to prove to anyone that the money is spent on the child. Yet not a single person seems to care about this situation. There is absolutely no accountability on the custodial parents part.

As for the person who pays the child support, we are held very accountable. If we decide to not pay, we go to jail. If we miss a payment, we are no longer eligible to purchase a home. These child support laws differ from state to state, and county to county. But I wish the laws would change so that us child support paying parents can see some documentation as to how the money is being spent on our children. Just the way all of us Americans would like to see how the bailout money is being spent by the corporations. We want to see a return on our investment!