Congressman Joe Walsh behind on child support while fighting debt reform

U.S. Rep. Joe Walsh of McHenry owes more than $100,000 in child support and interest to his former wife, she alleges in a Cook County Circuit Court filing.

The dispute, set out in a court filing last December, remains unsettled. Walsh's ex-wife says he is $117,437 behind in payments.

Walsh, 49-year-old Republican, entered Congress in January, swept into office with help from tea-party activists. He often appears on television demanding the country drastically cut its spending and pay its bills.

Walsh, who lives in McHenry and has remarried, won office in November even after problems surfaced with respect to his financial history. He had a condo in Evanston that he lost to foreclosure and state and federal tax liens, which ultimately were satisfied.

John Coladarci, who represents Laura Walsh, said Thursday that she lives in the Chicago area and is a non-practicing attorney who works for Eli Lilly, the Indianapolis-based pharmaceutical firm.

He said she would not be speaking to the press, but noted the money she was seeking from Walsh was important to her.

“Laura needs the money,” Coladarci said. “She’s been scraping by pretty much on her own for years, trying to collect from Joe. It’s been very, very hard to raise three children on one income, as anyone who has done that knows. He hasn’t been particularly helpful in that aspect since 2005.”

The attorney said Walsh owes an additional $9,639 — on top of the child support and interest — which represents his 50 percent share of certain educational, extra-curricular, medical, dental and insurance expenses for the children.

Already, some $2,135 is being taken every month from Walsh’s congressional paychecks so he may meet his ongoing child-support obligations, Coladarci said.

Rank-and-file members of Congress are paid $174,000 a year.
(via Chicago Tribune)