People of all walks of life can struggle to make child support payments. Our St. Louis readers may be interested to know that even politicians have this struggle.

The Chicago-Sun Times reports that U.S. Rep. Joe Walsh (R-Ill.), an important figure in the Tea Party, was ordered by a judge on Wednesday to explain why he is $100,000 behind on child support payments to his ex-wife.

The hearing, from which Mr. Walsh apparently absent, resulted in a "rule to show cause," which is an order requiring Walsh to give the court a good reason why he should not be held in contempt for being so behind on his child support payments over the past five years.

Walsh and his wife divorced back in 2002, and since that time she has requested multiple court orders to compel him to pay his child support obligations. By her accounts, he made half-payments for awhile and eventually stopped sending any money at all, claiming to be financially distressed.

But last year she filed a new motion after she learned that Rep. Walsh had made a $35,000 contribution to his own political campaign.

The Congressman's disputes his ex-wife's contention that he owes her $100,000 in child support payments, but the Wednesday's ruling means that he now has the burden of proving he doesn't owe the money.

Rep. Walsh's attorney had requested, at one point, that Walsh's wife submit her salary history and other documents related to her financial situation, but that request has been dropped. Ms. Walsh's attorney had called the request "harassing."

It doesn't' appear that Rep. Walsh made a great effort to meet his obligations, but those who struggle to make payments may ask a court to review the child support order. Child support orders can be modified either upward or downward to fit the circumstances.

Source: Chicago Sun-Times, "Judge scolds Rep. Joe Walsh in child-support case with ex-wife," Abdon M. Pallasch, Sep 14, 2011.