[allmendream]

Well I agree that spending your money on booze while leaving children destitute is bad, perhaps even criminally negligent; does spending money on some Whiskey instead of a new Playstation 360 count as abuse?

What government bureaucrat gets to draw the line?

Will the line be more rigorously enforced among Republican parents than among Democrat parents?

[Persevero]

“does spending money on some Whiskey instead of a new Playstation 360 count as abuse?”

Failing to provide for your family constitutes abuse. Whatever the reason, unless it is accidental (i.e. you are in a coma etc.).

If your family is: beaten by you, dying at your hand, starving, going without basic medical care, freezing to death, unclothed - then they are being neglected and in my world the provider would be prosecuted for such neglect.

Again, not if it is not his fault, i.e., he is too ill or too handicapped.