Bristol Palin's Baby Daddy: I'm Blue Collar, So Put a Lid on Child Support

Bristol Palin's newest baby daddy is one smart cookie, because he just beat her to the punch by telling the family law judge exactly how much he can afford in the child support department.

Dakota Meyer -- the father of Bristol's 2-month-old daughter Sailor -- claims in new legal docs he makes $100,000 a year working construction, and gets another $37k in disability from the Marine Corps.

Under Alaska law, Dakota's income would entitle Bristol to $1,754 a month in child support.

So, you ask, why is Dakota running to court to establish his legal obligation to pay child support? Well, he's a good student of history, because when Bristol was fighting Levi Johnston for child support, he tried convincing the judge her claims about his income were wildly inflated.

Dakota is trying to manage expectations out of the gate by immediately going on the offensive.