Controversy healthy for democracy

We have another Bush for president, and already he has touched upon some thorny subjects. He stopped government funding for groups providing overseas abortions. And this business about tuition vouchers, what’s up with that? How about those Cabinet nominees? Based on what we hear from the media, it is a world gone mad.

Granted, George W. may not be the brightest bulb in the chandelier, but we could have done worse in regards to presidential candidates. Al Gore was simply too much an abortion rights fanatic. The Democratic Party has really hurt itself in recent years by being so enthusiastically wedded to the abortion issue, and Gore was the personification of that obsession.

I do not have a problem with the stopping of government funding of groups providing overseas abortions. Most groups that provide such services already get truckloads of money from other, non-governmental sources. A few years back, Ted Turner pledged to give $1 billion over 10 years for such services. And let’s not forget everyone’s favorite nerdy billionaire Bill Gates, who has also donated millions for such purposes.

As far as tuition vouchers, we should give parents the choice of where to send their children to school. If the government can fund overseas abortions, then they can surely fund education for our children here in the States.

Some may say tuition vouchers violate the separation between church and state when the voucher goes to a religiously-based schools. This view implies the voucher money that is given to the parents is still the government’s money. But once the money goes to the parents, it is no more the government’s money than a tax refund. Your tax refund is your money, right? Right. A tuition voucher is simply a tax refund for the explicit use in an educational institution, so no church-state issues are involved here.

Also, low-income families have as much a right to a good education as high-income families, and they deserve to have options in education other than the between-a-rock-and-a-hard-place choices public schools have become.

Let’s face it, with Bush at the helm, some of these issues will be discussed and debated. With Gore at the helm, these issues would not have seen the light of day. It is not healthy for a democracy when ideas are not discussed and debated.

The jury is still out as far as Bush’s Cabinet choices. Linda Chavez should have been a little more forthright about that “non-employee” employee of hers. And I am not certain whether the opposition against John Ashcroft is based on the perception that he is a closet racist or that he is opposed to abortion.

In any case, this transition of power thing has really helped us all forget (except for a dedicated few) about “butterfly ballots” and “chads.” However you may feel about this changing of the guard, the one thing you can’t call it is boring.

John P. Araujo is a Master of Liberal Arts student from Fort Worth.
He can be reached at (j.araujo@tcu.edu)

Editorial policy: The content of the Opinion page does not necessarily represent the views of Texas Christian University. Unsigned editorials represent the view of the TCU Daily Skiff editorial board. Signed letters, columns and cartoons represent the opinion of the writers and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of the editorial board.

Letters to the editor: The Skiff welcomes letters to the editor for publication. Letters must be typed, double-spaced, signed and limited to 250 words. To submit a letter, bring it to the Skiff, Moudy 291S; mail it to TCU Box 298050; e-mail it to skiffletters@tcu.edu or fax it to 257-7133. Letters must include the author’s classification, major and phone number. The Skiff reserves the right to edit or reject letters for style, taste and size restrictions.