Jeb's patients don't include Terri Schiavo

Jeb's patients don't include Terri Schiavo

By Randy Schultz

Palm Beach Post Editor of the Editorial Page

Sunday, February 27, 2005

In Florida, about 30,000 children are in the foster care system. Some
have been there for years, waiting for a permanent home. They are Gov.
Bush's responsibility. But last week, they didn't have his attention.

In Florida, tens of thousands of boys and girls are in the juvenile
justice system. From the incorrigible to the misguided, they are
supervised by people who don't make much more than the minimum wage.
Those juveniles are Gov. Bush's responsibility. But last week, they
didn't have his attention.

In Florida, nearly 36,000 adults are in the Medically Needy program.
It provides care for those who are too young for Medicare and too sick
to qualify for Medicaid or get affordable insurance. They are Gov.
Bush's responsibility. But he wants to cut the Medically Needy budget
by $400 million, while cutting taxes. Last week, he wasn't looking for
a way to make up the money for those people whose lives depend on what
the state provides.

No, last week, Gov. Bush was worrying about a woman who is not his
responsibility — Terri Schiavo.

Government where it doesn't belong

The governor already broke the law in exploiting this poor woman's
case. In October 2003, after a five-year court review had determined
that she did not want to be kept alive artificially and her feeding
tube was removed, Gov. Bush signed "Terri's Law." It was
unconstitutional, the Florida Supreme Court ruled unanimously, because
— as the governor knew — the executive and legislative branches can't
invent a law to get around the judicial branch.

It was more evidence of Gov. Bush's tendency to ignore the government
he is paid to run and to insert that government in places where it
doesn't belong, such as the Schiavo family dispute. The governor was
at it again last week, as the Department of Children and Families
asked for more time to investigate claims that someone — meaning her
husband — had abused Ms. Schiavo. DCF reports to the governor. If he
had wanted DCF to stay out, DCF would have stayed out.

The politics are as clear as the basic facts of the case. Many people
who oppose abortion oppose removal of the feeding tube. An e-mail
campaign demands that Gov. Bush, who also opposes abortion, take
action. In 1998, Michael Schiavo petitioned to have his wife taken off
life support. Her parents wanted to continue her non-life. Since she
left no document to reveal her wishes, the case went to the courts,
which found "clear and convincing evidence" that Ms. Schiavo did not
want her life prolonged. In 2001, her feeding tube came out for two
days. In 2003, it came out for six days. On Tuesday, the 2nd District
Court of Appeal again cleared the way for removal. On Friday, Pinellas
County Circuit Court Judge George Greer ruled that the tube can be
removed on March 18.

Worrying about one, not millions

For obvious reasons, there is no satisfactory conclusion. For equally
obvious reasons, politics don't belong in the middle of it. Some have
compared this to a death penalty case, with all the public emotion and
the last-minute frenzy of court motions. The key difference, though,
is that Terri Schiavo is not in the state's care.

But Gov. Bush's pattern is to make those for whom he is responsible
less of a priority. When a retarded woman became pregnant after being
raped in a state-run home, Gov. Bush didn't worry about her. Instead,
the Department of Children and Families tried to have a guardian
appointed for the fetus.

It's the same with education. Traditional public schools are the
governor's foster children, always looking for a permanent home with
him. When he refused to lower class size, voters ordered him to do so.
Next year, the governor wants voters to repeal that law. But you'd
never know, to read his Web site. It touts "an education reform
package focused on providing teachers with the tools and resources
needed to provide Florida's students with a high-quality education."
In fact, his proposed constitutional amendment would try to buy off
teachers by raising the statewide minimum salary — something he could
have done on his own but will try to do now in a halfhearted way to
get something he wants more, which is to kill the class-size
amendment.

Terri Schiavo is one person in tragic, private circumstances, and the
governor responds. Millions of Floridians in the state's care face
daily hardships, and the governor does not respond. No headlines there
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Never argue with an idiot. They drag you down to their level, then beat you with experience.Dilbert