I suspect that there will be far more heat than light at tonight's debate. Modern presidential candidate debates are high on theatrics and low on substance. Still, in the spirit of an informed public debate, I have one question that I would like to have asked tonight, even if does not provoke a meaningful reply.
The question is this:
The Republican-led House Appropriations Committee voted recently to eliminate Title X, the federal program of assistance to family planning clinics serving low-income communities. The Guttmacher Institute estimates that Title X annually prevents 1 million unintended pregnancies, 345,000 abortions, 87,000 pre-term or low-weight-births, and 2,000 cases of cervical cancer. Cutting support for Title X would increase the burden on state and federal taxpayers by as much as $7 billion a year. If you support the elimination of Title X, how do you propose to pay for it?
My question, of course, will not be asked. The Fox News debate moderators, I suspect, care little about Title X, and even less about what I happen to think about it.
The question, however, is a valid one, and like so many valid questions today, it will probably go unanswered. Too bad.