The rapture, the rapture!
Massachusetts’ governor proposed on Tuesday to spend $1 billion on biotechnology over 10 years, aiming to fill a federal funding shortfall caused by the Bush administration’s opposition to embryonic stem-cell research.
Gov. Deval Patrick said the money would support research grants and strengthen facilities used by both public and private scientists.
Massachusetts has some advantages. It is already a major medical cluster with two world-leading universities, four medical schools, 20 teaching hospitals and over 500 life-science companies.
The proposal requires legislative approval, but leaders of the state House of Representatives and Senate backed a 2005 bill encouraging stem-cell research, which was opposed by former Republican Gov. Mitt Romney, who is now a presidential candidate.
The Mass Legislature passed the 2005 bill over Romney’s veto; but, he used one of the same deceits so popular with our moral leader in the White House – and drafted an executive order for the state Public Health Council that effectively negated the legislation.
Do any of these creeps ever obey the law?
While I know that Romney probably did the whole executive order deal because of his personal beliefs – while underhanded, it doesn’t make it illegal. It would bug me enough to keep me from voting for him the next time around, though.
Also, if I lived in Mass., I’d be annoyed that my tax dollars were going to fund a private industry. Just as annoyed as if they dedicated $1bil to the software industry to explore new human interfaces (or some other nonsense) for the handicap/children/elderly. At the end of the day it’s not what the government has been charged with doing and it amounts to pork – feel good pork, but pork none the less.
Another side-note: Bush never outlawed stem-cell research (which seems to be the way it’s portrayed in the media) but was against federal funding for it (which I agree with). Now, that has to be based on a personal belief on his part because he hasn’t veto’d any other spending (other than the recent war-pork bill that our misrepresentatives sent up to him (and I’m including all of them in that – Dems and Reps). I’d be happier if Bush stood on fiscal principles (controling govt spending) rather than trying to get along and signing off on everything except this one exception (stem-cell).
Just because he owned them is no reason to get pissy.
The private sector is starting to get into embryonic stem cell research.
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People, stop electing governors (Carter, Clinton, Bush) president … unless they are from California (Reagan).
Improbable Bus – OmiGod!! Arnold Schwarzenegger???
Romney also violated the law and by executive order changed the marriage licenses in the state to issue so-called “same-sex marriage.”
Improbable Bus – OmiGod!! Reagan???
Hopper, Ahhhhnold can’t run for president because he wasn’t born in the United States. The Constitution would have to be amended to allow him to become president.
MikeN – do you never look beyond Fox Snooze? or is Googling, reading news websites too demanding?
The crux of the law change in Massachusetts on same-sex marriages came from a state supreme court ruling. Romney did his best, of course, to oppose that for the homophobic dweebs of Amerca. He’s your kind of ace-boy.
I knew that… I just had to say it though.
#1 – Brad Bishop,
Would you explain to me why you do not support public funding of potentially life saving research?
Are you worried about the lives of something with fewer cells than a mosquito brain?
Are you also against in vitro fertilization that creates many more of these than needed only to throw them out because we’re not allowed to do stem cell research?
Do you really think that denying public funding of the research does not cripple organizations that want to do the research? Once they do the research, if they take any money for anything else, they must account for every damn pencil to ensure that it was not purchased with federal funding. Just the accounting makes most organizations shy away from doing this research.
In short, how can one justify placing a higher value on the “lives” of blastocysts than on live humans with life threatening illnesses that could be cured by the use of stem cells?
#11 – Whoa Scott….
I agree with you… And I support HUGE public investment into scientific R&D. Be it Stem Cell research or endeavors through NASA.
But it seems that Brad’s issue isn’t about stem cells. It’s about how we spend public money and if he thinks all R&D spending should be private, that’s a valid viewpoint that is not related to any opinion about the morality of stem cell research. He may simply believe that the private sector would do a better job of handling that research.
It’s a totally different point from what you are attacking him on…
#9, the law was never changed in massachusetts. The change in marriage licenses was done by executive order.
Bush sort of partly kinda stopped public funding. It’s quite amusing to see how Rep fans talk out of both sides of their mouth on this one!
#11…Misanthropic Scott….Stem Cell research of any kind has not been banned by Bush or anyone else in the US. Only Federal funding of Embryonic Stem Cell research beyond the lines that were already approved at the time, was stopped. Private enterprises can do all the stem cell research they want, just not on the tax payers dime. And they do. All this nonsense that only Europe or Asia will reap the benefits of research because the goverments there pay for it is just that, nonsense.
My older brother is a Genetics researcher, in this country and for a private company. They are doing all kinds of stuff.
If Embryonic Stem Cell is viable, private industry will back it to the hilt, because of the profits potential and without all the waste and cost overruns of a goverment run program.
I don’t think business is the answer to everything, but there are areas and times when it’s far better equipped to handle some things than our 500.00 hammer goverment. Besides, let them pay for the RD….beats you and I paying for the research then handing the results over to a for profit corp. to make all the money from it. (think NASA)
Oh….#13…Ron…is absolutely right on the mark. All of the advances made so far have been from the Adult Stem Cells research, NOT the Embryonic Stem Cell research…….and the goverment will fund that.
Perhaps government funding is not the best way to accomplish this particular task. I don’t know. However, in the paragraph I posted above, which appears to have gone unread, so I’ll post it again, I point out the crippling nature of banning any government spending on the research. This applies to any institution that accepts even a single government dollar:
Do you really think that denying public funding of the research does not cripple organizations that want to do the research? Once they do the research, if they take any money for anything else, they must account for every damn pencil to ensure that it was not purchased with federal funding. Just the accounting makes most organizations shy away from doing this research.
The problem is the cost of accounting for every single dollar the government provides becomes so prohibitive that whole institutions will simply not involve themselves in this.
Then there’s the accounting for the stem cells themselves. Despite all of the wasted fertilized eggs from in vitro fertilization, research may only be performed, regardless of the funding, on a few barely viable lines of stem cells.
It may be true that the advances have been in adult stem cells. It may also be true that the primary reason is because of the limitations on the research on embryonic stem cell research. Not being in the field, I can’t be sure. But, I am sure that anyone attempting to research embryonic stem cells has their hands tied more effectively than you’d like to believe. It can be done. But, it’s difficult and the genetic diversity of the stem cell lines is not there.
#18…Misanthropic Scott….the diversity of embryonic stem cells is out there. Just not for goverment funded research. There is no shortage of them for everyone else, and believe me there are a lot of private universities and businesses funding the research.
I’m not saying that nothing will come of embryonic stem cell research, maybe it will eventually. But all the scar tactics used by various groups and actors is just that, scare tactics.
#20 – Jewelry
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