There seems to be a bunch of people pissed off about stem-cell research; which I wouldn’t have a problem with if they had the first clue as to what they were talking about.
1) President Bush is the first President to federally fund Stem Cell research. President Clinton avoided sponsoring it, despite the bills being on his desk many times, because he didn’t want the controversy. So those that are mad at Bush for not funding it enough, should be livid at Clinton for blockading funding for both his terms (8 years). That they aren’t, demonstrates either their hypocrisy or ignorance.
2) Bush took a very moderate approach; the fed would fund some research, but only on existing lines of fetal cells (all other stem cell research was fine). The reason was because many people in America do not want the ethical issue of destroying one life to do research to save another; that borders on Nazi or WWII Japanese type research to them. Now to me, and many others, we don’t necessarily consider a fetus or human embro a human life; but many do. So the question is should we put guns to people’s heads that believe it is human life, and force them to pay for research that they don’t believe in? Remember, that’s what a tax is, the point where we force people at gunpoint to do things, or else (loss of property, freedom or life). I certainly wouldn’t advocate forcing others to do something that they so vehemently disagree with — but many seem to have no problem with that. The liberals, are ironically (or not so ironically) not being very liberal at all. They want to force to do what they want, which is the opposite of live and let live, and is closer to fascism (conform or be destroyed). The conservatives, are being more liberal, by not forcing anyone to do anything (or by forcing people to pay, but just a lot less than the liberal want). This is especially obvious when you think of the next point.
3) Bush has done nothing to ban private funding, or even state funding. That, I’d have a serious problem with. He’s just said that the Federal government will not sponsor research on NEW strains of fetal tissue; which seems like a reasonable compromise. I disagree with Bush, because I think the Fed shouldn’t be funding ANY research on such a contravercial issue and moral grey area (or arguably in medical research at all); leave it to private research. This has nothing to do with national defense, national security, or intra-national or intern-national trade; so the fed should keep their noses out of it. Live and let live. Personally, I’d sponsor private funding, if I thought it was going to make a big difference in our lives — but I’m not so sure. So the conservatives aren’t blocking any research, those that are claiming otherwise are trying to shut down discussion of the issue and use fear and lies to get what they want.
4) Fetal stem cells are not some panacea that the media is leading people to believe. Most of the breakthroughs with stem cells have been with other forms of harvesting, even before the “ban” on federal funds, and in countries that don’t have such restrictions. You can get stem-cells from cord-blood and from many less contravercial places than harvesting fetuses, and most breakthroughs have been from those areas. So it is politics (not science) that is claiming that Bush is harming many people that would benefit greatly, if only. When or if other countries or private research starts making major breakthroughs with fetal stem cells, then they may have a point, but so far, they’re just politicking.
5) Research is not hampered by having to separate what money (and items) comes from the fed and what comes from private contributions. Those that are complaining that separating their research budgets are liars. The facts are that most real businesses do what is called “activity based costing”, which is what total money (including overhead) is required for each activity. In other words, tracking what money is coming in, and going out, for each activity. What these people are saying is they can’t do what most businesses do, because they are too innept. All these universities and research institutions should ALREADY be keeping track of where the money is coming from, and where it is going. Throwing it into a big pool, and misusing it for whatever they feel like, is a serious issue. If they are that incompetant, then my problem becomes that shouldn’t be getting ANY private or public money.
I don’t really care what side of the debate people ultimately come down on. But these are just some things to think about, next time you hear something about stem-cell research. I don’t want to force people to pay for something I believe in (if they don’t), thus I’m a true liberal and opposed to the liberals/fascists on this. I want politics away from science, so I can’t support this cause, because it is politics OVER science. I want truth over hype, so I have to ignore those trying to pass new laws, or opportunistically using this to get votes. And I think companies should separate their federal funds from their private ones, and if this issue hastens that, and makes them track how they spend (and waste) our money better, then I don’t consider that a big loss. In the end, I hope that stem-cells do cause major breakthru’s, and don’t care if they come from fetal tissue or other means. But I want the politicians more out of our lives, which means not rewarding them or the media for misinforming the public so badly on issues like this.
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