Ever with his finger on the pulse of the American people, George W. Bush vetoed the Stem Cell Research Enhancement Act last week, spouting a whole bunch of things about ethical and moral values, maintaining that stem cell research is tantamount to murder and that "…crossing this line would be a grave mistake."
But a USA TODAY/Gallup Poll released earlier this week and taken over last weekend shows that Bush must believe the majority of Americans are unethical and immoral. A 58-percent majority of poll respondents say they disapprove of Bush vetoing the stem cell bill, while 36 percent -- probably the same crew that still approves of his overall job performance -- agreed with his decision. For the record, the poll showed that Bush's job approval rating remains at a dismal 37 percent.
Now that George W. Bush, aided by Congressional Republicans and the Religious Right, has ruined immediate hope of meaningful progress on stem cell research, it's time for Democrats to tell them to put up or shut up on their strident claims that a child is born almost the minute two people even discuss conception.
One of the primary arguments against federal funding of stem cell research was the alleged viability of the 400,000 frozen embryos in storage at fertility clinics throughout the country.
Sam Brownback (R-KS), one of the Senate's major stem cell opponents, even went through the theater of holding a press conference showcasing children whose parents adopted them as frozen embryos from fertility clinics --the so-called "snowflake babies."
"What we're talking about in this debate is the use of embryos, young humans, as raw materials, raw material in research, raw material to exploit," said Brownback.
Bush himself made many similar statements and his spokesman, Tony Snow, even said that Bush considers it murder to conduct stem cell research.
There were only 14 of them, but they are names we should not forget -- the Democrats in the House of Representatives who voted yesterday to support George W. Bush's veto of H.R. 810, the Stem Cell Research Enhancement Act. While their votes would have made no difference in the outcome -- there were nowhere near enough supporters to reach the two-thirds majority required to override Bush's foolish choice -- this is a stain these 14 should permanently carry on their Congressional resumes.
They are:
Jerry Costello (IL)
Lincoln Davis (TN)
Tim Holden (PA)
Marcy Kaptur (OH)
Dale Kildee (MI)
Daniel Lipinski (IL)
Jim Marshall (GA)
Mike McIntyre (NC)
Alan Mollohan (WV)
James Oberstar (MN)
Collin Peterson (MN)
Nick Rahall (WV)
Bart Stupak (MI)
Gene Taylor (MS)
And thus the need to win back a healthy majority in the House over the next four to six years is once again brought into specific relief. We need these 14 in our numbers now, but if we can go up 20 to 30 seats in the next few years, it will be a pleasure to kick their asses to the curb and be able to cite this vote when that happens.
As everyone expected, George W. Bush yesterday took the path even more toward the Religious Right and away from science and enlightenment when he vetoed the Stem Cell Research Enhancement Act, which had just passed the Senate on Tuesday after passage in the House of Representatives in 2005.
The bill, H.R. 810, went immediately back to the House, where a vote of 235 to 193, fell 51 short of the two-thirds majority required to override Bush's rejection of the bill that would have expanded embryonic stem-cell research and given hope to millions of Americans suffering life-threatening and crippling illnesses.
Like Scott "The Lyin' King" McClellan before him, it's the job of White House Press Secretary Tony Snow to get out there and lie through his teeth for the team every day and to articulate the official views of George W. Bush to the media, who then relay it to the American people.
Here's what Snow relayed to us yesterday about his boss's view of stem cell research, the 70 percent of us in favor of it and the medical community that believes it will help people have better lives:
"What the President has said is that he doesn't want human life destroyed. Now, you may consider that insignificant, but the President has said…. [he] believes strongly that for the purpose of research it's inappropriate for the federal government to finance something that many people consider murder; he's one of them.
"The simple answer is he thinks murder is wrong. The President is not going to get on the slippery slope of taking something that is living and making it dead for the purpose of research.
Here's your list of Senate humanitarians who voted against H.R. 810, the Stem Cell Research Enhancement Act, this afternoon…
The vote was 63-37 and only one Democrat joined in the GOP cruelty -- how hard was it to guess that it was Ben Nelson of Nebraska? He makes Joe Lieberman look like Ted Kennedy.
In addition, the roll call is good news for the campaign of Democrat Sherrod Brown in Ohio as Mike DeWine, in an act of election-year, political suicide, opted to stand next to the Opus Dei Boys, Brownback and Santorum.
In a bipartisan display that should send a clear message to a White House bent on exercising the first presidential veto of George W. Bush's tenure, the U.S. Senate this afternoon approved H.R. 810, the Stem Cell Research Enhancement Act, which will expand federal funding for embryonic stem cell research and give hope to millions suffering from life-threatening or crippling diseases.
The vote was 63-37, meaning that it is extremely unlikely that Senate Democrats could rally the 67 votes necessary to override a certain Bush veto.
Here's some sound bites from yesterday's Senate debate on the three stem cell bills that will receive a vote this afternoon.
Carl Levin (D-MI) speaks on using embryos that would otherwise be destroyed and America's leadership in research:
"The logic of some embryonic stem cell research opponents is totally befuddling. They are apparently willing to ignore the discarding of the embryos by fertility clinics, but they label as morally objectionable the life-giving use of embryos which would otherwise be discarded. I believe that embryonic stem cell research is truly a life-giving, not a life-destroying, process because of the extraordinary potential for healing living, breathing human beings who have names and faces and loved ones.
Ever with his finger on the pulse of the American people, George W. Bush vetoed the Stem Cell Research Enhancement Act last week, spouting a whole bunch of things about ethical and moral values, maintaining that stem cell research is tantamount to murder and that "…crossing this line would be a grave mistake."
Now that George W. Bush, aided by Congressional Republicans and the Religious Right, has ruined immediate hope of meaningful progress on stem cell research, it's time for Democrats to tell them to put up or shut up on their strident claims that a child is born almost the minute two people even discuss conception.
Like Scott "The Lyin' King" McClellan before him, it's the job of White House Press Secretary Tony Snow to get out there and lie through his teeth for the team every day and to articulate the official views of George W. Bush to the media, who then relay it to the American people.