FlyNavy said:
The mistake most people make with this bit of news is that they think it means Bush is banning scientific research on stem cells. That's simply not the case. There is no ban on embryonic research. Period. What this bill does is keep the government from yet again unfairly taking more of our money and dumping into a wasteful, bureaucratic system that will not live up to its' promises.
If people are so interested in stem cell research then they need to start donating to private institutions responsible for that research, not complaining that Uncle Sam isn't going to foot the bill by reaching into our pockets.
My points were that he NEVER VETOES ANYTHING. Denying one spending bill hardly qualifies him as a fiscal conservative. Remember this is the same idiot who pushed through 'No Child Left Behind'. Labeling it as anything but an overt appeal Christian fundamentalists is retarded. He'd likely fund research into creationism if it came along, and I actually wouldnt be surprised if he has already...
Other points of stupidity, he could rescind the 1989 Import ban with a stroke of his pen but he wont. He promised to sign a new AWB if congress voted one through. He's PUSHING for an immigration amnesty. I can go on...
Also medical research, funded by your tax dollars is the most effective way to research unprofitable things. You cant patent research/knowledge and sell it, the only money is in pharmaceuticals. If you were to develop a method of treating an illness, any illness, you cant market it as a product. There is no pay off.
Looking at a longer run. The point of a corporation is to make money, not help people. Say they developed a cure for a communicable disease, like AIDS. They could make a lot of money marketing it, but eventually the disease would be wiped out. The more profitable thing to do would be develop a treatment that does not quite cure it and sell it as expensively as the market would bear... Ephedrine is good example of this. Ephedrine was developed on federal research grants, it was cheap and effective, it couldnt be patented though. Various drug companies started a smear campaign saying it was unsafe and pushing their own more profitable but less effective drugs.
Also gov't research is more or less mandated/validated in Article I, Section 8, Clause 1 of the Constitution [Taxation Clause/General Welfare Clause]:
The Congress shall have power to lay and collect taxes, duties, imposts and excises,
to pay the debts and provide for the common defense and
general welfare of the United States; but all duties, imposts and excises shall be uniform throughout the United States.
