# 176 Friday June 23, 2006 -
THE DISORIENTED DOZEN?  LATEST FROM STEM CELL WASHINGTON


Like all professional speakers, the late lamented Senator Everett Dirksen
had the problem of sore throats from talking too much. He developed an
unusual answer.  Every morning he would put a glob of cold cream on two
fingers, shove it down his throat.  It must have worked, because he had a
beautiful speaking voice, and was a master of persuasion.

And how was he himself persuaded?

Here is what Senator Everett Dirksen said about the power of public
pressure:

"When I feel the heat, I see the light."


KEY SENATORS WHO NEED TO BE REMINDED TO SUPPORT HR. 810/S 471

Georgia:  Johnny Isakson (R)
Georgia:  Saxby Chambliss (R)
Idaho:  Mike Crapo (R)
Indiana:  Richard Lugar (R)
Iowa:  Chuck Grassley (R)
Minnesota:  Norm Coleman (R)
Missouri:  Christopher Bond (R)
New Mexico:  Pete Domenici (R)
Tennessee:  Bill Frist (R)
Texas:  Kay Bailey Hutchison (R)
Virginia:  John Warner (R)
West Virginia:  Robert Byrd (D)

 Right now, an even dozen Senators are wavering back and forth on stem cell
research advancement. We must not let them be unbalanced, a Disoriented
Dozen.

If they straighten up and fly right, voting yes on the Stem Cell Research
Enhancement Act, (S 471) America and the world will benefit.

But if they choose the wrong direction, research for cure will be grounded
for years, perhaps decades.

We need to understand the pressures they are under, and help them decide.

Consider, for example, Senate majority leader Bill Frist, (R-TN).

He is a good man, a caring individual. Even as a Senator, he takes time
routinely to volunteer his personal services as a doctor.

But he has extraordinary pressures on him, because he wants to be President.

Now to win the general election, candidates appeal to the majority of the
voters, people in the middle, not the extremes.

To get the nomination of the party is a different matter altogether.

Who are the folks stuffing envelopes, walking door to door? Who are the
volunteers ringing you up in the middle of the night, willing to risk your
anger on the slender chance of gaining your vote for their candidate? Are
these casual people, middle-of-the-road'ers?

These are the party faithful, the true believers in their cause.

And who are the activists with the most energy in the Republican party right
now?

 The Religious Right.

They have power, money, and enthusiastic volunteers.

I just wish they were on our side!

 In time, of course, they will be on our side. Each of them has loved ones
too, families at risk of chronic disease or disability. When a person
realizes, hey, that research may help my son who has diabetes, my daughter
with leukemia-or my wife who has breast cancer or my husband with Alzheimer's,
or my sister with arthritis, or my brother in his wheelchair--  or plain old
me, myself and I- he or she will talk about it within their community.
Person by person, change will come.

But that day is not now. Today, the Religious Right is the opposition; they
are against the research we support; if they win, we lose.

It took political courage for Bill Frist to come out in favor of House
Resolution 810: the Stem Cell Research Enhancement Act.

He paid for it. The editorials were savage from the Religious Right, his
former supporters. All the dozens of times he had voted their way was
forgotten.

It would only be natural for him to want to make them happy again-- to
support his bid to gain the Republican Presidential nomination.

But even among the social conservatives, increasing numbers are re-thinking
their position. In California, Prop 71 won in every voting segment.

Conservatives have families too, people they love, and will protect.

And there is also another power base in the Republican party:

Free enterprise, the business engine of America, supports embryonic stem
cell research.

The biomed industry has a lot of start up-corporations, the scientific
equivalent of mom and pops outfits; they are definitely in favor of the
research, and biomed is growing.

Corporations large and small: would any business want to miss out on the
next great wave of the future?  Would they shut themselves off from computer
use, if that near-magical means of communication offended someone?

Business people know that every great innovation is feared and opposed at
first.  Even cameras were once considered "soul-stealers" by certain
religions.

Executives have families, too.

Leaders like Senator Bill Frist must remember all his constituencies.

But each day brings us closer to November, with more and more reasons to put
off a controversial vote-or tie it to something poisonous, and hope nobody
notices.

Politicians are subtle, masters of innuendo and the hidden meaning, gestures
within gestures, ways to appear progressive while taking a giant leap
backward.

America needs a straight up and down vote on S 471, the Stem Cell Research
Enhancement Act: no tricks, no add-ons, no deceptions, no decoys.

Senator Frist has already paid the price of independent thought; we must
support him in that decision, and make sure he does not throw it away by
some last minute "deal".

Remember Senator Dirksen's heat and light?

Education is the light.

We must also bring the heat.

Every Senator needs to know that supporters of stem cell research have not
gone away, that we are watching, and that we will hold them accountable.


A letter to Senator Frist (or any of the Disoriented Dozen) might go
something like this:

Dear Honorable Senator Frist:

Please allow a straight up and down vote on House Resolution 810, the Stem
Cell Research Enhancement Act.

It has been more than a year since HR 810 passed the House of
Representatives. You have promised to support it, and to allow a vote.

Please do not allow any tricks, like distracting "decoy bills"; or linking
it to something poisonous, as the Brownback anti-research legislation.

As the (here, identify your interest-father of a paralyzed son, patient with
Parkinson's, whatever your most pressing reason for involvement) I strongly
support embryonic stem cell research.

I urge you to follow the will of American people who so overwhelmingly
support embryonic stem cell research.

 Please allow the vote.

Thank you,

Your Name


 Or.

GOT SOME DOLLARS YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT TO WITH?

John Hlinko, the founder of STEMpac (and the man behind the successful Draft
Wesley Clark effort), has made a video commercial he would like to run,
urging Senator Frist to do the right thing about HR 810/S 471.  He wants to
run the ad in New Hampshire, site of the first Presidential primary,
reminding the Senator of the national importance of the issue.

To check out John's effort, go directly to his website-www.STEMpac.com.

Do NOT send me money-but John is a serious worker, and I recommend sending
him a couple of bucks if you can. Small donations matter too. I saw John at
the GPIconvention, and I shoved $20 in his hand, or maybe it was $10, I
forget. I am cheap, granted, but every nickel counts, way I see it.

If you are able to make a highly targeted contribution, that would be great.

If, however, your wallet (like mine) is not exactly cluttered with cash of
multi-digit denominations, a letter to Senator Bill Frist and one or more of
the Disoriented Dozen is also extremely helpful.


P.S. The very latest: Senator Frist has repeated his promise to allow a vote
on H.R. 810/S 471-in mid-July. That is good news.

The bad news is: As we feared, it looks like it will be a package deal:  an
anti-research bill to please Senator Sam Brownback (R-KS), as he runs for
the Presidency as the Religious Right candidate: and a decoy bill on
so-called "alternative" stem cell research, to allow social conservatives
the appearance of voting for progress in a meaningless way-while voting
against the  real research.

Stay tuned.

By Don Reed, www.stemcellbattles.com

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