And thank you, Ray, for all your effort and good sense.  David


>From: rayilynlee <[log in to unmask]>
>Reply-To: Parkinson's Information Exchange Network
><[log in to unmask]>
>To: [log in to unmask]
>Subject: Reed election comments
>Date: Mon, 13 Nov 2006 10:44:47 -0700
>
>#253 Monday, November 13, 2006 - STEM CELL RESEARCH: What We Won, What We
>Need
>
>I watched the election returns with a bunch of rowdy stem cell supporters;
>we were all yelling and hollering-- it was like the Super Bowl for us.
>Overall, our side won big-time.
>In California, the top nine elected officials were all strong stem cell
>research supporters.
>Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, Lieutenant Governor John Garamendi,
>Attorney General Jerry Brown, State Controller John Chiang, State Treasurer
>Bill Lockyer, U.S. Representative Jerry McNerney,  Secretary of State Debra
>Bowen, Senator Dianne Feinstein, and U.S. Representative Fortney "Pete"
>Stark. (Senator Barbara Boxer was not due for election yet-but she is
>always
>first and foremost when it comes to fighting for the research too.)
>
>Many faced virulent opponents of the research; but they won.
>In Wisconsin, Governor Jim Doyle, staunch stem cell man, was re-elected for
>another term.
>Elliot Spitzer became Governor of New York, and we remembered his billion
>dollar pledge for stem cell research.
>But the most terrible pain of the long evening?
>The anguish when McCaskill of Missouri's numbers came across the screen.
>At first she was ahead; then Claire-our Claire-- slipped back.
>When I left around midnight, I was more disappointed than I can express.
>More than any single election, I wanted Claire McCaskill to win. No one had
>put her heart and soul into supporting the research like she did. She did
>not hesitate-she did not equivocate-she just went all the way for us.
>I remember Jim Talent took about three months to try and figure out where
>he
>stood on the research in general and Amendment 2 in particular (he
>eventually opposed the Amendment, opposed Brownback's anti-everything
>position, which took some guts on his part, and supported the
>cell-extraction method)-Claire McCaskill said, "I can tell you my position
>in three words: I'm for it."
>And now, she had lost? I drove home in a numb fog of exhaustion and
>despair.
>In Missouri, according to friend Jeff Eisen, the opponents of the research
>were ecstatic. They were celebrating. They had a cake, so big it had to be
>rolled out on wheels.
>And they were eating it, getting ready to go home.
>It is my understanding (and I have no statistics to prove this yet) that
>both tobacco and big oil companies donated money to the anti-research
>crowd.
>Why? Because a strong conservative turnout would help them.
>And then, somebody looked at the screen.
>
>As for me, when I got home, I was going straight to bed.
>
>The news was good, I told myself, can't expect to win everything.
>And then I figured, hey, go all the way, one way or the other. Find out
>every grim detail. I turned on the TV, plunked myself down on the couch.
>And there she was.
>The announcer was just saying, "we now project: Claire McCaskill is the
>next
>U.S. Senator from Missouri."
>And Amendment 2?
>Despite all the trash the opposition threw Amendment 2 pulled through.
>Later, Missouri friend Jeff Eisen told me, the supporters had not been
>particularly worried. Turns out they knew exactly the percentages that had
>to be won in each districts, and the pro-research districts had just not
>been heard from when I drove home.
>There will be huge consequences to that simple declaration that stem cell
>research which is allowable in America would also be permitted in Missouri.
>It meant that a tremendous new medical institute--  a stem cell research
>institute-would be established in the Show Me state.
>A Bible Belt state could become an international stem cell research center.
>And more and more good news-primarily provided by Michael J. Fox.
>Many people fought for us. But in this election, November, 2006, no single
>individual had more impact than Michael J. Fox.
>Some day I want to meet him, and shake his hand, and say thank you.
>
>So, now what? Is it all done, and we can retire to our normal lives?
>Well.
>
>There are maybe one or two more little chores in need of our attention.
>Pass the Stem Cell Research Enhancement Act. We did this before, we can do
>it again. This time, let's try for 100%, on both sides of the aisle. Then
>we
>don't have to worry about a certain individual's stubbornness.
>
>Clarify or discard the Dickey-Wicker Amendment Act. This Amendment says
>that
>no federal funding shall ever be allowed for any research which destroys an
>embryo. It has to be renewed every year. We know that billions of embryos
>pass unnoticed from women's bodies every month, and no one mourns. Should
>not the hope of saving lives and easing suffering for full-grown humans
>entitle researchers to duplicate this natural procedure, as is done in
>fertility clinics every day? Or, if that prospect is too awful to
>contemplate, then at very least we must have official recognition of a
>simple fact-that the product of Somatic Cell Nuclear Transfer is not a
>sacred embryo, having neither any sperm, nor any hope of implantation.  But
>one way or another, we need to increase the availability of stem cell
>lines,
>both for the hoped for individual medical treatments (the ultimate), and
>the
>more immediate benefits of making medicines affordable again, by being able
>to test new drugs on stem cells, rather than endless animal trials for
>every
>new drug that comes along: we can eliminate many, if not most, and save
>almost unimaginable amounts of money.
>
>Increase funding for the National Institutes of Health. The current path to
>diminish the money we spend trying to heal people while flooding cash into
>death and destruction must end.
>Those are reasonable goals, I think.
>
>Good luck to us all!
>
>Don C. Reed, Chair, Californians for Cures, www.stemcellbattles.com.
>Email Don at: [log in to unmask]
>
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