#258 Thursday, November 23, 2006  -  STEM CELL THANKSGIVING

First, a personal note from Bob Klein:

Dear Friend of Stem Cell Research,

As we move into this season of thankfulness and shared family blessings,
please allow me to express my personal appreciation for your gift of citizen
advocacy.

In California and across the nation, your efforts helped elect men and women
who support stem cell research, rather than those who ideologically oppose
it.

In the long battle against chronic illness and injury, nothing could be more
important than the efforts of passionate and informed family members and
citizens. Thank you on behalf of every patient and every family. Your
efforts are irreplaceable.

Sincerely,
Bob Klein


Talking about Bob Klein is like describing a sunrise; words are inadequate.
But still we do take joy in the rising of the sun, and in the spirit of a
good and decent man. Bob works harder and more effectively than anybody I
know to bring about the new and brighter day of fully implemented stem cell
research.

And he is not alone.

In a moment, a special report on Congress's new stem cell majority.

But first, a small appreciation (knowing I will inevitably leave out many
hard-work champions) of folks who so advance our hopes and dreams, and are
friends to millions.

Each man and woman listed here, and thousands I have overlooked, is a
champion in the fight for regenerative medicine, the battle against
incurable illness; each deserves-- not just a mention in an insignificant
column-- but whole books full of recognition for the champions they are, a
standing ovation from an appreciative world:

Scientists, doing the impossible with the invisible, seeking to organize
cells into cure:

Paul Berg. Kim Anderson.  Larry Powe. Aileen Anderson. Michael West. Deborah
Blades. Mary Bunge. Paul Berns. Elizabeth Blackburn. Doug Kerr. Anne
Kiessling. Jeannie Fontana. Shane Smith. Fred Geisler. Steve Gobel. John
Gearhart. Michelle Grifka. Maura Hofstadter. Rusty Gage. Zack Hall. Arlene
Chiu.  Leon Hall. Katherine Jones. Dan Kaufman. Sue Kaplan. Ben Kaplan.  Jan
Kentner. Wise Young. Lori Hutfles.  Janet Wright. Bert Lubin. Michael
Levesque. Jeanne Loring. Michael Loslow. Julia Pollack. Suzi Leather. Doug
Melton. Jeff Bluestone. John McDonald. Susan Bryant. Os Steward. Hans
Keirstead. Naomi Kleitman. Bill Neaves. Shane Smith. Brian Popko. David
Prast. Martin Pera. Evan Snyder. Dennis Steindler. Greg Schultz. Evan
Somers. Marc Tessier-Levigne. Alan Tobin. Mark Tuszynski. David Tomko. Sally
Temple. Susan Fisher. Richard Vulliet. Candace Floyd. Irv Weissman. Sarah
Wurtz. Ian Wilmut. Jerry Yang. John Yu. Mark Zern.

Business people gambling their lives on the advance of biomedicine, the
business of good: William Caldwell. Steve Burrill.  David Gollaher. Molly
Ingraham. Ted Love. Thomas Okarma. Jaclyn Mason. Ed Penhoet.

Advocates against chronic disease, taking arms against a sea of troubles,
protecting the rights of us all: Paul Richter. Gary Nerison. Steve Meyer.
Beckie McCleery. Peter Morton. Patricia Morton. Karen Miner. Amy DuRoss.
Susan DeLaurentis. Sean Tipton. Amy Lewis. Ed Eisenstadt. Bill Franklin.
John Dutra. Ann and John Doerr. Roman Reed.  James Dickson. Dan Perry. David
Carmel. Tricia Brooks. Michael Manganiello. Susan Frank. Jeanne Loring.
Raymond Barglow. Frank Coccozzelli. Penny Caterall.  Justin Dart. Sheila
Decter. Tim Leshan.  Idelle Datlof. Bob Deis. James DeBoer. Miriam Dana.
Brooke Ellison. Lucy Fisher. Doug Wick. Michael Friedman. Kris Gulden.
Jennifer Poulikidas. Jennifer Fitzgerald. Nancy Pelosi. Barbara Boxer.
Dianne Feinstein. Elaine Olson. Jessica Gerstle. Noelle Gambill. Jeff Eisen.
Michael Goldberg. Diana Higuera. Eben DuRoss. Susan Maus. Steven Edwards.
Rick Thompson. Nancy Thompson. Danny Heumann. James Harrison. Ollie Kaplan.
John Hlinko. Cameron Jones. Jack Kirshner. Joe Kaminsky. Diane Winokur.
Lauren Klein. The Dolby family. Pam Lokken. Dave Landewee. Stephen Lynn.
Catherine Lepone. Shari Lansing. Jennifer Longdon. John Leverance. Jerry
Lewis. Michael J. Fox.  Tony Mazzaschi. Jeff McCaffrey.  Donn Rubin. Fiona
Hutton. Richard Arvedon.. David Bluestone. Amy Daly. Karen Miner. Jacqueline
Hantgan. John Ames. David Ames. Genny Ames. Joe Alioto. Michelle Alioto.
Michaela Alioto.  Faye Armitage. Lois Pope.  Sue Markland-Day. Mike Navarro.
Terry O'Neill. Beckie Ogle. ProfessirX. Nicki Pecchenino. Sue Pendleton.
Jeff Porro. John Quimby. Meg Dugan. Melissa Pitt. Phil Pizzo. William Shaw.
James Deboer. Susan Rotchy. Fran Lopes. Jack Reed. Bill Remak. Ron Reagan.
Nancy Reagan. Gerald Ford. Tom Harkin. Edward Kennedy. Arlen Specter. Orrin
Hatch. Bill Rainey. Joan Samuelson. John Smith. Larry Soler. Pete Stark.
Debbie Curtis. Joan Irving Smith. Bernie Siegel. Jeff Sheehy. David
Serrano-Sewell. Marco Capato. Brian Stocker. Suzie Searl. Albert Torrico.
Gerald Talkington. Arthur Ullian. Leslie Kenny.  Mike Utley. Kent Waldrep.
Janet and Jerry Zucker.  Joy Veron. Candace Coffee. Diane Wyshack. Jenny
Urizar. Lauren Weissman. Steve Westley. Arnold Schwarzenegger.  Kevin
Wilson. Cy Webb. Linda Menon.  Greg Wasson.

Bioethicists, seeking to always keep us headed toward the light: Bernie
Lowe. Nancy Duff. Hank Greeley. Ronald Green. Ted Peters.

Educators, leading us out of ignorance toward the light: Gail Pressburg. Joe
Riggs. Laurel Barches. Eve Herold. Bill Hoffman. Dale Carlson. Mary Maxon.
Sam Maddox.



All the great people at the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine,
and our state's leaders on the Independent Citizens' Oversight Committee.

Gone but never to be forgotten: Christopher and Dana Reeve.

These are just a few of our champions. They are the reason I feel sorry for
the opposition.

And now, from the folks at Americans for Stem Cell Therapies and Cures, more
reasons to look forward to the battles ahead: our new friends in Congress,
our stem cell majority.

Stem Cell Research Candidates are Victorious!


November 7th, 2006 was a landmark day for stem cell research. Support for
stem cell research had a huge impact in key United States House, Senate and
Gubernatorial elections. Supporting stem cell research proved politically
safe, and valuable for the candidates, as well as being the right thing to
do.  The message from the people was clear: Candidates were rewarded for
taking a clear and unambiguous stand on the issue.

This message is backed by an ever-growing rise in public support. A recent
national poll from HCD Research and Muhlenberg College Institute of Public
Opinion found that 78% of Americans are now in favor of embryonic stem cell
research (10/26/06). That study also showed that 57% of people were
concerned about their candidate's view on stem cell research and 62%
believed that this particular election was vital to America's policy on the
issue.

Specifically, this election saw amazing results for pro-stem cell candidates
who were educated by Americans for Stem Cell Therapies and Cures on certain
pieces stem cell research federal legislation and their significance for a
family's rights to access future medical therapies. The candidates who
sought our support were victorious at almost a 75% rate. Of the 26 highly
contested races where stem cell research was a decisive issue, 19 were
victorious (with one of the remaining seven yet to be decided). The six
pro-stem cell candidates who unfortunately did not win were often in
lopsided races against incumbents in difficult districts where they had
little chance of winning. Even there, the stem cell candidates captured a
significantly higher-than-expected percentage of the vote.

In the first 100 legislative hours of the new Congress, the leadership of
the House will bring a stem cell bill forward to expand the stem cell lines
available for federal funding. We have a strong majority of stem cell
research supporters in the Senate now. If President Bush should once again
decide to veto this legislation, it is likely that the Senate will over-turn
his veto. We will work hard to create a veto-override majority for this bill
in the House. The research must go forward not only because it is
scientifically excellent, but also because the United States Constitution
requires that government policy be separate from religious ideology.

Consider the exciting results below:

Key Races
Amongst the many victories by pro-stem cell candidates:

·        In Missouri, voters passed the Missouri Stem Cell Research and
Cures Initiative,   guaranteeing that any stem cell treatment and research
allowed federally can also occur in Missouri. The inclusion of this
Constitutional Amendment most likely impacted the outcome of the state's US
Senate race as well, encouraging turnout of voters who supported Claire
McCaskill, who courageously supported full stem cell research from the very
beginning of her campaign.

·        The seven Senate candidates who actively campaigned prominently
with a pro-stem cell research message were victorious: Sherrod Brown (Ohio),
Ben Cardin (Maryland), Amy Klobuchar (Minnesota), Claire McCaskill
(Missouri), Bob Menendez (New Jersey), John Tester (Montana) and James Webb
(Virginia).

·        For the Governor's race in Wisconsin, incumbent Jim Doyle made stem
cell research a centerpiece of his campaign and was reelected with a 53% to
45% margin. Governor Doyle defeated a candidate who had co-sponsored the
Weldon bill (a bill that would have criminalized advanced stem cell research
which passed the US House of Representatives in 2002 and 2003 but was
stopped in the Senate both years). The University of Wisconsin's Alumni
Research Foundation controls the patents of stem cell science - critical for
the progress of the research.

·        In the three other gubernatorial races where stem cell research was
a major difference in between candidates, all three stem cell research
supporters won - Chet Culver (Iowa), Jan Granholm (Michigan) and Ted
Strickland (Ohio).

·        Americans for Stem Cell Therapies and Cures identified 19 House
races where the issue of stem cell research played a prominent role. In
twelve of those races the pro-stem cell research candidates that this
organization supported were victorious. In six of the races, the pro-stem
cell research candidate lost and in one race the result is yet to be
decided. It should be noted that those six pro-stem cell candidates who did
not win were often in very tight races against incumbents and performed
better than expected.

·        In California, all of the newly elected Constitutional Officers are
strong supporters of stem cell research: in particular, Governor Arnold
Schwarzenegger, Jerry Brown (Attorney General), John Chiang (State
Controller), John Garamendi (Lieutenant Governor) all ran on pro-stem cell
platforms. Bill Lockyer, elected as the next State Treasurer, has
aggressively led the defense of Proposition 71 as Attorney General in the
California Institute of Regenerative Medicine's current litigation. In an
astonishing upset, support for stem cell research helped the little known
and lightly-financed Jerry McNerney defeat the massively-funded incumbent
Richard Pombo for U.S Representative.

·        Eliot Spitzer, elected as the new Governor of the State of New
York, vowed during his campaign to implement a $1 billion stem cell research
funding program, modeled after California's.

·        Bill Richardson, who was reelected as Governor of New Mexico,
announced during his campaign that he would push forward an initiative to
get the state legislature to fund a $10 million Stem Cell Research facility
at the University of New Mexico.

America has had the great debate. Every conceivable argument for and against
embryonic stem cell research has been raised. Despite the misinformation
propagated by opponents of this research, America heard through the noise
and found the truth.

We have an overwhelming stem cell supporting majority now.
We are millions.
We are the patients, friends, and families affected by chronic disease and
disability.

We are awake and alert on this issue. Let the word go out. Publicly elected
officials who support the research which might ease suffering, even save the
lives of our loved ones, are rewarded for their stance. We will remember
those who fight alongside us for this vital research.


Happy Thanksgiving, dear friends old, new, and those we have not yet met!


By Don C. Reed, Chair, Californians for Cures, www.stemcellbattles.com.

Email Don at: [log in to unmask]

----------------------------------------------------------------------
To sign-off Parkinsn send a message to: mailto:[log in to unmask]
In the body of the message put: signoff parkinsn