# 412 Tuesday, January 29, 2007 - A FRIEND IN THE WHITE HOUSE?

I tuned in late for President George Bush's State of the Union Address. It
is really difficult for me to listen to him any more: the man is so out of
touch with America's reality, and the needs of our people.
It has been so long since I felt we had a friend in the White House.
But he is the President, and so I turned the television on.
As usual when Mr. Bush speaks, I mostly just sat there shaking my head. He
was bragging about his alleged wonderful successes in Iraq, which he did for
about half an hour. About every third sentence he would say something about
supporting our troops, (as if anyone does not) and then pause and look at
the audience, which would obediently rise to their feet and clap some more,
giving the impression of everyone supporting war.
I endured it.
Oh, well, I thought, at least he had the modesty not to mention his
disastrous stem cell research policies.
I went to bad with a bad feeling in my stomach, feeling I had overlooked
something important.
In the morning I found out what I had missed.
Here is Mr. Bush on stem cells:
"On matters of life and science, we must trust in the innovative spirit of
medical researchers and empower them to discover new treatments while
respecting moral boundaries. In November, we witnessed a landmark
achievement when scientists discovered a way to reprogram adult skin cells
to act like embryonic stem cells. This breakthrough has the potential to
move us beyond the divisive debates of the past by extending the frontiers
of medicine without the destruction of human life. (Applause.)
So we're expanding funding for this type of ethical medical research. And as
we explore promising avenues of research, we must also ensure that all life
is treated with the dignity it deserves. And so I call on Congress to pass
legislation that bans unethical practices such as the buying, selling,
patenting, or cloning of human life."  (emphasis added)
I should have known.
In two paragraphs, Mr. Bush does three disservices to the American people:
1.      essentially calls stem cell scientists murderers, referring to the
field of embryonic stem cell research as "destruction of human life";
2.      once again calls for legislation to jail scientists, doctors,
patients and parents for their involvement in advanced stem cell research:
the Weldon/Brownback Cloning Prohibition Act (which he has been pushing
since 2001) contains ten year jail sentences, million dollar fines, and
destruction of laboratory equipment for anyone involved with Somatic Cell
Nuclear Transfer, (SCNT, therapeutic cloning);
3.      attempts to permanently stack the deck against federal funding of
embryonic stem cell research, with the staggeringly mis-named Patients First
Act. *
Fortunately, California was ready to respond.
Here is a news-release from CIRM (the California Institute for Regenerative
Medicine)

Important: the CIRM has of course absolutely no connection with my politics.
This is a press release, from the CIRM's website, their response to the
President's remarks.

For release: IMMEDIATE
Contact: Ellen Rose
415-396-9117
CIRM DISAGREES WITH PRESIDENT BUSH'S MISLEADING POSITION
ON STEM CELL RESEARCH
SAN FRANCISCO, Calif., January 28, 2008 -

The California Institute of Regenerative Medicine (CIRM) issued the
following statement in response to President Bush's State of the Union
address:

Tonight, in his State of the Union address, President Bush distorted the
scientific facts on stem cell research and did a disservice to the millions
of patients suffering from chronic disease and injury for whom stem cell
research holds great promise for future therapies and cures.

The stem cell research community is united in the position that human
embryonic stem cells clearly remain the gold standard for research into
pluripotent cells - cells that have the capacity to form all tissues of the
body.  Human embryonic stem cells are also the model against which all other
potentially pluripotent cells need to be compared. The President's proposals
to further limit medical research in this area fail to take into account the
intricate realities of the state of stem cell research. Indeed, the recent
advances in which skin cells were induced to become pluripotent would not
have been possible without research involving human embryonic stem cells.
Furthermore, induced pluripotency is a technology still in its infancy.
Though this technology offers great hope and promise, it will not, for the
foreseeable future, be suitable for clinical studies in humans because of
safety concerns.

Therefore it is critical that all avenues of stem cell research be
aggressively advanced.  To do otherwise would increase the already
devastating restrictions that have burdened Federal support of stem cell
research and patients who are depending upon it. This Administration's
position on stem cell research has already cost years in lost research
productivity.  Further restrictions would result in more lost time in
developing stem cell based therapies and cures that hold great promise to
alleviate suffering for the most destructive and costly diseases such as
spinal injury, loss of sight, heart muscle injury, Parkinson's Disease, ALS
and diabetes.

CIRM supports and applauds any programs the White House advances that
accelerate NIH funding for research on induced pluripotency. There is much
work to be done on all cell types, including this highly promising but early
stage technology. CIRM looks forward to engaging with NIH and other state
and federal organizations in accelerating the progress of stem cell
therapies to the clinic.

CIRM also strongly opposes reproductive cloning.

About CIRM:  CIRM was established in 2004 with the passage of Proposition
71, the California Stem Cell Research and Cures Act. The statewide ballot
measure, which provided $3 billion in funding for stem cell research at
California universities and research institutions, was overwhelmingly
approved by voters, and called for the establishment of an entity to make
grants and provide loans for stem cell research, research facilities, and
other vital research opportunities. To date, the CIRM governing board has
approved 156 research grants totaling almost $260 million, making CIRM the
largest source of funding for human embryonic stem cell research in the
world. For more information, please visit www.cirm.ca.gov."

*The staggeringly mis-named "Patients First Act" was written with the
cooperation of the Bush White House, the Family Research Council (a
right-wing religious organization), the anti-science wing of the Republican
party, which unfortunately still rules the GOP and one
Democrat-in-name-only, Daniel Lipinski of Illinois. Lipinski is opposed in
the primary, February 5th, just a few days away, by Mark Pera, a genuine
Democrat, and strong supporter of stem cell research.

Any stem cell research supporter in Illinois, (or anywhere else, for that
matter) please support Mark Pera for Congress.
(http://www.markperaforcongress.com/); it is vital we elect strong
supporters of stem cell research.

P.S. at the website, check out the picture where Mark Pera stands beside his
California relative, (his cousin, I think) Representative Anna Eshoo, also
someone who stands up for stem cell research. If you look closely at one
side of the picture, you might recognize somebody-no? Look closer, see that
sleeve of a man's gray suit-that's my sleeve!  Ahh, fame, it's glorious.

Don Reed
www.stemcellbattles.com

Don C. Reed is co-chair of Californians for Cures, and writes for their web
blog, www.stemcellbattles.com. Reed was citizen-sponsor for California's
Roman Reed Spinal Cord Injury Research Act of 1999, named after his
paralyzed son; he worked as a grassroots advocate for California's Senator
Deborah Ortiz's three stem cell regulatory laws, served as an executive
board member for Proposition 71, the California Stem Cells for Research and
Cures Act, and is director of policy outreach for Americans for Cures. The
retired schoolteacher is the author of five books and thirty magazine
articles, and has received the National Press Award.

Rayilyn Brown
Board Member AZNPF
Arizona Chapter National Parkinson's Foundation
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