Bush's First Veto?

So many liberals/Democrats are completely bent out of shape about the threat of a Bush veto on the embryonic stem cell bill. They are saying the President is standing in the way of life-saving treatments and cures. Wrong.

IT'S ABOUT FEDERAL FUNDING.

Bush is not banning embryonic stem cell research. He is saying federal funds should not be used for it.

That sounds a lot like U.S. policy on abortion, doesn't it?

Do abortions occur in the U.S.? Lots. Everyday.

Are they paid for with tax dollars? No, at least not directly.

A number of states use tax dollars to destroy embryos. California and Wisconsin are two that are publically funding such research.

Moreover, there are no restrictions whatsoever on privately funding this research. ZERO.

If pharmaceutical companies believe embryonic stem cells are a potential gold mine, they should be pouring money into research and no bill would stop them.

The libs are trying to suggest that evil President Bush is keeping research from going forward. He's not. It's happening as we speak and in some cases with public funds.

That's the reality.

The CBS Poll

CBS was quick to report that "58% of Americans approve of medical research using embryonic stem cells, while 31% disapprove. Approval is higher now than it was last August; then, 50% approved and 31% disapproved, but 19% had no opinion."

Why didn't they mention these results from the same poll?

According to the poll, "Less than two in five Americans support extending federal funding for stem cell research to a larger number of lines; this has not changed since last year. 37% think the number of stem cell lines covered by government funds should be extended; 17% think the current level is sufficient. Those percentages are nearly identical to views last August."

EXTEND FEDERAL FUNDING OF STEM CELL RESEARCH TO MORE LINES?

Now
Yes
37%
No
17%
Disapprove of stem cell research
31%

8/2004
Yes
33%
No
13%
Disapprove of stem cell research
31%

These figures present a dramatically different picture than the ones touted by CBS on their broadcasts.

There have been a great number of mischaracterizations in the discussion of stem cell research--embryonic, adult, cord blood, etc. Many of the myths, as usual, are perpetuated by the liberal media and the Dems.

In the final analysis, the bill is about FEDERAL FUNDING.

The fact is no one is being kept from doing research that demands the destruction of human embryos. A significant number of Americans find this disregard for life abhorrent. Nonetheless, the research continues. The issue is whether or not federal tax dollars should be granted to studies that destroy human embryos.

Although there are many that wish he would push to ban the research altogether, Bush is not preventing states from funding embryonic stem cell research, nor is he stopping anyone in the private sector from doing it.