Free Republic

Elementary schools start with the fundamentals, the building blocks, the three R's: reading, 'riting and 'rithmetic. The California Comeback starts with its fundamentals, its building blocks, too. They are a different three R's: recovery, reform, rebuild. When I took office 22 months ago, I had no illusions about how difficult the job would be, no illusions about what it would take to turn around a state $22 billion in debt. But in that time, we have accomplished the first R - recovery. We saved the state from bankruptcy, increasing state revenues $6 billion without raising taxes. We rolled back the...

The biggest question surrounding stem cell research in California right now isn’t whether it will eventually cure devastating health problems. It’s what happened to the billion dollars. When California voters approved Proposition 71 last year, critics say, it was partially on the promise that their $3 billion investment in stem cell research would provide a financial payoff to the state. Supporters cited a study that claimed California could get a payback of anywhere between $537 million and $1.1 billion from royalties and licensing from intellectual property, or IP, as it is known in the investment community. Actually, the figures were...

Expectations of huge financial and medical returns on California's $3 billion investment in stem cell research are unrealistic and based on overblown analysis, according to a study by a panel of research, business and academic professionals. The biggest benefit Californians can expect to reap from their investment – improved quality of life for people living with devastating diseases – is at least 20 years away, the report said. In the meantime, the state should quickly make basic scientific discoveries and tools made with the taxpayers' investment available to the broad scientific community to further stem cell research, the report said....

Funding stem-cell research without Uncle SamIn August 2001, President George Bush limited federal spending on human embryonic stem-cell research to stem-cell lines derived before that date. President Bush said that he was restricting federal support for research to those lines because he did not want to "encourage further destruction of human embryos that have at least the potential for life." So far only 22 stem-cell lines qualify for federal funding of human embryonic stem-cell research, and the National Institutes of Health provided only $24.3 million last year for such research. It's impossible to tell what the level of federal funding...

Under the guise of a ban on human cloning, legislation being pushed by anti-abortion politicians in Washington would criminalize a procedure essential to embryonic stem cell research, a bipartisan group of state leaders said yesterday. At a news conference at UCLA, Republican Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein and Robert Klein, the leader of California's new stem cell institute, gathered with patients dying from incurable diseases to condemn the legislation. The bill, proposed by Sens. Sam Brownback, R-Kan., and Mary Landrieu, D-La., would prevent the research that is to be funded under Proposition 71, California's $3 billion investment in...

A panel of university and business experts said Tuesday that California should waive its right to a share of royalties on the stem cell research the state will fund under a $3 billion program passed by voter initiative last year. Although Proposition 71 allows the state to gain a partial interest in the intellectual property that results from the state-funded research, a committee of the California Council on Science and Technology said the state's financial stake could hinder progress toward stem cell-based therapies. Cutting into potential profits might discourage private investors from putting up the additional funds needed to develop...

Although the state's $3 billion stem-cell research institute could help companies such as VistaGen Therapeutics of Burlingame find new cures for a range of health problems, it won't bolster California's coffers the way its backers had promised, a new study has concluded. Many claims supporting last year's passage of Proposition 71, which launched the research effort, ``are based on unrealistic assumptions about the potential economic impact,'' according to the study unveiled Tuesday by the California Council on Science and Technology. ``Some statements about these returns verge on hyperbole.'' The report by the non-profit advisory group, which was created by the...

A national anti-abortion group yesterday served the administrators of California's stem cell institute with a federal lawsuit seeking to stop their work on the grounds that the civil rights of frozen embryos are violated by stem cell research. The lawsuit was delivered during a a monthly meeting of the institute's oversight committee at the University of California San Diego. Around the same time it arrived, committee Chairman Robert Klein was announcing that several lawsuits filed in state court had been consolidated to be heard by one judge, in one county, on an expedited basis. That litigation has blocked the sale...

HAYWARD - The high-stakes legal battle over California's $3 billion stem cell research program will play out in Alameda County. Alameda County Superior Court Judge Bonnie Sabraw decided Thursday to transfer a Sacramento case and coordinate it with a lawsuit she already is handling. Both suits challenge the constitutionality of Proposition 71, the landmark measure voters approved in November with the hope of finding cures for debilitating diseases. Stem cell leaders had sought to consolidate the two lawsuits in the hope of getting a quicker resolution and avoiding inconsistent rulings. Sabraw agreed, despite opposition from the proponents of the cases....

PASSAGE OF LAST FALL'S INITIATIVE IS ALREADY BRINGING MONEY AND TALENT TO CALIFORNIA Anyone who has been involved in a Silicon Valley start-up can appreciate the challenge facing the California stem-cell institute in its first year of operation. Funding issues. A search for new facilities. Court challenges. A squabble with the Legislature over the degree of public oversight. Despite those considerable obstacles, here's what California voters should know about their investment in making the state a world leader in stem-cell research: It's working. Witness the evidence: • The University of California-Los Angeles earlier this year announced that it was launching...

Unable to sell bonds to finance California's $3 billion stem cell initiative, the state treasurer's office is trying an unprecedented new approach. With any bond sale delayed by lawsuits over the initiative, the new plan is to issue "bond anticipation notes" that the state would repay if it wins the legal challenges and is able to issue actual bonds. Treasurer Phil Angelides and the committee overseeing the state's stem cell program see the notes as a unique and legally sound way to generate the money to start awarding stem cell research grants this year. But the plan leaves some consumer...

Unable to sell bonds to finance California's $3 billion stem cell initiative, the state treasurer's office is trying an unprecedented new approach. With any bond sale delayed by lawsuits over the initiative, the new plan is to issue "bond anticipation notes" that the state would repay if it wins the legal challenges and is able to issue actual bonds. Treasurer Phil Angelides and the committee overseeing the state's stem cell program see the notes as a unique and legally sound way to generate the money to start awarding stem cell research grants this year. But the plan leaves some consumer...

We all remember the fairy tale about the Emperor swindled into believing his new clothing was the finest available. When he paraded through the streets wearing nothing but imaginary apparel, a child cried out, “But he has nothing on at all!” As a quadriplegic who could possibly benefit from stem cell research, I fear many of us are being sold an imaginary garment of hope—a fictitious belief that embryonic stem cells will cure us. In reality, no such cures exist now or in the near future. Like the truthful child we must cry out, “But there is nothing here at...

WASHINGTON - Antiabortion Republicans looking for a way to vote for stem cell research are considering putting federal dollars behind unproven technologies for harvesting the all-purpose cells without destroying human embryos. Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist and other GOP lawmakers are considering legislation drawn from a report in May by President Bush's Council on Bioethics, which studied research that might carry medical promise but is in its infancy. In some cases, the research is ethically objectionable, the panel wrote. Nonetheless, it said four types of studies "deserve the nation's careful and serious consideration." Bush was receptive to funding the theoretical...

SAN FRANCISCO – California's effort to become a world leader in human embryonic stem cell research has long been supported by a coterie of well-heeled patient advocates who found their champion in an obscure state senator from Sacramento. Now a battle for control of the $3 billion in research money voters approved last year has unraveled the alliance and threatens to cripple the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine even before it awards its first grant, agency officials say. The state Senate is expected to vote this week on a proposed constitutional amendment that would tighten perceived loopholes in how the...

SAN FRANCISCO — San Francisco officials were elated that the city beat out 16 other California cities to become the headquarters of the new $3-billion, state-funded stem cell institute. But their elation was tempered by news that litigation is blocking bonds from being issued to fund the institute. A motion filed by a pro-life advocacy group on behalf of two successful tax limitation citizen groups could stall or even stop the money from being given out. The motion, filed by Life Legal Defense Foundation April 6 on behalf of People's Advocate and the National Tax Limitation Foundation, contended it is...

San Francisco can have institute By Chris Weinkopf Editorial-page editor Although Mayor James Hahn fumbled badly in his efforts to get the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine to set up shop in Los Angeles, his bungling could prove to be more a blessing than a curse. Seventeen cities fought over the chance to play host to the new bureaucracy that's charged with doling out $3 billion for embryonic stem cell research. They dreamed of corporate fat cats and academic geniuses gathering in their midst, cutting huge deals and drawing worldwide acclaim as they triumphantly cure one malady after the next....

There probably wasn't much reason to hope that California's new embryonic stem cell institute, the offspring of perhaps the most misleading initiative campaign of 2004, would be a model of circumspection and openness as it geared up to spend $6 billion of taxpayers' money. But did it have to live down to our expectations so quickly? In the months since its creation by Proposition 71 on last November's ballot, the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine has behaved not like the state agency it is, but with the arrogance of a private corporation that happens to be playing with the taxpayers'...

California officials conceded Monday that a legal challenge has severely hampered the ability of the state's stem cell agency to borrow even a penny of the $3 billion in research money it had hoped to raise over the next 10 years. Attorney General Bill Lockyer and Treasurer Phil Angelides said their offices are aggressively fighting the lawsuit while pursuing alternative ways for the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine to borrow money to fund medical research. "But we have a hard road to go here," Angelides said in Sacramento during a teleconference with reporters. Angelides is a member of a special...

San Francisco was chosen as the headquarters city Friday for California's $3 billion stem cell program, overcoming a strong challenge from San Diego and Sacramento in a battle that was decided mainly on regional loyalties. Mayor Gavin Newsom called it a historic achievement for a city and region struggling to find its economic footing after suffering through the collapse of the dot-com bubble. "This secures our future as a point of destination for discovery," Newsom said. Almost every city in California of any size at all seemed to possess ambitions to become the state's stem cell capital after voters passed...

City expects designation to bring scientific prestige, economy boost FRESNO — Californias $3 billion stem cell agency named San Francisco as its permanent headquarters Friday, a designation the city expects will bring it scientific prestige while boosting its economy. There is no question it will be an anchor for business, Mayor Gavin Newsom said during a news conference after the vote. This secures our future as a point of destination for discovery. The headquarters itself will house only 50 employees, but three cities fought for the honor Friday during the monthly meeting of the board that oversees the agency as...

City's third-place ranking upsets business boosters San Diego was selected as one of four finalists in the competition to become home to California's new stem cell institute, but its proposal placed third in a preliminary ranking of the contenders. A six-member team that reviewed 10 proposals submitted for the site of the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine ranked San Francisco as the best location, followed by Sacramento, San Diego and Emeryville. Although the ranking might not play into the final site selection, which is expected to be announced at a meeting May 6, San Diego's placement had local business boosters...

SACRAMENTO -- In a blow to the city's prestige and economy, Los Angeles' last-minute bid to become home to the state's new $3 billion stem cell research agency failed to meet two minimum requirements Tuesday as four other cities made the short list of finalists. San Francisco, San Diego, Emeryville and Sacramento were selected by the staff of the site-search committee for the location of the new California Institute for Regenerative Medicine, which will award grants and oversee the state's unique stem cell research program approved by voters last year. The committee will take up the recommendation today. Bid evaluators...

Conflict-of-interest allegations already are flying against the committee overseeing California's $3 billion stem cell initiative even though the group isn't close to giving out a dime. The Center for Genetics and Society, an advocacy group, said yesterday that seven of the committee's 29 members have "significant business connections with companies connected with stem cell research." The center said committee members should be free of ties to the biotechnology industry to erase the specter of possible conflict. Leaders of the stem cell effort said that would be overkill. "The center wants to remove any possibility for the occasion of conflict and...

The California Supreme Court on Wednesday dismissed two lawsuits that sought to block the state's publicly financed $3 billion stem cell research program approved by voters last year. The court's unanimous decision, however, does not rule out the possibility that a lower state court could get involved in the matter, a lawyer for one of the plaintiffs said. "It's highly likely that some form of action in a lower court will be brought," said David Llewellyn, a Sacramento lawyer representing Californians for Public Accountability and Ethical Science, a nonprofit group. California had been unable to sell the initial bonds to...

SACRAMENTO – Of all the questions about California's ambitious plans to publicly finance human cloning projects for medical research, one of the thorniest may be how scientists plan to gather the thousands of eggs they'll need from women. It's an ethical dilemma that has made unlikely allies of Christian groups – who believe cloning immorally creates and destroys life in the name of science – and women's rights activists who fear that poor women will be exploited by commercial interests willing to pay thousands of dollars for human eggs produced by fertility drugs. The issue is not abstract. A small,...

STANFORD, Calif. (AP) - Even before neuroscientist Zach Hall was formally given the job Tuesday to run California's $3 billion stem cell research institute, his salary came under fire. Charles Halpern, a Berkeley writer who filed a legal petition with the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine protesting some of its activities, complained that Hall's $389,004 annual paycheck to serve as interim president was too lucrative. Halpern and other institute critics complained that the institute president should be paid a salary comparable to the head of the National Institutes of Health, which is roughly $100,000 less than Hall's pay. The language...

SAN FRANCISCO – Zach W. Hall, a veteran neuroscientist and associate dean of medical research at the University of Southern California's medical school, was recommended Monday to become interim president of California's new $3 billion stem cell research institute. The recommendation by a subcommittee was passed on to the full 29-member committee appointed to oversee the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine, which was widely expected to approve it Tuesday during its monthly meeting at Stanford University is widely expected. Hall would take over the interim president slot from Robert N. Klein, who would remain as the committee's chairman. Hall, 67,...

Suit Filed to Invalidate Calif's $3 Billion Stem Cell InstituteBy Paul Elias The Associated Press Published: Feb 22, 2005 SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - A politically conservative public interest group filed a lawsuit Tuesday seeking to invalidate the $3 billion stem cell research funding institution California voters approved in November. The lawsuit alleges that provisions in Proposition 71 exempting members of the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine from some government conflict-of-interest laws are illegal. The suit also alleges that the ballot language violated a California election law that requires each proposition to address a single subject. Proposition 71 was supported by...

SAN FRANCISCO — Last fall, a group of pioneering scientists, venture capitalists and entrepreneurs sold Californians on the ultimate startup, one with shoot-for-the-moon ambitions. The men and women pitched the state's residents on a new science that they said might one day lead to cures for humankind's worst diseases. "Save Lives with Stem Cells!" campaign posters urged. Today, however, a little more than three months after state voters approved a measure allocating $3 billion in public funds for stem cell and related research, organizers are struggling with more down-to-earth concerns. The initiative has been tainted by accusations that those who...

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - The campaign committee that spent $35 million last year backing California's novel $3 billion stem cell initiative plans to use its considerable fund-raising prowess to fight a federal bill seeking to ban all forms of human cloning. Robert Klein II, the wealthy Palo Alto housing developer who chaired the campaign, said the organization intends to raise $1 million to fight Sen. Sam Brownback, R-Kansas, and his anti-cloning allies in the Senate. A Brownback spokesman declined comment. Brownback is sponsoring legislation that would ban the cloning of human embryos for any reason, including medical research. Such a...

Work on the campaign for Proposition 71 has led to more permanent employment for several former staffers. Five people who worked on the stem cell initiative that voters approved in November are among the first eleven employees of the California Institute of Regenerative Medicine, which will dole out $3 billion in stem cell research grants. Four of those five staffers will receive salaries ranging from $95,000 to $125,000. The fifth employee's salary has not been determined. Robert Klein, chairman of the citizens oversight committee that will govern the institute, had the committee's approval to hire a skeleton staff. He told...

Ten of the 29 directors of California's new stem cell program serve on biotech or pharmaceutical firms' boards of directors or have extensive holdings in those industries, leading critics to challenge their ability to fairly represent taxpayers in doling out $3 billion in state funds. Members of the Independent Citizens Oversight Committee, created by voter passage of the stem cell initiative in November, reported interests ranging from real estate to movie production in statements of economic interest filed this week. Six members, including Sacramento physician Francisco Prieto and University of California, Davis, medical school head Claire Pomeroy, had no reportable...

LOS ANGELES – The committee that will dole out $3 billion in state grants for stem cell research heard yesterday from critics and some of its own members who said the group should slow down in its race to get money to scientists. As the committee met for the second time, one of the overriding messages from the public and some of the committee members was to start by establishing standards for complicated and weighty issues such as how to reimburse taxpayers for their investment. "No one wants results to come back faster than I do," said committee member Joan...

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - Complaints are mounting that a newly created California stem cell agency has failed to keep the public informed of its actions as it begins doling out $3 billion in taxpayer-provided grants. Still others complain the agency hasn't developed rules to prevent its managers from unjustly enriching themselves and their employers. Many of the 29 board members, appointed by the governor and other elected officials to run the agency, represent research universities and the biotechnology industry, both of which are expected to win millions of dollars worth of grants. The criticism picked up this week as the...

Robert Klein might not have all the answers when it comes to stem cell research; he can’t guarantee the timely production of any cures or miraculous treatments. He can’t guarantee that stem cells will yield anything positive. --snip-- The Palo Alto millionaire has a 14-year-old son, Jordan, who suffers from juvenile diabetes. Hoping stem cell research could produce a cure, Klein sunk $3 million of personal money into Proposition 71, and spearheaded the initiative’s fund raising drive. Klein ultimately raised $25 million to support the proposition to squash the opposition. --snip-- Klein was the only nominee for the position, having...

ROBERT N. Klein, the millionaire Portola Valley real estate developer, was sworn in Friday to lead California's $3 billion venture into stem-cell research. Klein, 59, was the main promoter of Proposition 71 on the Nov. 2 ballot and was selected to head the new California Institute for Regenerative Medicine by Republican Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and Democrats Lt. Gov. Cruz Bustamante and state Controller Steve Westly. He was sworn in at the first meeting of a 29-member board created by Proposition 71 to direct the new institute's activities. The state is expected to raise up to $350 million a year in...

The worst spending is often enacted under liberal Republicans. Why is this? One reason is that liberal Republicans are cut more slack than Democrats on the wobbly assumption that they are more sensible. At moments when Democrats would face stiff resistance, liberal Republicans don't. Take Arnold Schwarzenegger's successful spearheading of Proposition 71, a measure to clone embryos for science that will cost California taxpayers $3 billion dollars. Schwarzenegger had weakened the immune system of California Republicans to the point where they could accept, without too much squawking, this taxpayer-financed boondoggle for macabre scientists. What if Gray Davis had pushed Proposition...

Two years ago last weekend, a determined state legislator met with a group of scientists to talk about an idea eavesdroppers might have thought was far-fetched. Over dinner at the trendy Esquire Grill in Sacramento, the group discussed putting together a coalition of patient advocates and scientists to sponsor a state bond initiative that would provide money for stem cell research. President Bush had signed a bill a year earlier limiting the embryonic stem cell work scientists could pursue with federal dollars, and some conservatives in Congress wanted to criminalize the research. The group at the dinner in Sacramento wanted...

SAN FRANCISCO - The committee tasked with doling out California's $3 billion in stem cell research grants selected two of its leaders Friday, amid conflict of interests complaints and accusations that its inaugural gathering violated the state's open meeting laws. Housing developer Robert Klein II was unanimously chosen chairman while biotechnology company Chiron Corp. co-founder Edward Penhoet received 21 of a possible 25 votes for vice chairman. Each will serve six year terms. Even Klein's unanimous appointment was criticized by some as preordained because Klein was the only candidate nominated for chairman and had successfully lobbied Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to...

LOS ANGELES - The stem cell oversight committee, meeting for the first time today in San Francisco, already is embroiled in controversy over the "coronation" of its chairman, new members' potential conflicts of interest, and the manner in which the public was told about its first gathering. The 27 members of the Independent Citizens Oversight Committee who will monitor the state's new $3 billion stem cell research program are set to take their oaths of office today. They are then scheduled to vote for a chair and vice chair. Critics of the stem cell research initiative that voters approved Nov....

The person to watch in American medical science today is a California real estate developer named Robert Klein II. As the driving force behind the initiative to invest $3 billion in stem cell research over the next decade, the builder-financier has just been nominated by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to head the citizens' committee overseeing the state's Institute for Regenerative Medicine. Here we have federalism in action, with states competing to lead the central government in creating national policy. When the government in Washington decided to move cautiously in funding this promising but controversial scientific research, individual states saw the competitive...

SACRAMENTO (AP) - Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and Controller Steve Westly on Monday nominated Proposition 71 campaign chairman Robert Klein II to head the oversight committee that will guide the landmark $3 billion stem cell research initiative approved by voters last month. The governor, lieutenant governor, treasurer and controller each nominate candidates for chairman and vice chairman of the Independent Citizens Oversight Committee, with the selection to be made by the committee's 27 members Friday at University of California, San Francisco. Schwarzenegger and Westly's choice for vice chair is former biotech executive Edward Penhoet. Lt. Gov. Cruz Bustamante and Treasurer Phil...

With less than a week before the debut of the state's new $3-billion stem cell institute, intense behind-the-scenes debate is growing over who should head the agency and whether a Friday deadline for filling the post will allow the best candidates to be considered. The debate is expected to crest Monday when Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and three other elected state officials must, under the tight deadlines set by the state's embryonic stem cell initiative, put forward their nominees to lead the new agency. On Friday, board members — many still to be named — are scheduled to meet in San...

Voters in November leapt before they looked when approving Proposition 71, an initiative that creates a $3 billion California stem cell research institute headed by a 29-member oversight committee. In coming days, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and other elected officers will finish appointments to the committee. Those picks could determine whether this landmark research effort ends up financing medical breakthroughs or boondoggles. Called the Independent Citizens Oversight Committee, this panel will have tremendous power but little accountability. It will be the final grant maker on $3 billion in research and building funds over 10 years. The committee - which meets Dec....

The $3 billion stem cell initiative that passed overwhelmingly last month holds surprises for voters who didn't read it -- starting with a provision that the research money doesn't have to be spent on stem cell studies. It's also not the case, contrary to campaign pitches for Proposition 71, that the $3 billion raised from state bonds won't cost the state anything for the first five years. Interest payments will begin immediately, paid out of the bond money itself -- meaning that tens to hundreds of millions of "research" dollars must be used to pay debt service. And as lawmakers...

As California moves to begin a lushly financed program of embryonic stem cell research, medical ethicists and other skeptics are concerned that the $3 billion that state voters approved for the endeavor could become a bonanza for private profiteers. Critics say the ballot measure that passed by a wide margin on Nov. 2 contains inadequate safeguards to ensure public oversight of the financial allocations and guarantee public benefit from any medical breakthroughs. They also worry that the promise of stem cell studies has been oversold to the public and say the money might better be directed to more mature medical...

UNITED NATIONS - U.N. diplomats abandoned contentious efforts to draft a treaty that would outlaw human cloning and will likely settle for a weaker declaration that won't seek a comprehensive ban, officials said. The last-minute agreement on Thursday appeared to be a major blow to President Bush (news - web sites), who had called for a total ban on cloning when he spoke before the U.N. General Assembly in August. While there is near universal support among the United Nations (news - web sites)' 191 members to ban reproductive cloning — the cloning of babies — countries have wrestled over...

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - California is moving quickly to launch a $3 billion stem cell research program approved by voters this month even as the United States is leading a campaign at the United Nations (news - web sites) to ban all cloning of human embryos, including for stem cell studies. California's proposition 71, approved in the Nov. 2 election, calls for the state to fund $300 million a year in stem-cell research over 10 years. Last week the state began appointing members of an oversight panel and it has started evaluating plans for new labs and research sites. Researchers...

THE PASSAGE OF PROPOSITION 71 in California (the Stem Cell Research and Cures Act) was an acute case of electoral folly. As Californians plunged headlong into a $6 billion quagmire of debt in a quixotic quest for "miracle cures" from human cloning and embryonic stem cells, they simultaneously rejected Prop. 67, an initiative that would have added a modest tax to phone bills to keep the state's endangered emergency rooms and trauma centers from shutting down. This is a remarkable and disconcerting development. It wasn't long ago that California's trauma centers were the pride of the state and a model...