Just how Pro-Science is Kerry?

October | Self

[RightWingAtheist]

John Kerry keeps telling us that he will be a president who "believes" in science, that he will invest in science and technology "unlike" Bush, whom he accuses of "slowing the advance of science", of being responsible for the nation falling behind in science, and subverting science-based policy with his "extreme ideology". But does Kerry really care about science? He has shown no evidence of scientific literacy, in spite of all his talk. And while I was unable to find Kerry's full voting record on science, freeper Physicist kindly pointed me towards the following record of Kerry's position on the Superconducting Collider, which was killed by the Democrat-controlled House in 1993. Although the Senate as whole voted for the SSC, Kerry voted to kill it, as did such other far-left senators as Patty Murray, Patrick Leahy and Paul Wellstone. A few Democratss, such as Joe Lieberman and Diane Feinstein did vote in favor of it, and Clinton and Gore both supported the SSC. I guess we can best explain Mark Warner's vote against it as his attempt to bring scientists in Virginia once the Jefferson National Lab opened. Meanwhile the supposedly retrograde Trent Lott, Strom Thurmond and Jesse Helms all voted in favor of the SSC, while those few Republicans who voted against it were RINOS such as Al D'Amato and Jim Jeffords

Now consider this: when the SSC was killed, so was any long-term American investment in physics, and much of America's supposed decline in scientific leadership can be attributed to this. How can anyone claim the Dems of being "the pro-science party" when they are the ones responsible for the loss of investment in science, to say nothing of their continual efforts to block reform in science education? Why has anyone confronted the 48 Nobelists who signed the pro-Kerry petition, or the leaders of the Scientists and Engineers for Change with this fact, and Kerry's record? Why haven't Bush and the Republicans pointed this out, and why aren't Republican scientists and engineers pointing this out to their colleagues?

This may not seem like a big deal when you consider all the other pressing issues we have to deal with, but Kerry, almost entirely on the basis of the stem-cell issue, has successfully cast Bush as being an archaic and unenlightened enemy of science and modernity, and the media has run along with it. We need to make it more clear that this is not the case, and that Kerry is not the hero who will "save science" which he and his willing media lackeys have made him out to be.

[Mogollon]

JF'nK plans on destroying the Pharmaceutical Industry by opening up reimportation of drugs from Canada (and therefore from the 3rd world). If there are no profits for drug companies they can't do research to come up with cures for Alzheimers, Cancer, etc.

[John Will]

And also losing the very high paying jobs in the Parmacutial industry.

[Names Ash Housewares]

Kerry also voted against the space station. He is no friend of NASA.

[A.A. Cunningham]

[Steven W.]

He is also drastically opposed to missile defense, a position he takes solely out of partisan political beliefs, with total disregard to opportunities & challenges of science.

[DrDavid]

Didn't Kerry say that he was going to stop all development of nuclear weapons? If so the city of Los Alamos New Mexico will be unemployed.

[Lunkhead_01]

Many, if not most, Americans cannot tell the difference between science fact and science fiction. Kerry is one of those individuals who tends to believe any claim made in the name of science will become science fact if only we add enough federal money. If you look at his Yale College transcript -- oops, I didn't think you had access to it -- he took precisely one basic science course in four years and one mathematics course -- the minimum to meet the distributional requirements of Yale College.

[45semi]

[stylin19a]

2 billion spent in approx. 11 years for 14 miles of tunnel ?That was a pork barrel project that was going to be way worse than the "Big Dig".

[supercat]

JF'nK plans on destroying the Pharmaceutical Industry by opening up reimportation of drugs from Canada (and therefore from the 3rd world). If there are no profits for drug companies they can't do research to come up with cures for Alzheimers, Cancer, etc.

My personal belief is that reimportation should be allowed, because it will force drug companies to demand higher prices from Canada and other governments. Presently, U.S. consumers are subsidizing other countries' socialized medical programs. Opening up reimportation would end the subsidy as drug companies would no longer be willing to sell drugs to anyone at a price point below that required to fund new research. As to whether other countries would pay higher prices or do without the drugs, I can't be sure, but my guess would be that they'd end up paying.

[lame_internet_name]

Excellent points sir and hardly the only example of the disaster that a Kerry administration would be for scientific and technical achievement in this country.

At the beginning of the year President Bush announced a new space exploration policy that holds the promise of being the most comprehensive and well designed national policy in this field since the beginning of the space age. The hope that it offers has started to energize the space community more dramatically than anything has for decades. Of course, it will all come to nothing if Congress and the President do not follow through on the plan in the coming years.

Senator Kerry has made very few statements regarding space policy, other than the usual generic and vacuous feel good generalities and his comments that although space exploration is a nice idea, there will be no money available for the plan Bush laid out in a Kerry administration. (Even though the bulk of the money in the Bush plan comes from shifting how money is spent within NASA, especially in the early years.) He and his spokespeople have made it clear that the best the space exploration community can look forward to is four more glorious years of hibernation should he win.

Even the editor of the widely read NASA commentary web site NASA Watch (www.nasawatch.com) has stated that despite the fact of being a long time Democrat and voting for Kerry for other reasons, that Bush is the far better choice on space policy. In fact, his (NASA Watch's) latest editorial can almost be summarized as "I'm voting for Kerry because I have to, but I hope he looses because of what I really care about".

I suppose if Kerry is elected, at least we can take consolation that there will be plenty of money available to kill babies so Superman can walk again.

[RightWingAtheist]

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