Posted on 04/15/2006 4:07:21 PM PDT by neverdem
MANHASSET, N.Y., April 12 — Staking a position on a politically sensitive issue, Eliot Spitzer, who is running for governor, promised at a press conference on Wednesday that his administration would push for a $1 billion bond to pay for stem cell and other medical research.
Mr. Spitzer, the state's attorney general, said the money for research on stem cells and other promising treatments would be the "centerpiece" of the state's health care policy if he were elected.
In making the announcement at a medical research center on Long Island, Mr. Spitzer ventured onto the home turf of his rival, Thomas R. Suozzi, the Nassau County executive, a fellow Democrat and a politically moderate Roman Catholic who has differed with him on some social issues, including same-sex marriage. Mr. Suozzi opposes such marriage.
Some Catholics oppose stem cell research as a desecration of human life because it uses surplus embryos from in vitro fertilization. On Wednesday, calls to Mr. Suozzi's campaign office and his county office seeking his position on the matter were not returned.
Supporters of the research say it could save lives. Mr. Spitzer said New York was falling behind most other states in stem cell research, especially after the Bush administration's ban on most such projects.
"If Washington is going to fail us, states must step into the breach," he said. Of the national Republican administration, he said, "Time and time again it has put politics over science."
Mr. Spitzer leads the Democrats in the race for governor and also leads polls pitting him against potential Republican rivals.
His choice for lieutenant governor, State Senator David A. Paterson, developed the plan and appeared with Mr. Spitzer to discuss it. Mr. Spitzer said that Mr. Paterson would be his point man on the program.
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
Sounds like a sweet slush fund of taxpayer money to reward those who back him.
This fool panders to pile up more debt!
Sure, that's a great way to be fiscally responsible in a state with $225 billion of debt.
Either the reporter doesn't understand the issue, or someone is trying to confuse him.
"ADULT Stem call research" is a wonderful field of study which everybody, pro-life or not, can agree with, and has already resulted in at least 80 successful therapies.
"EMBRYONIC stem cell research", on the other hand, is an intrinsically evil field, which by definitieion kills a developing human embryo, and is not successful for any therapies.
It is a scheme by which the pro-death propagandists can get naive voters to give the pro-death crowd billions of our tax dollars to do evil, as in California's $6 billion bond issue election.
the only way Spitzer can be stopped, is if the republicans cross endorse Suozzi in the general election. as insane as this sounds, its the only way.
Since this came from the New York Times, there is a third and still more likely possibility: the reporter is deliberately trying to make readers think that religious people oppose all this wonderfully progressive scientific research.
Why doesn't spitzer just sue some corporation to get the money? And pay off NY's deficite also.
awww geees, what a guy.
"I'm gonna blow a billion here when a lot of other folks are ready doing the same."
taxpayer money is free , I guess.
I thought pharmaceutical companies in the USA do research, take drugs to market, and reap the profits. Please remind me why governments think it is necessary to stick their nose in this area?
Anybody this nuts is definitely Democrat Presidential timber.
$225 billion is a shocking amount of money...
Excuse me for being skeptical, but what are the 80 successes? If there are 80 significant successes in medicine period in the last few years I'd be surprised. All this "walking for the cure" and telethons don't seem to have done much if anything for any major disease.
My suspicion is that stem cells from any source are just another empty medical promise - an excuse to spend billions without the need to provide results.
I only read the header but I didn't see a distinction between embryonic stem cell research, which I assume the article is about, and other lines of stem cell research which have been far more productive.
My suspicion is that stem cells from any source are just another empty medical promise
You would be dead wrong about that.
It's slam, dunk, match, set for Spitzer.
"pro-death propagandists" my ass.
the POS isn't even in office and he's planning on how to raise taxes, even the hot dog vendors and the cab drivers are going to be chased to another state.
And then, there is nothing that says current research must have anything to do with embryonic stem-cells; many clinical trials are on-going that never touch a cell from a baby.
For decades the risk of this kind of thing was soooo sky high that no one was crazy enough to finance it except the US government. But lo and behold now the training wheels are coming off, and we do have private industry efforts.
These efforts are picking up where the fed gov left them, more or less. I hope they suceed, and gov involvement disappears entirely.
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