Posted on 07/27/2006 10:00:02 AM PDT by Mr. Silverback
Dear Sir,
I noted your heated reaction to President Bush’s veto of the recent funding bill for embryonic stem cell research (ESCR). You scolded Bush, telling him he’s “not our moral ayatollah,” and called the veto “cruel and cynical.” You promised to reintroduce the funding bill after the Democrats take back the house this fall.
I was not aware that deciding not to spend tax dollars on a certain type of research is the same as trying to run the moral lives of every American. Also, I know you’re quite aware that the president believes that this research turns human life into spare parts and diverts money away from far more promising research. From his point of view, nothing would be more “cruel and cynical” than funding such research just to make his political life easier, but you seem to have conveniently forgotten that.
Despite my misgivings about you rhetoric, I would like to provide you with a win-win solution to your problem. All you have to do is stop pontificating and hold a telethon.
Go ahead, Senator, go over the president’s head to his bosses. Hold a celeb-stuffed telethon like the events that raised funds for the victims of 9/11 and Hurricane Katrina. Like those telethons, it could be simulcast on almost every network. Every American with a TV would see it.
Polls show that about 70% of Americans support ESCR. Seventy percent of our population amounts to over 203 million people. Granted, some of that number are children who don’t have money and don’t know a stem cell from a cell phone, but let’s just work with that number, because adults rarely donate only a dollar to a worthy cause. Getting an average of a dollar per ESCR supporter should be a piece of cake, so that would give you makes 203 million. That's more than five times what the federal government spends on ESCR today.
But wait…why ask only for a one-time donation? Surely each donor could come up with a dollar per month. Twelve dollars per year per supporter would amount to $2.436 billion. That’s more than 64 times what the federal government spends on ESCR now. It’s almost a billion dollars more than NASA will spend on the shuttle program this year. Surely you could come up with some new stem cell lines with that kind of money.
Better yet, ask donors to pony up $5 a month. That would be less than an hour’s pay (out of about 172 hours a month) for even a minimum wage worker. Wouldn’t the citizens of the most generous country on the planet be willing to give up their Starbucks money to help the lame walk and the blind see? At a fin per year per American, you'd have a cash flow of $12.18 billion. That’s 75% of the NASA budget, and you still haven’t counted the checks from the celebrities. You’ll be swimming in embryos in no time.
Before you proceed, you’ll need to do one thing—consult a legal advisor. You see, I’m not sure if telethons are covered by truth in advertising regulations. It’s probably not a subject that comes up very often. After all, when Jerry Lewis says “Send money so we can fight MS,” that’s pretty much the whole story.
Not so with ESCR. For example, you might have to tell people that there are now 72 viable treatments based on adult stem cells and not a single one based on ESCR. You might have to tell them that’s why private grants for ESCR are hard to come by, as research donors realize these therapies have little promise compared to other areas of research.
It gets worse. Your telethon would probably feature an appeal from Nancy Reagan, based on her belief that ESCR will someday bring us a cure for the Alzheimer’s that killed her husband. But truth in advertising might require that you tell the public what no one seems to be telling Nancy. There is, according to the Washington Post and other sources, a “lack of any serious suggestion that stem cells themselves have practical potential to treat Alzheimer's.” You might even have to report what National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke researcher Ronald McKay told the Post about the “Alzheimer’s cure” story line: "To start with, people need a fairy tale. Maybe that's unfair, but they need a story line that's relatively simple to understand."
Just get out there in front of the cameras, Senator. Tell that fairy tale and watch the money roll in.
Come to think of it, I wonder how a Senator could be unaware of these facts. You wouldn’t tell fibs about this research to help the Democrat’s election prospects, would you?
Nah, of course you wouldn’t. That would be cruel and cynical.
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Great letter! Has it been published or will it be? I hope so. It needs to be read.
Ping!
bump
Great read!
Of course, the chances of the truth penetrating Commie Tommy's thick skull are nil, but good on you anyway...
Fantastic letter. I am printing it out so I can show it to all the idiots I work with who have been bashing Bush on this topic.
You, my FRiend, are amazing!
They could have a bake-sale.
isn't this the guy who lied about being a pilot in Nam and who Rush calls "Dung Heap"?
Damn nice work!!!!!!
Keep up the good work. A truth that needs spreading beyond the faithful.
....and whole sale abortions will be in demand...
Adult Stem Cell research and research on the unborn Stem Cell is on going and the Federal Government has no business in this business...congress does have to legislate protective LAW for both - it has not.
It has been published, the paper came out today. We're a local weekly.
Feel free to distribute it by email.
Thank you!
Thank you! I would be proud to be part of someone seeing the light in regard to this snake oil sale.
Thank you!
Remember that old bumper sticker (heck, it's probably still around) about schools getting all the money they need and the Pentagon having to have a bake sale to uy a bomber? I thought of that when I read your post.
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