Stem cell bill passes, faces new veto

[Maddy McCall]

Source: AP

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Democratic-controlled Congress passed legislation Thursday to loosen restraints on federally funded embryonic stem cell research, but the bill's supporters lacked the votes needed to override President Bush's threatened veto.

The 247-176 House vote marked the second time in recent weeks that Democratic leaders have chosen to confront Bush over an issue on which they command widespread public support, following a veto struggle over a proposed troop withdrawal timetable from Iraq.

This time the controversy is at the uneasy intersection of medical research and politics, involving a type of cell that the National Institutes of Health says might serve as "a sort of repair system for the body."

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., appealed to Bush moments before the bill passed to sheath his "cruel veto pen" and sign legislation that she said could help "save lives, find cures, and give hope to those suffering."

But the president responded quickly with a written statement that accused majority Democrats of recycling an old measure that he vetoed a year ago. Under the bill, "American taxpayers would for the first time in our history be compelled to support the deliberate destruction of human embryos. Crossing that line would be a grave mistake," he said in a statement issued in Germany, site of a summit of world leaders.



Read more: http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/S/STEM_CELLS?SITE=MSJAD&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT

[Gelliebeans]

1. I have no words

to express the frustration of dealing with someone that refuses to help people that are hurting right now
K&R with fingers crossed but I am not holding my breath.

[NastyRiffraff]

2. Okay, Dems, do what you SHOULD have done

with the Iraq supplemental. KEEP sending it back, again and again. Let the country know what this asshole is all about.

[radfringe]

4. yeah right... wait for the excuse

"we don't have the votes"

[comtec]

5. Dont be too quick to condemn the funding bill

I admit I was with everyone else, pissed as hell and ready to goto Washington to do bad stuff, BUT, I started hearing what was in the bill. They passed the funding bill to put armor on our troops. If the troops are properly armed and armored, then in September they should have the ability to properly fight * without worrying about leaving our troops nearly naked, as it were, and unprotected.

The reality is, of course, that if they funding stopped, the troops would HAVE to be brought back.

This bill, they do not have lives on the line (in the immediate sense) so they CAN re send it back to * over and over again. This is something the American people want, and they have the TIME to fight him over it. They also want universal health care, but I am afraid hell its self would freeze over before *'s administration signs any single-buyer plan.

Lets hope something good comes of this.

[yodermon]

14. False meme, thanks a lot.

"without worrying about leaving our troops nearly naked, as it were, and unprotected"

This would not happen. It is a laughable, ludicrous scenario. Per Glen Greenwald:

Republicans and the media have propagated -- and Democrats have frequently affirmed -- the proposition that to de-fund a war is to endanger the "troops in the field."

This unbelievably irrational, even stupid, concept has arisen and has now taken root -- that to cut off funds for the war means that, one day, our troops are going to be in the middle of a vicious fire-fight and suddenly they will run out of bullets -- or run out of gas or armor -- because Nancy Pelosi refused to pay for the things they need to protect themselves, and so they are going to find themselves in the middle of the Iraq war with no supplies and no money to pay for what they need. That is just one of those grossly distorting, idiotic myths the media allows to become immovably lodged in our political discourse and which infects our political analysis and prevents any sort of rational examination of our options.

That is why virtually all political figures run away as fast and desperately as possible from the idea of de-funding a war -- it's as though they have to strongly repudiate de-funding options because de-funding has become tantamount to "endangering our troops" (notwithstanding the fact that Congress has de-funded wars in the past and it is obviously done in coordination with the military and over a scheduled time frame so as to avoid "endangering the troops").

[comtec]

16. The point was MORE armour

not letting the bullets run out of soldiers.
There are a couple things in the bill that make it... tolerable - to be kind.
ONE: NO PERMANENT BASES IN IRAQ! the upshot of this is when * puts in permanent bases they will have a solid impeachable offense (yes, yes, I know one of a 100) that even the gop scum can't deny.
TWO: (my point) was that X amount of the funding MUST go to buying the troops X Y Z body amour, and vehicle armor.

I was NOT making the troops running out of bullets bullshit, please read before you post like an ass!

sorry, I am rather upset you dared accuse me of taking the reich wing's side. We are stuck with this bill, and we had better see what little good there is or we'll all get ulcers.

[depakid]

7. Put it all in the whole country's face

again and again.

Eventually, even the corrupt corporate media will have to talk about it....

[blondeatlast]

10. Exactly. don't let up. The stem-cell lobby has no power (as in $$$)

and are a loosely knit group of researchers, mediacal advocacy groups, and patients. We need a unifying voice to speak for us--a role leading Democrats can fill nicely--and further THAT agenda as well.

[Hekate]

3. Good for the Dems -- I hope they keep doing this, as it will show America what Bush is...

...basically a man who doesn't give a damn what the rest of us think. I do not think it's a waste of time to send bills like this to Bush, and I hope Congress does it again and again. Let him veto bills that the people have indicated they really want passed.

Hekate

[meowomon]

6. Cheney's Only Chance of Growing A New Heart - Vetoed.

God knows he's already sold his soul to Satan.

[ThatsMyBarack]

13. Welcome to DU, meowomon!

:patriot:

[MiniMe]

8. Hmmm, and Bush renominated judges that were rejected

Typical, complaining about behavior that he exhibited.

[MasonJar]

9. If he were the one with Parkinson's, he'd still flip that pen out? We know that answer.

[sutz12]

11. and every Republican who votes against this is helping Bush hold his veto pen.

We need to keep pointing this out to the American people.

[Joe Bacon]

12. I hope Bush gets diabetes.

Let him grab that needle every 12 hours like I have to. And then suffer from asshole Christians who deny him the hope of a cure!

[KansDem]

15. Well spoken!!!

As a fellow diabetic, I see this SOB as standing between me and my cure. And every Repub with him.

When it comes to health care, Bush is either (1) denying me a cure with this sanctimonious stand on stem-cell research, and (2) denying me the chance to purchase less-expensive drugs with his "pledge" to "protect us" from "inferior drugs" from "third-world countries" like Canada.

In short, Bush has one hand in my pocket and the other one digging my grave.

[dflprincess]

17. This week researches in England announced success using stem cells

to reverse macular degeneration in mice (or maybe rats, it was a rodent) - even in those that had gone blind.

My maternal grandmother lost all but some peripheral vision to macular degeneration. She had been in good health and living on her own until her vision became so bad it wasn't safe for her to live alone. Up until then she had loved to read and occupied herself with sewing projects. As she became more dependent, she became more depressed and I believe it really was macular degeneration that killed her, though the condition itself doesn't directly cause other health problems.

My mother has lost all vision in one eye because of it and prays she dies before she loses all her vision (though, thankfully her other eye still seems okay).

With this family history, I'm at high risk.

I'd wish the condition on Bush, but he doesn't read anyway and he's already blind.

[sjdnb]

18. received this from the dscc today

Signed and forwarded


Dear Friend,

Yesterday, Sen. Schumer sent an urgent note—which is included below—saying we needed a grassroots uprising to convince President Bush not to veto the lifesaving Stem Cell Research Enhancement Act.

The response was absolutely amazing. And good thing too.

President Bush's veto may come as early as Monday morning. We need as many signatures as possible by then. Won't you please sign now? (snipped)

http://www.dscc.org/makeadifference/petitions/20070607_stemcell.htm

sandi

[NastyRiffraff]

19. Done. I dunno why I'm not getting DSCC's emails lately

Thanks for posting!

[farmboxer]

20. Dems are "still" better than Repubs!

If Dems had not gotten elected to Congress, we would be in Hell for sure! Repubs are fascists! Dems are not perfect, but..............