Bush Set to Veto Stem Cell Research
Taking conservatives for a ride one more time, Karl Rove says the President will "likely veto" a bill expanding federal funding of stem cell research if passed. The legislation, co-sponsored by Rep. Diana DeGette, D-Denver, and Rep. Mike Castle, R-Del has already passed the House and is expected to pass the Senate. Bill Frist, who says he backs the bill, has said he would schedule a vote soon.
I am wondering how long it will take for fiscal conservatives to see they've been had by this administration?
The man who hasn't vetoed a single spending bill (despite promises to reel in an out-of-control Congress) has decided to finally draw the line in the sand on a measure that enjoys wide bi-partisan support throughout the country. But it's not fiscal conservatives to whom Bush is beholden, but the religious right who seem to forgive all other sins against the movement this president makes as long as he pays lip service to their pet causes. It is that constituency this move speaks to.
"It is something we would, frankly, like to avoid," Rove said to the Denver Post when asked if the White House would welcome, or dread, vetoing legislation passed by a Republican Congress, especially on so emotional an issue as embryonic stem cell research."
It's horseshit, of course. Not only does the President finally get to flex his veto muscle, but Republicans can go back to their districts this Fall and claim to have tried to pass legislation that could help millions of people, but were stymied by an unpopular President they're trying to get distance from anyhow. Question is, will the public buy it?
"We were all an embryo at one point, and we ought to as a society be very careful about being callous about the wanton destruction of embryos, of life," Rove said. Recent research, he said, shows that researchers "have far more promise from adult stem cells than from embryonic stem cells."
I'm sure you all remember Rove's groundbreaking career as a biologist before he became a political hachetman and kingsize shitbag.
Polls show strong and consistent public support for stem cell research and expanded federal funding of such programs.
