On Monday March 9th President Obama, with much fanfare and hoopla, signed an Executive Order lifting restrictions on federal funding of Embryonic Stem Cell (ESC) research.
The press went ga-ga over his decision, printing a variety of stories which either shaded the truth about the results of ESC research, or just ignored the truth completely.
The authors here at Flopping Aces posted about the subject here and here.
Anyone with an honest interest in this subject knows that ESC research has not produced any helpful or positive treatments.
In fact, quite the opposite is true. The results from ESC research have been deadly and disturbing.
Of course, the Media machine is not really interested in telling you any of that.
Of course, there’s something else the Media didn’t tell you.
On Wednesday March 11th, just two short days after lifting the ban on federal funding, President Obama put the ban back in place.
You didn’t know that did you?
Remember the Omnibus spending bill that Obama signed?
The one where he made the big speech with his TelePromTer and then dashed off to sign it behind closed doors?
Yeah, that Omnibus bill contained the Dickey-Wicker amendment which puts the restrictions back in place:
On Wednesday, only two days after he lifted President Bush’s executive order banning federal funding of stem cell research that requires the destruction of human embryos, President Barack Obama signed a law that explicilty bans federal funding of any “research in which a human embryo or embryos are destroyed, discarded, or knowingly subjected to risk of injury or death.”
The provision was buried in the 465-page omnibus appropriations bill that Obama signed Wednesday. Known as the Dickey-Wicker amendment, it has been included in the annual appropriations bill for the Department of Health and Human Services every fiscal year since 1996.
The amendment says, in part: “None of the funds made available in this Act may be used for—(1) the creation of a human embryo or embryos for research purposes; or (2) research in which a human embryo or embryos are destroyed, discarded, or knowingly subjected to risk of injury or death.”
Found in Section 509 of Title V of the omnibus bill (at page 280 of the 465-page document), the federal funding ban not only prohibits the government from providing tax dollars to support research that kills or risks injury to a human embryo, it also mandates that the government use an all-inclusive definition of “human embryo” that encompasses any nascent human life from the moment that life comes into being, even if created in a laboratory through cloning, in vitro fertilization or any other means.
“For the purposes of this section,” says the law, “the term ‘human embryo or embryos’ includes any organism … that is derived by fertilization, parthenogenesis, cloning, or any other means from one or more human gametes or human diploid cells.” (The entire verbatim text of Section 509 of the omnibus spending law is reprinted at the bottom of this article.)
Since legislation trumps Executive Orders, Obama effectively lifted the ban for two days and then put it back in place.
Does The Won read anything before he signs it or is that above his pay grade?
Hope. Change. Screwing up in reverse.
Not quite. Although messy – apparently Obama lifting of the ban enables scientists to use ‘existing’ stem cell lines but not create new ones. Also there are attempts to repeal the Dickey-Wicker amendment.
“Bush’s executive policy additionally had limited researchers receiving federal aid to just 21 stem cell lines created before August 2001. Obama’s reversal allows them to use hundreds of other stem cell lines already in existence. But the Dickey-Wicker provision still prevents federally backed researches from creating their own stem cell lines”
“Reps. Diana DeGette, D-Colo., and Mike Castle, R-Del., are seeking a quick vote on legislation to repeal the amendment, after failing twice in the past to overturn Bush’s restrictions”
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/first100days/2009/03/14/obamas-approval-stem-cell-research-needs-congressional-action/
Smarter than a Rhode Scholar and a Brain Surgeon?
Aye if I would have had more time today, I would have done a related but somewhat different take on the stem cell saga, prompted by seeing a bit of Clinton and Sanjay Gupta on Larry King last night. Glad you posted this!
It’s my take (for whatever that is worth), that this is typical Obama doing what he does best; speaking out of both sides of his mouth, trying to be loved by everyone, while
essentially voting “present.”
Here’s the deal. The Wickey Amendment comes up every year for “renewal.” I think September 30 is the date. For the past 13 years, Congress has not even come close to lifting it, but they will this year. Obama “put it into motion”, and will leave it to Congress to do his usual dirty work (actually the have to on this one, but I believe it’s all very calculated). Let me give you two examples.
For starters, the NY Times wasted NO time in calling for the “reversal” of Dickey. Consequently, Sanjay Gupta and Bill Clinton had a rather interesting interview this past week, which I caught a little of last evening. During the interview, Gupta asks Clinton if “ESC” will be the new “abortion” issue. To my shock, Mr. Rhode Scholar told Mr. Brain Surgeon that pretty much, “no big deal” UNLESS it’s a fertilized egg OR reproductive cloning.
If that wasn’t bad enough, Clinton used the word “fertilized” at least 5 or 6 times, as in “our research embryos are NOT fertilized. I believe this was deliberate propaganda. For the record, ALL embryos are FERTILIZED, (biology 101). Even worse, Gupta didn’t correct him! So, are we all dumber than a Rhode Scholar and a Neurosurgeon or is this more of the “verbal gymnastics” that has always gone with the pro choice agenda? After all, after 50,000 abortions, we still can’t finish the sentence of a women’s right to chose WHAT?
Furthermore, for the record, human cloning HAS already occurred in this country, (with private funding), last year. A CEO of a private Biotech company in La Jolla, Samuel Wood, cloned himself (5 times if my memory serves me correctly). Of course it’s still illegal to implant a human clone, but human cloing has been done. I can’t even image what it must have been like to look at a clone of ones self under a microscope and then KILL the clones (they HAD to kill the clones). BTW, I remember that it took almost THIRTY human eggs for one clone.
My point of the above is that for all the things Clinton is, stupid isn’t one of them. Gupta is not only an MD but a guy fed news 24/7, so I will never believe that he too was clueless. There can only be two ways to go with this. If they are that clueless, what does that say for the “rash” decisions/laws that are being made regarding human life? This is the moral giant of our times, so who could believe that these types of decisions are made off the cuff? I think the better explanation is it’s all part of the “desenitiszation.”
Either way, it’s not too early to start sounding the bell that America will NOT go down the road to barbarism by unleashing the Dickey Amendment. We’ve got 6 months to educate America.
p.s. Video of Clinton and Gupta is easily found on line as well as references to all my other “claims.” Sorry I”m in a bit if a hurry right now but wanted to post this.
p.p.s. UPDATE: I concure with Gaff; they still are getting plenty of mileage out of this “as is.”
It’s hard to say right now how long it will take for scientists to decide that the several hundred newer ESC lines need to be expanded into the thousasands (or more), but when that happens, you know there will be pressure on Obama to issue an Executive Order repealing Dickey-Wicker. Based on his leanings to date, I doubt he would hesitate much.
Jeff V
P.S. It just occurred to me that Obama is an amalgamation of three main characters who accompany Dorothy Gale in the Wizard of Oz. He’s got the scarecrow’s ability to think for himself, the Tin Man’s compassion (for truly responsible taxpayers), and the Cowardly Lion’s courage (when dealing with Pelosi and Reid.) Maybe he deserves a new nickname – somthing along the lines of Obama – the Cowardly Tin Scarecrow? Just a thought.
Jeff I don’t think Obama CAN repeal Dickey-Wicker, only Congress. He can certainly influence it, which I believe he did with the NYT’s and Clinton/Gupta, and no doubt, lots more where that came from. Give it 3 months and we will all be heartless Luddites for not supporting the overturn of Dickey-Wicker.
RAAAAAAACIST!!!!!!!
Of course the MSM libs celebrated:
Murder the innocent but protect the guilty is one of their core beliefs.
I wonder at what point the main steam media will turn on him and the public will find out about his numerous faults.
Already starting, but the reality is….when the first crisis comes about that makes good play on TV. That’s when it’ll turn. The Great Recession is bad-arguably worse than 911, Iraq, and Katrina combined in terms of costs and lives effected (though not lost thank God), but it lacks TV coverage. There’s no soup lines in the burbs. Now, when there’s a war w Iran, or the next hurricane hits etc…if Obama does get good footage to marry up w the crisis, then he’s kaput.