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Thursday, June 03, 2004 |
Bush Loses Lott on Stem Cells. From the Boston Globe: A majority of the US Senate has signed a letter asking President Bush to lift the government's funding restrictions on embryonic stem cells, increasing the pressure to change a policy critics say is holding back potentially lifesaving medical research.
The letter, which is still being circulated for signatures and has not yet been released, says the United States is falling behind in research into diseases "that affect more than 100 million Americans" and calls on the president to "expand" the current policy. It has been signed by 56 senators, including conservatives Trent Lott of Mississippi, Kay Bailey Hutchison of Texas, Orrin G. Hatch of Utah, and 10 other Republicans.
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The Senate letter, which mirrors one released by the House of Representatives two months ago, is a sign of how the political terrain has changed since Bush issued his policy in August 2001.
Since then, groups representing victims of diseases that might be helped by the research -- such as Parkinson's or juvenile diabetes -- have been aggressively lobbying Congress. This campaign has included pleading visits from children who have diabetes, as well as a powerful speech from former first lady Nancy Reagan. Though many legislators remain firmly opposed to embryonic stem cell research, the campaign has taken some of the partisan edge off the debate and given the president a measure of political cover should he decide to alter the policy.
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Backers of the Senate letter want more signatures because they are still short of the 60 senators whose approval would be needed to force a vote on a controversial topic.
The letter raises the prospect that the ban could be lifted with new legislation, but even critics of Bush's policy consider that unlikely. It would be hard to find the two-thirds majority in both houses of Congress needed to overturn a presidential veto, Soler conceded. Instead, the senators offer to work with Bush to forge a new policy. [Hit & Run]
12:22:37 PM Permalink
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A bit more on my close call
The saga of my bicycling accident continues, of course. Yesterday the San Francisco Chronicle mentioned the Gilman/I80 intersection in its Chronicle Watch feature, which lists different things in the bay area that are broken and in need of fixing. This intersection has been listed since January 13, 2004 -- 142 days. They say:
The intersection at Gilman Street and
Interstate 80 in Berkeley is a mess, generating more mail to
ChronicleWatch than any other problem spot in the Bay Area. Bisected by
Gilman Street, the intersection is fed by two-way traffic from both
east and west frontage roads and four freeway on- and off-ramps. With
the only stop signs located at the off-ramps, motorists must inch into
the intersection to see oncoming traffic. Trucks rumble through heading
to the dump, visitors en route to Golden Gate Fields and rush-hour
commuters use the frontage road to avoid the bumper-to-bumper freeway
traffic. It's "a very dangerous, ongoing traffic problem," wrote
ChronicleWatch tipster Sal Spataro of Pinole, "and will someday fill
the front page with tragedy."
Status: Peter Eakland, a traffic engineer with the city of
Berkeley, agreed that the Gilman intersection is a problem. His office
is studying a long-term solution with Caltrans that may include
installing a traffic circle to regulate the intersection. Eakland
acknowledged that something needs to be done in the interim, and says
he will meet with Caltrans within the next couple of weeks to discuss
painting lane stripes to channel traffic. Eakland believes the problem
will lessen when drivers have more direction through the area.
-- Who's responsible: Peter Hillier, assistant city manager for
transportation, (510) 981-7010; phillier@ci.berkeley.ca.us
9:00:06 AM Permalink
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© Copyright 2004 Steve Michel.
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