NJDC's Blog

John McCain: Not exactly Teddy Roosevelt

When America first discovered its conservationist soul, it was a Republican President, Teddy Roosevelt, who delivered eloquent words and tough action to make  conservation efforts a priority and reality. Thanks to him, both parties have kept the issue on their respective party platforms ever since.

Senator John McCain is sometimes erroneously compared to Teddy Roosevelt. Some of his supporters claim to see him as the genuine conservative with a maverick progressive streak in the T.R. mold. 

These are the the king of statements Roosevelt made. However, unlike McCain they were followed up with meaningful actions.

"The conservation of natural resources is the fundamental problem. Unless we solve that problem it will avail us little to solve all others."
- Teddy Roosevelt, Address to the Deep Waterway Convention, Memphis, TN, October 4, 1907

McCain's newest ad falsely and ineffectively tries to mirror this simple eloquence.

Check out the ad here.

The ad ends with a simple message:  “Reform. Prosperity. Peace.”

 If only McCain’s words matched his deeds like Teddy.

When McCain talks about “Reform. Prosperity. Peace.”  he has trouble with his environmental record:

“Reform”

McCain Receives "0" on League of Conservation Voters 2007 Scorecard

McCain has a lifetime LCV score of 24 percent

Of course, if you count all the votes he’s missed lately, that number surges to 26%.

McCain Accepted $291,658 from Big Oil in 2007

“On average, Senators voting for big oil tax breaks and against incentives for renewable energy and efficiency in 2007 received $195,973 in campaign donations from the oil industry during this decade. In 2007 alone, Sen. McCain received $291,658 from the oil and gas industry.”

Worst of all

“In 2007, McCain was the only senator who failed to vote on a motion to invoke cloture (thus limiting debate) on the Energy Independence and Security Act. This vote was about whether to close $13 billion in tax breaks for major oil and gas companies to invest in new clean energy technologies such as wind and solar, and efficiency. Sixty votes were required for passage. The motion was rejected 59-40.” (CQ.com; HR 6, Vote #425, 12/13/07)

“Prosperity”

McCain Boasts of Global Warming Record, But Solutions Are Absent From His Website
Go visit johnmccain.com’s section on climate change (here’s the link). Notice anything? Probably not, because he has the same old Republican response (which means not much). Go to Sen. Obama’s page (check it out). Notice that it actually has a detailed set of plans? That’s because he wants to do something to solve the problem, not just talk about it.

“Peace”

Voted NO on reducing oil usage by 40% by 2025 (instead of 5%)
Amendment to improve the energy security of the United States and reduce United States dependence on foreign oil imports by 40% by 2025. The amendment seeks to reduce usage by 7.6 million barrels of oil a day, out of a total usage of 20 million barrels of oil a day. The bill without amendment seeks to reduce usage by 1 million barrels of oil a day.
(Reference: Energy Policy Act of 2005; Bill S.Amdt. 784 to H.R. 6 ; vote number 2005-140  on Jun 16, 2005)

Teddy had a saying, "Speak softly and carry a big stick; you will go far." Well, McCain talks the talk, but he’s got no stick, and he’s going nowhere but back home to Arizona.

You can check out his full voting record here.

Stem Cell Vindication? Absolutely Not.

Last week, Charles Krauthammer wrote a shameful column for the Washington Post in which he tried to defend President Bush's refusal to allow federal funding for embryonic stem cell research.

Krauthammer - along with the rest of Bush's conservative base - took last month's announcement of a scientific discovery that human skin cells can possibly be used in similar ways as embryonic stem cells, completely distorted it, and falsely declared the embryonic stem cell debate "over". He wrote, "The verdict is clear: Rarely has a president - so vilified for a moral stance - been so thoroughly vindicated."

Krauthammer's arguments simply don't add up. He's twisting information to try to make President Bush appear like the good guy -- not the bad guy who has vetoed legislation to expand the funding of life-saving scientific research TWICE in the past fifteen months.

Krauthammer's assertions are wrong. Krauthammer - and the rest of the anti-embryonic- stem-cell-research, "moral values"-based right wing - wants to substitute embryonic stem cell research with this new human skin cell discovery, and the two just don't equate. No evidence yet exists that this new research is effective. Shinya Yamanaka, the leader of the Kyoto University research team even said this: "It was a breakthrough. It allowed us to see a goal. But the goal is far off in the distance."

This conservative ploy to take attention away from - and even halt - embryonic stem cell research is appalling. The irony is that the President's belief that embryonic stem cell research is immoral is preventing funding for research that can SAVE LIVES! We know this to be true because stem cells have been studied for over forty years. So while - as Alan I. Leshner and James A. Thomson explained in their Washington Post op/ed Monday - the new method of stem cell therapy may produce "potential landmarks, these studies are only a first step on the long road toward eventual therapies."

Watch Huckabee Deny Evolution Exists!

HUCKABEE TELLS CNN THAT ARMAGEDDON MAY BE UNDERWAY

Jackson Williams of the Huffington Post writes:

In an under-the-radar interview that aired on CNN Friday night (Oct. 19), conservative talk show host Glenn Beck asked Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee about current events in the Middle East. Then came the payoff question about Armageddon, and Huckabee delivered the ministerial money shot for values voters everywhere:

BECK: You're a biblical guy. You're a preacher. Do you believe we are possibly facing "End Times" scenarios with any of the events that we're seeing?

HUCKABEE: You know, every generation has thought that they were, and we could be, but we don't ever act like, "OK, this is it," so we just sit back and coast and ride it out until the end. We always act as if it could be today, but we also plan as if it could be 100,000 years from now.

When it Comes to Stem Cell Research, Don't Play Politics

An excellent post on the Star-Ledger's website today, NJ.com.

Writer Thurman Hart examines Bush's refusal to provide federal funding for stem cell research, pointing to the president's "rationalization" of "the life and death decision". As NJDC has said before, and as Hart reiterates in his post, what about the already existing lines?

Such research will help find cures for individuals suffering daily from life-threatening diseases. From young children living with juvenile diabetes to elderly Alzheimer's patients, stem cell research is an essential element in the ongoing fight for a cure.

NEW YORK TIMES: BUSH ADMINISTRATION PUTS "POLITICS OVER SCIENCE"

From the front lines of the GOP War on Science:

The New York Times is reporting that:

Former Surgeon General Richard H. Carmona told a Congressional committee today that top officials in the Bush administration repeatedly tried to weaken or suppress important public health reports because of political considerations.

Dr. Carmona, who served as surgeon general from 2002 to 2006, said White House officials would not allow him to speak or issue reports about stem cells, emergency contraception, sex education, or prison, mental and global health issues because of political concerns. Top administration officials delayed for years and attempted to “water down” a landmark report on secondhand tobacco smoke, he said in sworn testimony before the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform.

And more from the Times article:

On issue after issue, Dr. Carmona asserted, the Bush administration made decisions about important public health issues based solely on political considerations, not scientific ones.

“I was told to stay away from those because we’ve already decided which way we want to go,” Dr. Carmona said.

He described attending a meeting of top officials in which the subject of global warming was discussed. The other officials concluded that global warming was a liberal cause and dismissed it, he said.

“And I said to myself: ‘I realize why I’ve been invited. They want me to discuss the science because they obviously don’t understand the science,’ ” he said. “I was never invited back.”

He said the science is clear that effective sexual education efforts must offer what he called a “comprehensive approach.”

“However, there was already a policy in place to only support sexual education efforts that discussed only abstinence, he said.

He was ordered to mention President Bush three times on every page of every speech he gave, Dr. Carmona said. He was asked to make speeches to support Republican political candidates and to attend political briefings, at least one of which included Karl Rove, the president’s senior political adviser, he said.

The Times also reports that the Bush administration refused to allow Dr. Carmona to attend the Special Olympics because of the event's ties to the Kennedy family.   In other words the White House not only puts politics above science but also above public service and charity.  Bush can't leave office soon enough. 

President Bush vetoes a bill that would expand stem-cell research

Today President Bush once again vetoed a bill that would expand federally funded embryonic stem cell research, despite its promise to cure disease and its support among 70% of Americans. The Associated Press writes,

Currently, states and private organizations are permitted to fund embryonic stem cell research, but federal support is limited to cells that existed as of Aug. 9, 2001. The latest bill is aimed at lifting that restriction.

Rather than outlawing this restriction that limits the ability of scientists to fight disease, President Bush still supports researching just non-embryonic stem cells. NJDC recently blogged about the failure of this position, as scientists maintain that embryonic stem cell research is the "gold standard."

President Bush's refusal to sign this legislation shows just how out of touch his Administration is with the majority of Americans who recognize the potential of this research to find cures for those diseases that plague millions. 

Let's Hope Third Time's a Charm on Stem Cell Legislation

Today, for the third time, the House of Representatives passed a bill widening the scope of acceptable uses of embryonic stem cells for federal research.

Why is this the third time the House has seen a version of this legislation, you ask? Because President Bush exercised his veto authority for the very first time when he put pen to paper, outlawing an expansion of federal embryonic stem cell research. And he's promising to do it again. And again. And again.

As the New York Times reported:

"I am disappointed the leadership of Congress recycled an old bill that would simply overturn our country's carefully balanced policy on embryonic stem cell research," Mr.Bush said in a statement. "If this bill were to become law, 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." (emphasis added)

Notice how the bolded phrase compares to the actual text of the legislation:

Human embryonic stem cells shall be eligible for use in any research conducted or supported by the Secretary if the cells meet each of the following:

`(1) The stem cells were derived from human embryos that have been donated from in vitro fertilization clinics, were created for the purposes of fertility treatment, and were in excess of the clinical need of the individuals seeking such treatment.

`(2) Prior to the consideration of embryo donation and through consultation with the individuals seeking fertility treatment, it was determined that the embryos would never be implanted in a woman and would otherwise be discarded.

`(3) The individuals seeking fertility treatment donated the embryos with written informed consent and without receiving any financial or other inducements to make the donation." (emphasis added)

This clearly states that such embryonic stem cells would otherwise be discarded. THIS BEARS REPEATING: BUSH IS PREVENTING SCIENTISTS FROM USING EMBRYOS THAT WOULD OTHERWISE BE DISCARDED.

On behalf of the majority of Americans who are hopeful that embryonic stem cell research will lead to cures for Juvenile Diabetes, Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, and other life-threatening illnesses: thank you, Members of Congress who continue to push this legislation in hopes that one day our President will open his eyes and put his pen down.

(See other stem cell research-related NJDC Blog posts here and here.)

With Obama Announcement, five of six Democratic presidential candidates confirmed to speak at NJDC conference

NJDC announced today that Senator Barack Obama will speak at our Washington Conference, to be held April 23-25, 2007. We’ve previously announced that Senator Joseph Biden, Senator Chris Dodd, Senator John Edwards, Governor Bill Richardson, DNC Chairman Howard Dean, House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer and Israeli Ambassador Sallai Meridor will be joining us.

Click here for more information and click here to register.

A tentative schedule is available here.

 

GOP Continues its War on Science

The Washington Post is reporting that "A senior Bush political appointee at the Interior Department has repeatedly altered scientific field reports to minimize protections for imperiled species and disclosed confidential information to private groups seeking to affect policy decisions ..."

Further evidence that when facts don't support Bush administration officials' extremist right wing agenda, they just make up their own.