Stem cell research now about politics

Just a few thoughts regarding President Obama's lifting of the limits on embryonic stem cell research funding. First of all, the president makes the claim that he wants to separate politics from science. This is laughable; by allowing and increasing federal funding, politics is entering and will enter the debate. Anytime you have any government funding, you better believe politics is part of the equation. Maybe this president thinks we're foolish enough to believe that his administration is free from "politics." Can we ask why federal funding for this research is necessary? Of course, once you get into a multi-billion-dollar omnibus appropriation bill and soon to be multi-trillion-dollar budget plan, it is clear to see that this administration has no problem wanting to fund anything and everything. If embryonic stem cells hold such promise (remember, it is still not real clear that anything of value will come from this research), wouldn't the private sector (i.e. large pharmaceutical companies) make significant investment in this? Do you wonder why we haven't seen this yet? Why not allow market forces drive what dollars are spent on research? In addition to this, the president stated, "We make scientific decisions based on facts, not ideology." The new administration has made ideology the whipping boy for anything it thinks has been a problem the last few years. But I hope people realize that there are doctrines and beliefs this administration has also - they are not free from ideology. Ideology will play a role in any decision this president makes, no matter how hard he tries to convince us otherwise. So when examining federal funding of embryonic stem cell research, ask yourself whose politics and whose ideology is driving these decisions. Perhaps the motives aren't as pure and noble as presented.

John Schultz

Carol Stream