Possible Major Movement on Stem Cells
[Updated, newest at bottom]
I am going to make note of the fact (tip to Stygius for this) that Drudge is reporting tonight "In a break with Bush, Senate Republican leader Bill Frist will support bill to expand fed financing for embyronic stem cell research -- will announce decision in morning with lengthy Senate speech ... MORE ..." under a huge headline. Drudge offers no link.
Let me just say, I'll believe it when I see it. While it would be entirely reasonable for Frist to support the Specter-Harkin legislation, since he said he supported funding exactly the same thing back in 2001, I find it very difficult to believe that he's been stalling the bill for weeks and will suddenly support it now.
Just this morning, as Wired News reports, senators tried to bring the stem cell bill to the floor, and Frist batted it down.
My guess is, if there's anything to this story, it will be some sort of half-baked "compromise" legislation Frist has come up with, possibly that which Norm Coleman was planning to introduce earlier this week.
Look, if Frist comes on (back) on board and decides to support Specter-Harkin, I'd certainly welcome his support. But like I said - I'll believe it when I see it.
[Update: Well, we might just be seeing it. The New York Times reports for Friday editions that Frist will back expanding the president's policy ... although it does not say explicitly that he'll vote for Specter-Harkin. I'm still reading the article, will post back very soon. -- 11:10 p.m.]
[Update: From the draft speech, excerpted in the Times: "While human embryonic stem cell research is still at a very early stage, the limitations put in place in 2001 will, over time, slow our ability to bring potential new treatments for certain diseases. Therefore, I believe the president's policy should be modified. ...
I am pro-life. I believe human life begins at conception. I also believe that embryonic stem cell research should be encouraged and supported."
Frist's speech, which apparently will be delivered Friday morning, does not mean that he's changed his mind on timing: the stem cell bill still won't be debate and voted on until September ... and Frist is also apparently still going to try to bring up all the proposed alternatives, apparently so there can be a "serious and thoughtful debate."
From the article: "In his speech, Mr. Frist seems ... [to draw] back to a set of principles he articulated in July 2001, before the president made his announcement, in which he proposed restricting the number of stem cell lines without a specific cutoff date. At the time, he said the government should pay for research only on those embryos 'that would otherwise be discarded.'"
Drawing near the end of the article, we come to "the rub." Nowhere does the Times say that Frist has committed to backing Specter-Harkin (which he may do tomorrow, but it's not specifically stated in the excerpts provided). In fact, Frist says that the bill as written has "serious shortcomings, in his view. He says it 'lacks a strong ethical and scientific oversight mechanism,' does not prohibit financial incentives between fertility clinics and patients, and does not specify whether the patients or the clinic staff have a say over whether embryos are discarded. He also says he does not like the idea that the new policy would be in place indefinitely. 'This concerns me,' Mr. Frist says in the speech, 'because the science of stem cell research is evolving in so many different ways.'"
Unless Frist says in the full speech (and you can bet I'll be watching very closely) that he's absolutely supporting Specter-Harkin, what I would be seriously concerned about is the construction of some different version of the bill prior to September that Frist would come out and support. So, as they say, we shall see.
Regardless of this, I guess I do need to give Frist some props for this speech, even though it does nothing but prove that he continues to have the political instincts of an eggplant. The right wing and the White House will go bananas over this, and I daresay supporters of stem cell research will remain wary at best of his commitment. But hey, his vote is certainly welcome - we'll need every one we can get to override that threatened veto.
Stay tuned tomorrow for much, much more on this. -- 11:26 p.m.]
[New updates up on the main page, so click up there if you're directly routed to this post]
posted by JBD @ 10:42 PM
5 comments
5 Comments:
I can understand your feelings, Charging, as you and I probably both support stem cell research, but I just can't bring myself to warm up to Frist over this.
Here's why.
I think Frist made a raw political calculation about a year ago to attempt to become the candidate of the social right. Hence his shameful performance in the Schiavo case, his spearheading of the FMA, and his Justice Sunday routine. Now that he's pretty much collapsed in every 2008 poll, he realizes he's miscalculated, that the social right isn't as powerful as everyone seems to think they are (which is largely due to a fallacy regarding the 2004 election results --- the social right didn't really make the difference for Bush that everyone thinks they did), and, as such, Frist is attempting to flip-flop back over to the social moderate side, leaving McCain, Romney, and Allen to fight over social conservatives.
I don't think it will work. I think Frist has already done too much damage to himself by kneeling to the social right. I think that his weak performance as majority leader makes him a pretty pathetic candidate anyway, but combined with his sort of shopping around for a constituency (largely because he can't seem to find a natural one) is evidence that his campaign will go nowhere fast. If I have to have a southern conservative, I'd rather see Allen than Frist. At least Allen has run a state before, and Virginia is far from a right-wing paradise.
Absolutely right. This certainly doesn't change my opinion of Frist, as I think he's doing precisely as you say. As I mentioned in the post, I think that he's just shooting himself in the foot again: Bush and stem cell opponents will screech about this, and we who support research don't trust him (at least I sure don't). Your thoughts on "shopping for a constituency" are very apt.
My only "warming up" to him is that we can definitely use his vote for that override. We might need it. And I'm glad he's going back to the position he took in 2001 (since switching from it would have been ridiculous without a significant scientific research).
"because the science of stem cell research is evolving in so many different ways"
maybe the Dr. trying to shore up his science credentials since the Schaivo Fiasco
In terms of the Presidential race, Frist’s is like Bruce Willis, to paraphrase: “he’s dead but doesn’t know it.” Social conservatives (and other associated members of the New Right) did not win the general election but they are the big show in the Republican primaries. One of Frist’s key problems is that no faction of the New Right sees him as one of their own and he burned the bridge to the center a long time ago. Frist has done little to woo the neoconservatives and the Christian Right has never really warmed up to him. The Christian Right would rather see someone like Allen, Huckabee, Santorum, or Brownback. The neoconservatives always liked McCain and have really gotten cozy with Giuliani.
I thought I saw Frist once again change his mind, until I read your post. You properly point out that he hasn't necessarily said "which" bill he was supporting, or when he would bring it to the floor. His speech this morning should hopefully give us an answer. But then again, he may yet "flip-flop" down the road once Dobson calls him!!!
Post a Comment
<< Home