This is a class blog for the students of POLSCI 426: Congressional Politics at the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee.
congress and morals???
Since when did the Congress become the ultimate moral arbiter of America? I guess that first its stem cells and next smoking... Where does it all stop. I can honestly say that on the stem cell issue I don't know enough to make a qualified value judgement, so maybe I will keep my mouth shut as to where I stand, but it does seem to me that we legislate too many things. Let science do its thing, even if I am ignorant of what this "thing" is.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Blog Archive
-
▼
2007
(218)
-
▼
April
(58)
- Republicans go negative -- on one another
- Law and Order's Other 2008 Presidential Character:...
- Murtha: Four Ways to Influence a President. One i...
- Bush Tells Immigrant Graduates to Solve Immigratio...
- The Gift That Keeps on Giving
- House panel votes to subpoena Rice on Iraq
- I Learn From Mistakes
- Pelosi Won't Attend Briefing on Iraq
- Bridging a Divide -- and Crossing an Ocean
- Kohl amendment extending SeniorCare likely to be v...
- Doyle lobbies for more UW funds
- here's the mccain article
- Sen. McCain gets tough on global warming & foreign...
- Bill Clinton: World Ambassador
- Senate Majority Leader says War Withdrawl Bill to ...
- Boris Yeltsin, RIP
- Lobbyists Profit From Power Shift In Congress
- House Approves A Full D.C. Seat
- Expectant House Member Is a Congressional Rarity
- Congress Skeptical of Warhead Plan
- Renzi Resigns from Intelligence Chair
- MCs from Both Sides Dip Into Taxes for Vacations
- "Obscure Procedural Fights" Does it Get Any Better?
- Mazel Tov Tommy
- Will Virginia shootings spur Congress to Act?
- Liberals to Pelosi: Hey! We're Still Here!
- Guard, Reserve leaders speak before Senate
- Is it Political?
- GOP presidential candidates distance themselves fr...
- Betwen Obama and Clinton for the Dems
- Romney, Giuliani Have Money to Burn
- Gonzales: I have nothing to hide
- Cheny thinks Democrats will Drop Timetables
- House Hesitates on Ethics Changes
- NASA Causes Turnabout on Fiscal Responsibility
- Amendment to FISA Proposed
- Kerry and Gingrich Hugging Trees -- and (Almost) E...
- congress and morals???
- Bush vs. Congress: The Looming Battle Over Executi...
- Romney targets Pelosi in foreign-policy speech
- Obama Challenges McCain on Iraq Stroll
- House committee to hold Tillman hearings
- Details of GOP's Immigration Bill Strategy
- Wisconsin Might Just Hang Up on "Robo-Calls"
- Flaws in W2
- Stem cell vote set for Congress this week
- kerry v gingrich...debate on climate change
- Fundraising numbers shake up White House race
- Will Dems get Gonzales through Monica Goodling?
- Who Cares About the Next American President When W...
- lets see how we rate...taxpayers
- Feingold and Reid Propose Funding Cut for Troops
- Bush berates Dems over Iraq war funding
- Pelosi is welcomed in Syria
- The Decoy Effect, or How to Win an Election
- Former Wis. Governor Enters Race for Nomination
- Senate Democrats Vow to Push Withdrawal
- White House criticizes Pelosi's planned Syria visit
-
▼
April
(58)
1 comment:
Granted the number of additional people embryonic stem cells would be enabled the healing of beyond those whom adult stem cells enable healing for, and given that there are already plenty of embryos that are slated for abortion anyway, it would make the most utilitarian sense to gather stem cells from the embryo of a woman who intends to undergo an abortion and to save those cells before the remainder of the embryo dies. This method of harvesting embryonic stem cells would provide plenty of cells for duplication and development into the various tissues and organs in demand.
However, the questionable generalization of jeopardizing additional embryos is used to justify a primarily Republican filibuster against the authorization of federal funds to research the harvesting and development of embryonic stem cells, which are the only stem cells that are totipotential (can develop into any type of somatic cell). By contrast, adult stem cells already are differentiated and hence are far more limited in possible function.
This illusory cost then serves as a cover-up for some benefit that the keepers of the status quo deem to outweigh the enormous benefit the embryonic stem cells would yield. What could this set of benefits be? My estimate is that it is the sale of medical procedures that embryonic stem cell research would make obsolete. The medical industry and trade associations have their PACs and lobbyists like any other interest groups, so it is logical that Bush and company will do their best to hold off any innovations that would improve patients’ health too quickly or too permanently.
Sales of palliative treatments for a chronic illness almost always yield far greater revenues than the sale of a single cure or series of curative treatments. Even if embryonic stem cell research is approved for federal funding anytime soon, some officials will then try to pass laws regulating applications of such research such that only the wealthiest can afford those cures. The class system will become even more evident as the average difference in health between the wealthy and the poor becomes more physically obvious as a result of the elite accessing advanced cellular treatments. In a two-dimensional model of treatment cost vs. treatment quality, a shift towards lower treatment cost would have to coincide with a shift towards higher quality if the government is ever to include such cellular treatments in its Medicaid and Medicare programs. If these treatments prove too effective, we might face an over-population crisis within a few decades.
Post a Comment