At The Cellular Level
Missouri, in case you didn't know it, is right in the middle of a huge stem cell debate. There's a referendum on the ballot to make embryonic stem cell research a constitutionally-protected activity, at least on the state level. And somewhere between all the ads featuring dewy-eyed moms begging for the future of their diseased kids, and the religious ads warning us of the brimstone-laced future, nobody is touching the actual issue.
A couple in KC founded an investment firm that made gobs and fistfuls of money. Both of them later on contracted cancer, and they subsequently poured their money into building a medical research and development facility to cure such diseases at a cellular/genetic level. They've now got a long-term strategic plan which involves expanding medical research facility by 600,000 square feet, every decade, in perpetuity.
Perpetuity?
Apparently the next expansion is slated for embryonic stem cell research. Which is worrisome to them. A couple of state Senators have rattled sabers and made noises about forbidding state funding for such research, per their very Midwestern constituency.
The business, on the other hand, isn't about to let a little annoyance like government and democracy stand in the way of their grandiose (and potentially very profitable) future.
The amendment is an end-run around the state government. It's an attempt to hog-tie the Legislature so that they have no say whatsoever in the matter, now or in the future, regarding funding, regulation, limits or anything else.
Is this a good legal presidence? Shall we follow suit with, say, the utility commission? How about allowing the gas and electric companies to pass a constitutional amendment…not just state laws, but an actual amendment to the state Constitution (which is…anyone? anyone? …easier or more difficult to get changed? anyone?) which says that the state government is powerless over them? They don't have to answer to anyone, now or later. They can build power plants wherever they want to, charge whatever they feel like, and your elected reps will simply have to sit on their hands and shrug at you. What other industries do you suppose would like to write amendments to the state constitution that protects them and shields their every action? Does anybody really believe that they wouldn't be lining up at the door for this opportunity?
So who do you suppose is next? Defense contractors? Real estate developers?
Lobbyists?
But since the whole thing is smoke and mirrors, all we're hearing is the Right-to-Life versus the Right-to-Cures debate. NOBODY is thinking about the Right-to-Representation that's really going on. Nobody is mentioning the 45 different bits of language changes and insertions that this Amendment will put into the constitution; nobody is challenging the dominance of business over the state legislature. This effectively neuters and declaws our elected representatives…which means that the voters won’t have a voice, either for or against stem cell research. The amendment is about putting the legislature and the voters in their place…firmly in the dark, with their hands tied and their mouths taped shut.
Didn't we have some kind of Tea Party in Boston regarding this kind of thing?
A couple in KC founded an investment firm that made gobs and fistfuls of money. Both of them later on contracted cancer, and they subsequently poured their money into building a medical research and development facility to cure such diseases at a cellular/genetic level. They've now got a long-term strategic plan which involves expanding medical research facility by 600,000 square feet, every decade, in perpetuity.
Perpetuity?
Apparently the next expansion is slated for embryonic stem cell research. Which is worrisome to them. A couple of state Senators have rattled sabers and made noises about forbidding state funding for such research, per their very Midwestern constituency.
The business, on the other hand, isn't about to let a little annoyance like government and democracy stand in the way of their grandiose (and potentially very profitable) future.
The amendment is an end-run around the state government. It's an attempt to hog-tie the Legislature so that they have no say whatsoever in the matter, now or in the future, regarding funding, regulation, limits or anything else.
Is this a good legal presidence? Shall we follow suit with, say, the utility commission? How about allowing the gas and electric companies to pass a constitutional amendment…not just state laws, but an actual amendment to the state Constitution (which is…anyone? anyone? …easier or more difficult to get changed? anyone?) which says that the state government is powerless over them? They don't have to answer to anyone, now or later. They can build power plants wherever they want to, charge whatever they feel like, and your elected reps will simply have to sit on their hands and shrug at you. What other industries do you suppose would like to write amendments to the state constitution that protects them and shields their every action? Does anybody really believe that they wouldn't be lining up at the door for this opportunity?
So who do you suppose is next? Defense contractors? Real estate developers?
Lobbyists?
But since the whole thing is smoke and mirrors, all we're hearing is the Right-to-Life versus the Right-to-Cures debate. NOBODY is thinking about the Right-to-Representation that's really going on. Nobody is mentioning the 45 different bits of language changes and insertions that this Amendment will put into the constitution; nobody is challenging the dominance of business over the state legislature. This effectively neuters and declaws our elected representatives…which means that the voters won’t have a voice, either for or against stem cell research. The amendment is about putting the legislature and the voters in their place…firmly in the dark, with their hands tied and their mouths taped shut.
Didn't we have some kind of Tea Party in Boston regarding this kind of thing?
posted by Kelly at
11:19 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]
<< Home