NYT: Senate's Leader Veers From Bush Over Stem Cells (Frist)

[RamboLiberal]

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/07/29/politics/29stem.html?ei=5094&en=45fee50f84b7aa0c&hp=&ex=1122609600&partner=homepage&pagewanted=print

In a break with President Bush, the Senate Republican leader, Bill Frist, has decided to support a bill to expand federal financing for embryonic stem cell research, a move that could push it closer to passage and force a confrontation with the White House, which is threatening to veto the measure.

Mr. Frist, a heart-lung transplant surgeon who said last month that he did not back expanding financing "at this juncture," is expected to announce his decision Friday morning in a lengthy Senate speech. In it, he says that while he has reservations about altering Mr. Bush's four-year-old policy, which placed strict limits on taxpayer financing for the work, he supports the bill nonetheless.

"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," Mr. Frist says, according to a text of the speech provided by his office Thursday evening. "Therefore, I believe the president's policy should be modified."

Mr. Frist's move will undoubtedly change the political landscape in the debate over embryonic stem cell research, one of the thorniest moral issues to come before Congress.

[napi21]

1. Ooooh, Frist is jumping ship? That's interesting.

Maybe the 2008 nomination is looking more important to him than a lame duck. Ya think?

[Jawja]

16. Any takers on a bet that

he has to reverse his position sometime today? That he really didn't mean he was breaking with * on it?

[theHandpuppet]

17. That was my immediate thought, too

He saw which way the wind was blowing. Political expediency.

[Ian David]

2. He thinks he can use stemcells to save Terry Schiavo. n/t

[skids]

3. Evil. Evil evil evil.

I love it :evilgrin:

Such snark :rofl:

[bunny planet]

4. What, Herr Dr. Katzen Killer is breaking ranks.

[Javaman]

5. One of three things has occured for hiim to change his mind...

1) he has cancer
2) He knows someone close to him that has cancer
3) He is accepting some sort of major pay off from some pharm company. Setting up his K street job when he doens't run next time...

I pick #3 but that's just me.

[drm604]

6. 4) He's planning to run for President in '08 n/t

[MiniMe]

7. Or, he heard from his constituents. n/t

[djg21]

18. That was my first thought too.

He needs to distinguish himself from shrub and demonstrate that he's capable of independent thought.

[bagimin]

8. You've got it...it's#3

big bucs for the doc.

[deadparrot]

9. With Frist jumping ship, one wonders

how close each house of Congress is to having the necessary 2/3 needed to overturn a veto.

[oostevo]

10. Frist to back funding of stem cell research

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Breaking with President Bush, Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist has decided to support legislation to expand federal financing for embryonic stem cell research, raising the possibility Congress will enact such a bill, according to a Senate aide knowledgeable about Frist's plans.

Frist, who last month said he did not at this time support expanded federal financing of such research, was to explain his decision to now support such financing in a speech on the Senate floor Friday morning.

----

More at http://www.cnn.com/2005/POLITICS/07/29/frist.stem.cells.ap/index.html

Hmm ... interesting ...

[Vinca]

11. Guess who's running for president?

More people want embryonic stem cell research than not.

[unhappycamper]

12. Wonder who send the video doctor a visual primer on stem cells?

Whoever it is, we should thank them. :sarcasm:

[Nightwing]

13. Fundies about to go ballistic

This is the topic for C-SPAN's call in this morning and I'm certain that Frist will be pounded by far right religious fundies for his flip flop. His motivation must be to position himself for a run for the White House in 2008 but I see this hindering his chances.

Too bad we cant run against him, he'd be easy pickings during the Presidential campaign. Just imagine Dem ads pointing out his diagnosis of Schiavo via videotape and now his flip flop on stem cell research.

[tanyev]

19. Agreed.

He may be positioning himself to be more in line with the majority of the nation, but first he's got to win the nomination at the 2008 Republican revival meeting. I think he just toasted himself.

[catabryna]

14. Oh, please, please, please

let this be true! I won't even question why he changed his mind (I'm cynical after all)! I'm just sitting here in shock!

Cat

[Skidmore]

15. He's gaming.

He knows that Cheney or someone else can twist arms behind the scenes and get this killed in the Senate. It'll make the GOP look kinda centrist and let some of them have votes in an area they've painted themselves into the corner on.

[vard28]

20. Just heard it on the Today Show...

... first big rat to jump ship. Disgustingly, their reasons will be totally self-serving. It appears that all of our jumping up and down shouting, LTTE, phone calls, etc. to have attention drawn to the treasonous criminals in charge of this country just might be working.

While I realize that by no means have we won yet, I still think I think I'll do a little happy dance this morning.

:woohoo:

[fshrink]

21. Good cop-Bad cop

My partner here has very strong religious principles. Profit is less important to him than these principles. Personally, I would be pleased to see federal dollars turn into private profit. But in the end this is all about helping you, right?

[Media_Lies_Daily]

22. Frist took a major hit with his diagnosis of Schiavo via videotape....

...maybe he thinks he needs to redeem himself by supporting REAL science and backing away from the loony NeoCons.

[not fooled]

49. but note...

...the opponents of sc research aren't the neocons, but the fundies.

Today's lesson is titled "Know Your GOP Crackpots"

Class, remember that there are TWO insane wings of the GOP:

1. neocons: these are the Dr. Evil, Take-Over-the-World types. They undoubtedly support stem cell research as a way to make genetically superior "super-soldiers" to fight all of the wars they have planned. :eyes:

2. fundies: these are the ignorant bible-thumpers who believe that * is a good, godly man who is doing god's work. Blowing up babies and children in Iraq is OK but using a blastocyst for stem cell research is evil, while throwing it in the trash is god's work. :crazy:

Then, there is the REAL power running the GOP: the superrich. The superrich, class, are not crackpots but rather crackpot enablers. They permit the neocons and fundies to operate because both provide distractions to keep the populace divided and confused: the neocons play their wargames because the rich can make money off them, and neocons provide the all-important "fear factor" and "boogeymen" to scare the poulace and keep it compliant. The fundies also serve a useful role for the superrich, by fomenting cultural wars which serve to distract and divide said populace.

There will be a quiz in 2006. Please do not fail again.

[Moderator]

23. kick

[niceypoo]

24. Frist breaks with Bush on stem-cell bill

WASHINGTON — Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist on Friday threw his support behind House-passed legislation to expand federal financing for human embryonic stem cell research, breaking with President Bush and religious conservatives in a move that could impact his prospects for seeking the White House in 2008.

"It's not just a matter of faith, it's a matter of science," Frist, R-Tenn., said on the floor of the Senate.

Frist's announcement immediately dented his support among Christian conservatives but won lavish praise from former first lady Nancy Reagan, who said it "has the potential to alleviate so much suffering."

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/APWires/politics/D8BL4DJG1.html

And I suppose Schaivo wasn't a matter of faith either? Looks like Dr DOom wants to be president.

[NV Whino]

25. Well, that's an interesting developement

[cssmall]

26. What the fuck?

Free thought. Uh oh, get a gun someone, 'cause there is going to be a contract on that sorry sumbitch's head.

[democrat_patriot]

27. First off: FU Frist.

Someone tell him these aren't cat stem cells.

Second: Another one jumping the * sinking ship?

[MistyBlue]

28. Frist Breaks with Bush on stem cell bill

Wow. Seems like some cracks developing in the Republican Party.
More and more congress members are unwilling to swallow the Kool-Aid.
Interesting.:kick:

[Turn CO Blue]

29. AP: Frist backs increased federal stem cell funding

Senate majority leader breaks with Bush on issue

Friday, July 29, 2005; Posted: 9:19 a.m. EDT (13:19 GMT)

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Breaking with President Bush, Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist said Friday he now supports legislation to remove some of the administration's limitations on embryonic stem cell research.

Frist, who just last month said he did not support expanding federal financing of research on embryos, said his decision was consistent with both his experience as a physician and his anti-abortion stance.

"Now is the time to expand the president's policy because it's promising research, but it must be done in a way that is ethically considerate, that respects the dignity of human life," said Frist, who also is a heart- and lung-transplant surgeon.

The Tennessee Republican, a potential presidential candidate for 2008, said only stem cells from embryos that "would otherwise be discarded," not implanted in a woman or frozen indefinitely, should be considered for research.

<http://www.cnn.com/2005/POLITICS/07/29/frist.stem.cells.ap/index.html>


=================================
Such an obvious ploy for his doomed bid to be the Repub candidate for 2008. He's such a flip-flopper.

Oh, and he's still a cat killer.

[Oreo]

30. Normie Coleman just did the same recently

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=160x12615

This looks to me like the Bush regime is allowing their puppets to do this. We all know they can't think for themselves.

[DemsUnite]

31. What happened to those morals, Bill?

[OKthatsIT]

40. The tide is turning for Bush, expect more opportunistic bail outs

!

[PRETZEL]

32. this is a bone for Sen. Spector

You can now rest assured that the nomination process for SC nominee Roberts will now be a mere procedural vote.

[sinkingfeeling]

33. Can you say, "Flip-flop"?

[aden_nak]

34. So, who in his family just contracted an incurable disease?

[Squatch]

39. That was exactly my first thought.

This isn't some magnanimous decision...he must have a personal stake in the expansion of stem cell research.

[gratuitous]

35. Well, well, Dr. "Life begins at conception"

You apparently think it's perfectly all right to dismember some members of the human race in an unproven attempt to bring about possible cures based on very incomplete evidence that their stem cells will ever produce anything of medicinal value, eh?

At least, that's how Mullah Dobson and the rest of the fanatical cult of the embryo has been framing this issue. I wonder if there have been new marching orders issued from the Kremlin of the Rockies?

[asjr]

36. The members of Congress have become

players in a gambling casino. It is an exclusive club that centers on who holds the winning hand, whether right or wrong. The rights of Americans simply do not enter into their club. We have become irrelevant. It is sickening to know that we pay their salaries and get absolutely nothing back.

[UTUSN]

37. What Next?--He Corrects His Long-Distance SCHIAVO Diagnosis? n/t

[JaneQPublic]

41. Then he'll finally admit AIDS can't be spread through tears & sweat . (nt)

[skip fox]

38. Political question. Is this an indication of W.'s weakening?

It seems like one. Hell, they even had Frist saying he wasn't so sure about evolution a few months ago.

Now it seems like Numbnuts's political power grasp is weakening. (Or maybe Rove is off his game, as they say?)

[BobbyinPortland]

43. Rove's not pulling the strings and the dummies are thinking on their own

SCARY!!!!

[not fooled]

50. yeah...

...I think this is tacit admission by * that his crackpot views are a political liability (remember, he and his cadre have no moral scruples, only stances that they believe to be politically expedient i.e. cater to the fundies).

I seriously doubt that cat-killer would step out of line w/o having gotten permission from kkk and the rest of the spinners at the WH.

[JABBS]

42. Frist flip flopped

Read the thread at http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=132&topic_id=1967254&mesg_id=1967254

[Strawman]

45. That's a double flip flop

He was for it then against now for.

Only a highly skilled flip flopper would attempt that move. He is the Brian Boitano of flip floppery.

[TXlib]

44. I will be writing him a letter thanking him

for his support on this matter.

[redqueen]

46. Might wanna put a p.s. in there...

asking when he'll switch back again.

My bet would be after his failed run to be the presidential candidate.

:eyes:

[sinkingfeeling]

47. Better hold off....He might have to have lunch with * again!

[TXlib]

48. I generally support issues, not candidates

So, whenever a politician voices support for an issue I agree with, it gets a nod from me.

Not that I'll be voting for him anytime soon; he still is polar opposite on too many issues from me.

[Pushed To The Left]

51. On the DU front page there is a link

from a group called StemPac to thank Frist for supporting stem cell research. I thanked him for (in these words) standing up to the Bush Administration. He may be doing it for political purposes, but if his actions help the bill pass, then I think that is a very good thing! I think the fact that both leaders from opposing parties have gone on record supporting stem cell research will help the cause gain bi-partisan support.

[Turn CO Blue]

53. Actually, I thanked him too on the StemPAC site.

Whatever I may think of him, his staff intimated that he has been leaning this way for awhile, and finally found the courage to speak up. It's clear that he can look forward to the misAdministration giving him the cold shoulder, if not overt hostility.

It's the issue that is important here. I found my way to being big enough to thank him today.

P.S. May they find a cure for the Monster that is cancer, through a scientific miracle or the will of God.

[AuntiBush]

52. Frist Most Certainly Does Change His "Political Landscape" a lot!

Every-time I see him on the tube the first thought that comes to mind is the "Justice Sunday" sick, rhetorical madness event. The second thought is the Shivo fiasco and then just fill-in the blanks from there.

Now this. I don't buy it. The "only" reason Frist is suddenly for Stem Cell Research is merely "because" the polls show 75% are for it and he wants to replace the worse, most undignified, middle finger, f-u gang.

FLIP-FLOPPER!