Dems & Bush On Stem Cells — Both Wrong
The Democrats in Congress dealt a blow to the President today, as they passed another bill expanding federal funding of embryonic stem cell research. Bush, of course, is likely to veto the bill. Looking at their rationale, it’s clear that both sides are wrong:
“If this bill were to become law, American taxpayers would for the first time in our history be compelled to support the deliberate destruction of human embryos,” Bush said in a statement. “Crossing that line would be a grave mistake.”
Thirty-seven of Bush’s fellow Republicans joined 210 Democrats in voting for the bill, which backers say holds hope and potential cures for millions of people suffering from debilitating diseases, such cancer, Parkinson’s and diabetes.
“The American people will have to make their voices known and heard by the president … because overwhelmingly across the country the American people support this legislation,” said House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (news, bio, voting record), flanked by dozens of patients and their families at a Capitol Hill news conference afterward.
George Bush says that we can’t spend this money because we’re spending it on something that is morally wrong. The Democrats say we can spend this money because in our democracy, the American people support it. Bush fails to recognize that money spent by the government is only legitimized by the rule of law, not the rule of God. The Democrats fail to recognize that money spent by the government is legitimized by the rule of law, not the rule of the majority.
Neither side on this issue understands that our nation has a set of rules that describe clearly what the government is allowed to do. That’s the Constitution. Spending taxpayer funds for medical research isn’t in on that list. In fact, while they’re diametrically opposed on this, it’s only because of what they’re spending the money on: both sides feel it’s their duty– their responsibility, even– to spend our money.
Whether you like Ron Paul or not (for the record, I support him and plan to vote for him), he was the only candidate in the Republican debate to give the right answer to this question. The other candidates debated the morality, while Paul clearly said that it’s simply unconstitutional.
