NJ Votes “NO” on Stem Cell Funding

So as many of you know, the State of New Jersey had a $450 million ballot issue on the table November 6, 2007. This $450m would fund stem cell research in NJ, both fetal/embryonic and adult cell projects.

This measure was defeated, 53% to 47%.

While NJ is a very liberal state (we've had Republican governors, but the Democratic party has controlled the legislature for decades), this ballot measure was still fighting an uphill battle.

A few points to put things in perspective around this result (IMO, this defeat is a victory, but your mileage may vary)

• Also on the ballot: $200m open space funding. This was narrowly approved
• Also on the ballot: Raise the sales tax to offset the property tax. This was not approved
  • NJ currently has the nations third highest tax burden (per The Tax Foundation)
• NJ is currently running on a deficit, with the Governor having ordered a $3 billion cut in existing spending
  • NJ is the nation's fourth most indebted state
• NJ is already spending $270 million on stem cell funding this fiscal year
• Religious groups like the Knights of Columbus have been conducting educational campaigns state wide to explain the differences between embryonic stem cell projects and adult or umbylical projects.
  • To date, no cure or signifigant regimine has been developed from embryonic stem cell programs
    • Embryonic stem cell advocates blame the lack of federal funding for the poor progress
    • Opponents claim that if the potential was their and science was good, private/venture capital would have picked up the slack
  • Adult and umbilical stem cell projects have yeilded results
    • Embryonic stem cell advocates point out that most of these programs are older than embryonic programs
    • Opponents point to the greater stability of these stem cells
• There is an active Anti-Tax movement in NJ, and an increasing emphasis on government accountability when it comes to spending.

 

All of this comes together to set the stage for the funding being shot down.

Personally, I am glad it did, on multiple counts:

1. I live in NJ, and my taxes are very high!
   1. I choose to live here; I work an hour away in another state
   2. There are too many programs in NJ that state dollars fund that have no redeming value, in my opinion. Too much money goes to corrupt officials, their cronies and as payback to venal voters that put less (or nothing) into the system than they pull out.
2. I am Catholic, and I do believe that life begins at conception. I think abortion in an optional context is a horrendous thing. Embryonic stem research currently uses "discarded" embryos. How long before the discarded supply runs out, and someone begins to harvest them for the sake of research? Right now there isn't enough demand for that to make sense. Given enough government money with few or no strings attached, I think abortions for the sake of research would be inevvitable.
   1. Remember, the Catholic people of America have a long tradition of social activism. The Knights of Columbus were founded, for example, to provide a safety net for Catholic immigrants in the second half of the 19^th century. At that time, anti-Catholic bigotry ran high, and getting jobs as a Catholic immigrant was especially hard and often quite dangerous. If a man were kiled or maimed on the job, his family would be in dire straits. Well ahead of the rest of the nation, Catholic's created a social safety net to provide for the families of the fallen members. On many social issues, Catholics and the church are quite 'liberal', but the right to life is a very notable exception. Gay marriage is another wedge issue for otherwise liberal Catholics. BTW, Catholics are a rather large (understatement) percentage of NJ's population.
3. I do not trust many of the people and methods that are hyping stem cell research. Any time disagreement or skepticism is met with ridicule, ad-hominem attacks or the like, my bull-shit detector goes off.