Presented on this page are three recent California Politics Today articles dealing with Proposition 71, the Stem Cell Initiative.

Put together by a cynical group of the super-rich in Silicon Valley to enrich themselves further at taxpayer expense, funded with 100 times as much money (mainly from these super-richies) as the rag-tag opposition, promoted through dishonest-yet-heart-wrenching television ads, Proposition 71, the Stem Cell Initiative, is a state-of-the-art exercise in political manipulation and economic self-aggrandizement.

The three articles linked to on this page focus on a variety of aspects of the campaign to bilk California taxpayers of at least $6 billion of their hard-earned money and of the campaign to stop what conservative California State Senator Tom McClintock (who finished third in the recall election that put Arnold Schwarzenegger and Maria Shriver in the California governor's mansion) called a "self-serving sham.".

The first article, which first appeared on October 17, 2004, called " 'Creative financing' of Proposition 71 raises questions that transcend ethics," mostly deals with Senator McClintock's offer to participate in a debate about Proposition 71 with a suitable representative of the "Yes on 71" side and the refusal of that side to appear in this forum to defend its massive money grab.

It chronicles how George Schultz, former Secretary of Labor in the Nixon Administration, former Secretary of the Treasury in the Nixon and Ford Administrations and former Secretary of State in the Reagan Administration, declined to represent the "Yes on 71" side in such a debate, even though he's endorsed Proposition 71.

An interesting, but little-noted, fact is that Mr. Schultz was interviewed this last June by talk show host Charlie Rose in the television studios of BIO, the Biotechnology Industry Organization. In the words of BIO's press release:

"The BIO TV studios were also used by national talk show host Charlie Rose to videotape anchor segments of his program including former Secretary of State George Schultz, via satellite back to New York."

The article just linked to is headlined "BIO 2004: BIO Board Members Headline BIO TV," and reports on the Biotechnology Industry Organization's efforts to use its own television studio facilities to propagate its particular view of the role present and future role of biotechnology.

The Biotechnology Industry Organization, whose slogan is "Biotechnology information, advocacy and business support," has a Board of Directors and membership that represent "more than 1,000 biotechnology companies, academic institutions, state biotechnology centers and related organizations in all 50 U.S. states and 33 other nations. BIO members are involved in the research and development of health-care, agricultural, industrial and environmental biotechnology products."

One can only imagine how supportive this group and its membership might be of an initiative that will give them $3 billion dollars for research and development and the possibility of limitless future profits at the mere cost of a few million in contributions and a few endorsements in the name of science and the alleviation of human suffering.

This California Politics Today article also mentions how Robert Klein, the multi-millionaire real estate developer and the principal author of Proposition 71, never returned calls inviting him to defend his initiative against Senator McClintock. It also refers to numerous instances of unreturned invitations to Fiona Hutton, chief spokesperson for the "Yes on 71" campaign, to return phone calls inviting her to designate, or become, a spokesperson for her side in a debate with Senator McClintock.

You can read more about the "Yes on 71" side's preference for relying on the more than $20 million dollars (as reported in an October 16th Sacramento Bee article entitled "Foes: Profit drives stem cell measure") they've collected from potential beneficiaries of their boondoggle to produce and pay for the broadcasting of one-sided television ads rather than for participating in a free and open debate about the merits of their legislation by clicking on the title of this article, " 'Creative financing' of Proposition 71 raises questions that transcend ethics."

A second recent article about Proposition 71, which appeared on the pages of California Politics Today on October 19, 2004, is a news commentary called "Ridiculous and counter-factual op-ed piece in Los Angeles Daily News unconvincingly attacks Proposition 71.". If you're going to attack Proposition 71, you might as well get your facts straight.

The third anti-Proposition 71 article recently published on California Politics Today, also first published on October 19th, is a long, detailed, and thoughtful interview with Jesse Reynolds, Program Director at the Center for Genetics and Society in Oakland, California. The Center for Genetics and Society is a pro-choice, progressive organization and this interview shows that parties with those orientations can be just as opposed to Proposition 71 as any fundamentalist organization opposed on the grounds that destroying embryos to harvest stem cells is wrong.

You can hear that interview by clicking on its title, "Jesse Reynolds, Program Director at the Center for Genetics and Society, explains his pro-choice, progressive group's opposition to Proposition 71."

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