Our goal is to simply keep our country strong and our economy vibrant, state by state. In West Virginia, state leadership has produced a record number of new jobs, low unemployment and fewer taxes. We’ve reduced the size of state government and tackled our debts. Now, the time has come for Washington to follow our example and bridge partisan divides to bring America the change it needs. The states of our union can’t afford any more of the same old gridlock that currently reigns in Washington.

What we need from Washington is a realistic energy policy, as well as healthcare for every working person. We need a commitment to fixing our roads and bridges and a renewed education system that prepares our workforce to compete globally. Together, we can turn the page on November 4th by voting for the one candidate who can bring us the change we need: Barack Obama.

Now, I wasn’t born with a silver spoon in my mouth, but I like to say that I am a child of privilege. My grandparents were Italian and Czechoslovakian immigrants whose search for a better life led them to the small West Virginia coal mining towns of Farmington and Rachel. They understood that life in America was a privilege. In exchange for that privilege, they believed they had a responsibility to give something back. They taught me the importance not only of hard work, but also of having compassion for all people. The example they set, along with the unconditional love of my family and the strong support of my community, enabled me to attend college, run a successful business and launch a career in public service.

I am very proud to represent the great state of West Virginia and, most importantly, its people. West Virginians value hard work, patriotism and faith in God. They have faced adversity with courage, and they help each other in challenging times. They do the heavy lifting in the economy. They mine the coal, make the steel, and work the assembly lines that make our industries tick. Their experience and knowledge has earned each of them a Ph.D. in life. They can shake your hand, look you in the eye, and touch your heart.

And let me tell you something: They can’t afford four more years like the last eight. They need, and deserve, better from Washington. They need a president who puts their best interests first. They need a president who will tackle the major issues, balance our nation’s budget, and help struggling middle class families regain their footing. They need a president who will re-establish our country’s reputation in the world community. They need a president who will restore the promise of economic opportunity that is every American’s birthright. They need change, and they need Barack Obama as president!

Together, we can move from recession to resurgence. Together, we can stop running from our domestic problems and start sprinting toward solutions. We can raise our expectations of Washington and demand that they tackle the tough challenges, just as our nation’s governors do every day.

My fellow Americans, we need a new leader for new times. Barack Obama is the only candidate in this race who has captured our nation’s hopes for the kind of change we so desperately need. Let’s do what’s right for America and elect Barack Obama as the next president of the United States.

Thank you, God bless you, and God bless the United States of America.

“President Bush’s veto of life-saving stem cell research is just another example of how out of touch he is with the American people,” Dean said. “Bush once again put political posturing ahead of sound science, turning his back on the overwhelming majority of Americans who support stem cell research and the 100 million Americans suffering from debilitating diseases who could benefit from this life-saving science. Republicans should stand up to this President and instead stand with the American people by overriding his veto. We absolutely must elect a Democratic President in 2008 to provide the change in direction that the American people have demanded.”

It's important to remember that the Republican candidates for President aren't any better on providing funding for this life saving research. As recently as this week smooth talking Mitt Romney was flip-flopping yet again by coming out against stem cell funding.

If he vetoes, it's not all over. ScienceNow News reported a while back that Sen. Harkin "hints that he might put money in the 2008 budget for [National Institutes of Health] to support work using embryonic stem cells."

Still, today we all urge President Bush to sign this bill, despite the threats. And to get a better idea of what this debate is all about, this YouTube video explains:

A quick read of the article reveals the "qualified" related to just one thing, the pay-as-you-go rules. But on the whole, the article is pretty much exuberantly hopeful.

More important in terms of substantive future legislation, the ability of the Democrats to win over significant numbers of Republicans on most votes signals the slim but enticing possibility of Democratic mastery over a demoralized Republican Party -- one that has thrived on polarized partisan warfare in recent years.

If the new bipartisanship takes root, the prospects for health care legislation and immigration reform sharply improve.

• Ethics reform,


• An increase in the federal minimum wage for the first time in 10 years,


• Enactment of the 9-11 commission's recommendations,


• Expanded stem-cell research,


• Government negotiation of prices with prescription drug companies,


• Student loan interest rates cut in half,


• The elimination of billions in subsidies for big oil companies.

Now if the Chicago Bears could just get to and win the Super Bowl, this year would be off to a fantastic start.

The Bush Administration and their cronies continue to mislead the public about the truth behind this science, carving out a policy that is based on the influence of extreme religious right-wing conservative minority, rather than the facts.

Earlier this week, Tony Snow, the Administration's spokesperson claimed:

"The vast majority of breakthroughs right now, virtually all, have involved those other than embryonic stem cells.”

That is a dangerously false claim. A large majority of the American people support this research, and Democrats are committed to crafting public policy based on sound science, not extreme ideology during the 110th Congress.

ThinkProgress compiled a list of the medical breakthroughs that have been made recently as a result of life-saving embryonic stem cell research, breakthroughs with the potential to cure diseases that effect millions of Americans, from those suffering from AIDS to diabetes.

Check out the list, here.

Below the fold are a bunch of pictures from the Sherrod Brown rally with Michael J. Fox...

When right-wing pundits seized on the ad to personally attack Michael J. Fox, who was visibly exhibiting the symptoms of Parkinson's disease, (one of the many diseases that stem cell research has the potential to cure) it was appalling, desperate and despicable. Fox, a vocal proponent of medical research became the target of ugly attacks. It was suggested that he should have waited until his symptoms abated to film the ad, or that he was exaggerating for dramatic effect.

Their attacks backfired. Michel J. Fox stood up to these bullies and he has continued to speak out about the critical need for this research. As election day approaches he has traveled around the country to campaign for candidates who support stem cell research. Today, he made his way to Columbus, Ohio where he was joined by Sherrod Brown and a packed room of Ohio Democrats, for a rally in support of Brown's Senate campaign.

The event was scheduled to start around 11 am - but as these things often do - it started at about 11:30. The Ohio State Law School Auditorium was packed - every seat was filled - and many students and supporters had to be crowded into the aisles to find a place to sit or stand.

On the stage Sherrod was joined by a number of supporters, including some very impressive children who were there with their parents to show their support for the issue. Sherrod got things started by welcoming everyone for coming out to show their support. After his opening remarks we got a brief primer on stem cell research from a doctor and professor from Case Western University. Although the crowd seemed was pretty well versed on the issue, the doctor's speech served as a reminder of just how critical this issue is to medical advancements - and how many people could be helped by this science. Millions of Americans - boys, girls, moms, dads, grandmas and grandpas - suffer from diseases that could be cured by advances in stem cell research. This is why it is so unfathomable that President Bush used his first and only veto of his Presidency to block an expansion of federal funding for this life-saving science, standing in the way of hope for millions of Americans.

Sherrod:

Several years ago I was speaking with Dr. Copeland, Jeffrey Copeland, who ran the Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta…he was outlining to me what he considers to be the milestones in public health...He said both the public health achievements and the medical health achievements that save lives don’t come easy. Getting from the problem to the solution is hard enough without any obstacles in the way, and that is why embryonic stem cell research is so important.

Stem cell research is obviously worth fighting for, and that is why what Michael J. Fox is doing is so very important – he has shown great courage and great passion...

Then Michal J. Fox took the stage. He had to wait a moment for the crowd to quiet down before beginning to speak, and he seemed almost embarrassed by the applause. He opened by thanking everyone for being there, including an earlier speaker, Tanner, a local six grade student, who shared his personal experience of living with juvenile diabetes. Fox emphasized how important it is to share stories of everyday survival, noting how even in his 40s he has to share his own experiences. He called Tanner an "inspiration".

Fox said being in Columbus was a homecoming of sorts. He reminded us that his popular character, Alex P. Keaton from Family Ties had called Columbus home, He joked that Keaton would be happy that Fox had worn a tie.

Then he got more serious - explaining his decision to campaign for Sherrod, and for other candidates like him, who were running against opponents who had voted against stem cell research.

Fox:

It's not secret I am a vocal advocate for medical research - but I am not alone - the majority of the House of Representatives, the United States Senate and over 70 percent of Americans support stem cell research - but Senator DeWine stood with the President and voted against stem cell research...

As you may know, I had a run-in with a less than compassionate conservative. I guess I'm not supposed to speak with you until my symptoms go away, or maybe I'm supposed to go away, but I'm not going to go away and neither are the millions of Americans and their families who live with these diseases...

The stem cell policy of President Bush that was supported by Senator DeWine is a rejection of the future of medical research. Well, forgive me for this, but it's time we get back to our future...a vote for Sherrod Brown for Senate is a vote for hope and for a better quality of life for millions of Americans...

I'm asking you as an advocate, and a husband and a father to all get active and to stand up for what is right -- what is right for the future of hundreds of millions of Americans who have or are touched by debilitating diseases.

After the brief speeches the event morphed into a meet and greet. On stage, Michael J. Fox talked to the children and their parents who had come out. Sherrod and his wife, Connie, talked with the supporters who swarmed the stage.

All in all, it was a short, yet inspiring event. It was amazing to see the variety of people who have banded together to campaign on this issue - from sixth-grade student Tanner, to a mother who brought along a hand-written sign that said, "My Dad has Parkinson's - Support Stem Cell Research", to the medical students in the audience who were clad in scrubs. Then there are people like me. People who just believe that this potentially life-saving medical research should be supported to the fullest extent possible by our government. People who believe millions of Americans should live everyday with hope for a cure, and who believe that our country should be leading the way forward in this fight.

On the web:

Michael J. Fox Foundation
Brown for Senate

Michael J. Fox has been a tireless advocate for the cause - putting a very public and well-recognized face on the issue. The American people overwhelmingly support expanding federal funding of stem cell research, and yet, the Republicans in Washington, bowing to the pressure from their extreme right-wing base, have prevented the passage of this legislation. Their actions have consequences for the millions of Americans living with diseases that scientists believe can treated or cured based on stem cell research. They are standing in the way of discovering cures for some of the worst ailments. And it has got to stop.

Democrats support this life saving research. And, this year Americans have a choice between those who believe in crafting public policy based on extreme idealogical beliefs, and those who believe in making decisions based on the best evidence available and the advice of experts.

Voters in Maryland can elect Ben Cardin over Michael Steele. Voters in Missouri can elect Claire McCaskill over Jim Talent.

Michael J. Fox explains how that decision, while it may seem like a local issue, is a decision that will effect every American, in a powerful new ad. His message is really a message from the millions of Americans who suffer from diseases that could be cured by this research. And he's right - sometimes, politics isn't local.

On Talents close tie to Bush:

Tim Russert, who moderated the debate on NBC's "Meet the Press," noted that Talent sided with Bush on almost every major issue and counted four times that the president had visited Missouri on Talent's behalf.(Washington Post, 10/9/2006)

McCaskill on the Iraq and the War on Terror:

"This is Harry Truman's Senate seat. When he was in the Senate, during the war, a war that was over the fight of our civilization, the fight for freedom, he asked questions about war profiteering and he was called brave," McCaskill said. "In this climate right now, they would question whether or not he was a coward. We need to be asking the questions, we need to have a plan, we need to have accountability." (Release 10/8)

"I believe there are two issues here. One is the war in Iraq, a failed policy where we're mired in a civil war, where we are losing lives every day and innocent Iraqi lives; and then our effort worldwide to begin to be effective against terror. Terrorist cells are popping up. We are creating more terrorists around the world with this failed policy in Iraq. ... But to mix the two is confusing the American public, trying to confuse the American public, and trying to roll all this in into an election year effort to make Democrats, who want our country to be safe, look weak. And we're not weak." (National Journal, Sunday Snapshot)

Talent On Stem Cell Research:

Missouri voters will consider a proposed constitutional amendment on Nov. 7 to safeguard early stage stem cell research.

The initiative is supported by prominent moderate Republicans such as former senator John Danforth, along with Gov. Matt Blunt. Supporters believe the measure could be a boon to biomedical research, by making Missouri the first state to formally recognize a right for scientists to conduct the research and for patients to receive treatment.

Talent opposes the measure because he said it could lead to human cloning. (Washington Post, 10/9/2006)

McCaskill On Stem Cell Research:

"Our country has never turned its back on medical research and we shouldn't in Missouri. This provision strictly prohibits human cloning and provides a framework of ethical conduct and laws that are going to restrict the kinds of things that no one wants. I respect people who disagree with me on this issue on principle, I understand there are differences. I come down on the side of hope, hope for cures and supporting science." (National Journal, Sunday Snapshot)

MSNBC has the whole debate up for viewing, here, or you can check out highlights over at the McCaskill site, here.

From The Washington Post:

The Food and Drug Administration approved an application today making the long-debated emergency contraceptive Plan B, commonly known as the "morning-after pill", available without a prescription to women 18 and older.

The FDA said Barr Laboratories, the maker of Plan B, could begin selling the drug.

Many social conservatives in and out of Congress have battled to keep the drug from becoming available without a prescription. Some say that could encourage promiscuity, and others say use of the pill causes a very early abortion. Their position had for almost three years trumped an overwhelming medical and scientific consensus that the drug could be safety dispensed by a pharmacist without a prescription.

...

"This is something that women's health groups have been working on for more than a decade," said Amy Allina of the National Women's Health Network. "If the decision comes out as we expect it to, that's a real victory."

Allina added that restricting access to women 18 and older is disappointing. "There's no medical or scientific reason for restricting access. It sends a message that it's somehow less safe for younger women, which just isn't true," she said.

So what caused the sudden change of heart? Our Democratic Senators played a little hardball:

Sens. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) and Patty Murray (D-Wash.) put a hold on the nomination last year because of what they said was the agency's refusal to make a decision about the drug. They accused the administration of politicizing science regarding Plan B by not accepting the recommendations of an expert advisory panel and the FDA's own scientific staff.

Check out this post for more.

Submitted by:
Governor Howard Dean, DNC Chairman/Vermont
Lottie Shackelford, DNC Vice Chair/Arkansas
Renee Gill Pratt, Louisiana
Ben L. Jeffers, At-Large/Louisiana
Betty McElderry, Oklahoma
James K. Metcalfe, Chair, Alaska

Resolution Supporting Renewing Hope Through Stem Cell Research

WHEREAS, the Democratic Party believes in sound science and that President Bush has politicized science and moved to appease his right-wing base; and

WHEREAS, President Bush exercised his veto power for the first time in five years to deny crucial federal funding for life-saving stem cell research; and

WHEREAS, President Bush once again denied hope to millions and their families who suffer from Diabetes, spinal cord injuries, multiple sclerosis, Alzheimer’s, and other debilitating afflictions; and

WHEREAS, Bush Republicans in Congress failed to override the President’s veto, denying millions of Americans the hope of new cures and treatments that stem cell research offers;

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, that the Democratic National Committee stands in full support of federal funding for stem cell research and sound science so that millions of Americans can benefit from potentially life-saving discoveries, and a renewed sense of hope.

The President decided to use his first prime time speech, not to announce a forward-thinking hopeful investment into scientific research for millions of Americans, but to cater to the extreme religious right-wing of his Republican Party. He limited research to a few select lines of cells that were already in existence, a limitation that has hindered progress and discovery.

This year the House and Senate overwhelmingly approved of legislation that would have expanded the President's narrow-minded decision of 2001. For five years Americans have continued suffer from some of the worst diseases of our time, like Diabetes, spinal cord injuries and Alzheimer’s, while scientific research has been held back. The lines of cells that President Bush designated have proven contaminated and unusable.

A national poll, conducted by the Opinion Research Corporation, found that 72 percent of Americans support embryonic stem cell research, up from 68 percent in 2005. Despite this wide-spread support, despite the possibilities and the hope this research offers, the President vetoed this legislation to please a minority of the extremely conservative religious right-wing of the Republican party. He put politics before science, before the welfare of the American people. He used his first veto to kill this life-saving legislation.

Congresswoman Degette responded to his veto during the Democratic Radio address saying:

The President exercised the first veto of his presidency on this law. President Bush has signed bills to give subsidies to Big Oil, to give tax cuts to the wealthiest few, and subsidies to HMOs, but he could not find it in his heart to give hope to America's families, proudly boasting that he was protecting America from crossing a 'moral line.'

I, too, want to talk about morality. A moral society has an ethical imperative to help cure diseases that affect 110 million Americans and their families. We owe that to the child with Type I diabetes, the brother with Parkinson's, the police officer paralyzed by a criminal's bullet.

I am tempted to point out the obvious - the President's veto had nothing to do with morals. It had everything to do with cold, calculated, cynical political gain - the kind of politics that snuffs out the candle of hope, and that condemns the disabled and the sick.

Governor Dean also spoke out, in an e-mail to millions of Americans he wrote:

As a medical doctor I'm offended at the political meddling in potentially life-saving research. All of our families could be touched by hope found through stem cell research: from juvenile diabetes to Alzheimer's, it offers the opportunity for new cures. Yet this important research has been dwindling because of restrictions put in place by Bush five years ago.

That's half a decade we have lost. How much longer will those suffering and their families have to wait?

People can disagree in good faith on this issue, but Bush's extraordinary action doesn't meet that threshold -- it smacks of political calculation. The opportunity to save lives of people with debilitating diseases, and to reduce suffering for them and their families, requires that a president respect the will of the people and the Congress.

The bottom line is that the President, and Republicans, can not be trusted to put the best interests of the American people first. Whether it is giving huge tax breaks to oil companies or drug companies that make billions in profit, or caving in to a minority of ultra-conservative extremists - the Republican Party has nothing to offer the vast majority of Americans but empty rhetoric and hollow leadership.

“For five years, President Bush has put ideology and politics ahead of sound science and denied hope to millions of Americans by limiting stem cell research,” said Democratic National Committee Press Secretary Stacie Paxton. “Instead of using his first prime time address to unveil a hopeful agenda or using his first veto to rein in reckless Republican fiscal policies, President Bush used his office to push his right-wing agenda. The Bush Administration has made it clear that patients and families with loved ones who suffer from Diabetes, spinal cord injuries and Alzheimer’s cannot trust Republicans to do what’s best for them. Democrats support investments in life-saving research like stem cells and the hope of new cures and treatments that it offers.”

Bush: Federal Research Can Only Be Done On Small Number Of Existing Stem Cell Lines; Bans Funding For More Research. “As a result of private research, more than 60 genetically diverse stem cell lines already exist. They were created from embryos that have already been destroyed, and they have the ability to regenerate themselves indefinitely, creating ongoing opportunities for research. I have concluded that we should allow federal funds to be used for research on these existing stem cell lines, where the life and death decision has already been made. Leading scientists tell me research on these 60 lines has great promise that could lead to breakthrough therapies and cures.” [President Bush, 8/9/01]

• Stem Cells Bush Lauded In 2001 Were Contaminated And Unusable. “In August 2001, Bush announced that his administration would allow federal funding only for research on about 60 stem-cell lines that existed at the time. Researchers have since found that many of those lines are contaminated and unusable for research.” [CNN.com, 7/20/06]

• Bush Administration Claims About Adult Stem Cells Rebutted By Experts. White House Advisor Karl Rove told the “the Denver Post’s editorial board that researchers have found ‘far more promise from adult stem cells than from embryonic stem cells.” But, “the journal Science published a letter from three researchers criticizing the claim that adult stem cells are preferable to embryonic stem cells. The authors included Dr. Steven Teitelbaum of Washington University in St. Louis, who has used adult stem cells to treat bone diseases in children. The authors wrote that the exaggerated claims for adult stem cells ‘mislead laypeople and cruelly deceive patients.’” A White House White House spokesman “could not provide the name of a stem cell researcher who shares Rove’s views on the superior promise of adult stem cells.” The Chicago Tribune also noted that “many scientists and lawmakers” believe Bush’s decision to ban federal funding for further embryonic stem cell research “has hindered progress.” [Chicago Tribune, 7/19/06]

Examples:

Senator Inhofe (R-Oklahoma), Chair of the Senate Committee on the Environment:

“[M]an-made global warming is the greatest hoax ever perpetrated on the American people.”

Senator Burns (R-Montana):

“You remember the ice age? It’s been warming ever since, and there ain’t nothing we can do to stop it.”

"There ain't nothing we can do to stop it." Great example of someone who doesn't belong in the Senate. That is the lack of leadership being offered by Republicans who are content to ignore evidence, cherry-pick their facts (sounds so familiar...) and continue to serve their special interest friends.

Herbert points out:

You can’t blame any single weather event on global warming. But with polar bears drowning because they can’t swim far enough to make it from one ice floe to another; with the once-glorious snows of Kilimanjaro about to bring down the final curtain on their long, long run; with the virtual disappearance of Lake Chad in Africa, which was once the size of Lake Erie, it may be time to get serious about trying to slow this catastrophic trend.

And, some facts from the article:

• The first six months of this year were the warmest ever recorded in the United States.
• This summer, according to the National Climatic Data Center, more than 50 cities in the continental U.S. have set records for high temperature.
• Of the 21 hottest years ever measured, 20 have occurred within the last 25 years. And the hottest year of this recent hottest wave was last year.
• "In northern California, it was hotter for longer than ever on record, hitting 110 degrees four consecutive days in the nine-county Bay Area.”
• In recent years, the U.S. has had more than three times its normal share of extremely hot summer nights. “That is a particularly dangerous trend,” Mr. Borenstein wrote. “During heat waves, like the one that now has a grip on much of the East, one of the major causes of heat deaths is the lack of night cooling that would normally allow a stressed body to recover.”

But there is hope...

Unlike Senator Burns, there are people who understand that there are things we can do to mitigate the worst effects of global warming. We’d better do something fast. We’re no longer waiting for the tragedies predicted to result from extremely high temperatures, extreme weather events, storm surges and so forth. We’re already enduring them.

Remember New Orleans? And the thousands who died from the heat in Chicago and elsewhere in the Midwest in 1995? And, as incredible as it still seems, the 35,000 killed by a monster heat wave in Europe in 2003?

I think the single most effective thing most ordinary Americans could do to become more informed about global warming — and the steps we need to take to fight it — is to go see Al Gore’s movie, “An Inconvenient Truth,” and read his book of the same title.

It would be a shame if it turns out that Americans have been so deprived of leadership for so long that they fail to recognize it when it’s offered to them.

ClimateCrisis.net has information about the Sound Science of An Inconvenient Truth.

Sierra Club has a wealth of information, including a list of 10 ways you can do your part.