In an insightful piece entitled “Two
forces combined to blindside stem cell champions” Susan K. Livio explains
how social conservatives and fiscal conservatives united to defeat the recent
New Jersey ballot initiative that would have spent hundreds of millions of tax
dollars on unethical embryonic stem cell research. Here’s hoping the
strong union of so-cons and fiscal-cons will be maintained around the
country. Excerpt from the Star-Ledger:
With polls reporting wide support for stem cell research
and expectations that low voter turnout would help them, proponents of a $450
million bond thought they had reason to be optimistic about Tuesday's
referendum.
But these and other miscalculations helped doom the
measure, political scientists, conservatives and elected officials said
yesterday. Supporters failed to grasp an unintentional alliance of two forces:
public discontent with the state's borrowing, and the work of conservatives and
religious leaders who opposed the ballot question's passage.
Unfortunately,
as LifeNews reports, the proponents of spending tax-payers’ dollars on unethical and unproven research will
continue despite the clear demonstration of
the will of the people of New
Jersey.