7/19 - Joe Scarborough

• Bush Veto. President George W. Bush vetoed a bill (H.R. 810) that would have changed Bush’s federal policy and would have allowed for federal funding of research on embryonic stem cells that are taken from embryos that would otherwise be destroyed. The Senate passed the bill by a 63-37 vote on July 18, Bush vetoed the bill on July 19 (veto message on-line here and press conference on-line here), and the House, which had passed the bill in 2005, failed to get the 2/3 majority necessary to override the veto.
  Embryonic stem cells have been controversial in recent years, first because of their derivation from aborted fetuses, and then because of their connection with a particular kind of human, non-reproductive cloning. Stem cells in general are unspecialized cells that can self-renew indefinitely and that can develop into more mature cells with specialized functions, and embryonic stem (ES) cells are derived from an early-stage embryo. Whether the federal government should fund the development of such cells grew into a major policy question in recent years, culminating with Bush's decision on August 9, 2001 to allow federal funding for research on then-existing stem cell lines as long as the lines were derived from embryos that were already destroyed and that had not been created specifically for research (on-line here).

• The Word: R-E-S-P-E-C-T. President George W. Bush is scheduled to speak to the National Convention of the NAACP in person for the first time in his presidency on July 20. White House spokesman Tony Snow said on July 18 (transcript on-line here) that Bush had decided to do so at this time because he “wants to make the argument that he has had a career that reflects a strong commitment to civil rights” and “to talk about some of the commonalities he has with members of the NAACP.”
  A Gallup poll of African-Americans’ views on Bush from June 2006 found that 15 percent approved of Bush’s job as president and that 78 disapproved. This is consistent with Bush’s approval rating among African-Americans from June of 2004 and 2005, and the lowest of the five years of Bush’s presidency (poll report on-line here).

• The Convenientest Truth. Many people do agree that global average surface temperature has increased over the 100 years by about one degree and that higher concentrations of greenhouse gases relating to human activity such as the use of fossil fuels have contributed to this increase. President George W. Bush himself acknowledged the temperature increase and the greenhouse effect in a June 11, 2001 speech (on-line here), though he also raised questions about how much was known and what should be done in response.
  The documentary “An Inconvenient Truth,” which features former Vice President Al Gore, is on-line here.

• Reference to Abramoff. Former Washington lobbyist Jack Abramoff pled guilty in January to charges of conspiracy, aiding and abetting fraud, and tax evasion (release on-line here) and was sentenced in March to 70 months in prison (press release on-line here). According to the plea agreement, Abramoff admitted conspiring to defraud four Native American Indian tribes that were clients by charging high fees and taking some in kickbacks. Abramoff also reportedly admitted to engaging in a pattern of corruptly providing things of value – including trips, tickets to events, campaign contributions, and meals at his restaurant - to public officials to benefit his clients. Abramoff also admitted to a tax evasion charge for not reporting the income he received in kickbacks.

• Buck O’Neil. Buck O’Neil, 94, played on July 18 in the Northern League All-Star Game, becoming the oldest player appearing in a professional baseball game. The Negro League Baseball Players Association has information on O’Neil on-line here.

posted by Stephen Lee @ 7/20/2006 07:34:00 AM