Public Tax Money Goes to Private Interests for Controversial Stem Cell

California Residents Overtaxed with Money Going to Scientific Private Interests and Not Public Interests.

http://www.sfexaminer.com/local/development/2011/02/state-stem-cell-firm-uses-tax-dollars-nonpublic-campuses'

California taxpayers have spent $135 million in recent years building state-of-the-art research facilities on four private campuses for stem cell research — an expense some critics have questioned in the face of California’s budget crisis.

Embryonic Stem Cell Funding Fight: SHERLEY v. SEBELIUS

An array of scientists have sued Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services and NIH over misappropriations of research money.  These scientists have challenged new promulgated guidelines to fund more research projects involving human embryonic stem cells than it had previously done.  They believe that this promulation unfairly distributes money away  from other important funding, for example, research in adult stem cells and other technologies.
http://www.leagle.com/unsecure/page.htm?shortname=infco20100625190

$84 Billion of Tax Payers Dollars Funds More Science

House Passes Major R&D Funding Bill
On third try, House passes $84 billion bill for science and technology programs
The Associated Press
By JIM ABRAMS Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON May 28, 2010 (AP)

See link: http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/wireStory?id=10774559

This $84 Billion is in excess of the $32 Billion per year already approved for funding of science through NIH.

Big Money Budget for Francis Collins-New NIH Director

New NIH Leader Backs Personalized Medicine

From PharmExecBlog:

No one was surprised last month when the White House nominated world-famous geneticist Francis Collins for the top job at the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The driving force behind NIH’s Human Genome Project for 15 years, Collins is experienced in managing large research projects and big budgets and in making friends on Capitol Hill.
In the year since he left NIH, he actively supported President Barack Obama’s election campaign and wrote a book on personalized medicine that reflects his belief in the power of molecular biology to shape medicine and the world. Collins has expressed disappointment that important genomic discoveries have not led to new life-saving therapies, and he will want to use his new position to change that.

For pharma, Collins’ offers prospects of increased emphasis at NIH on translational research and more collaboration in developing drugs for orphan and neglected diseases. Comparative effectiveness research, he says, should identify subpopulation responses to treatment and support personalized medicine.

Collins has been highly praised for bringing in the human genome project ahead of schedule and below budget; as NIH director he will need all his administrative skills to manage the vast NIH complex and shape how its disparate institutes dole out more than $25 billion in grants to research organizations and scientists. NIH staffers see him as likely to favor big, high-profile projects over the needs of individual researchers. An evangelical Christian, he also will face pressure to clarify how his personal faith can co-exist with support for evolution and science.
Collins takes over NIH at an enviable time. The agency gained some $10 billion in extra funds through the economic recovery legislation enacted earlier this year, providing a nice addition to the agency’s $30 billion budget. Although Congress is not likely to provide such largesse in the future, some increases are likely.Spurring Stem Cell Research A high-profile task for Collins is to implement recently finalized guidelines on human embryonic stem cell research (hESC), which NIH issued just as Collins’ nomination was announced. The new program calls for an NIH panel of scientists, ethicists and advocates to assess that all candidate stem cell lines meet ethical standards for government-funded research: that they are derived from leftover embryos created by in vitro fertilization, that donors understand their options and consent to research uses, and that there is no compensation to or pressure on donors to do so. NIH will establish a registry of all cell lines deemed eligible for federal funding, with an eye to reducing uncertainty and confusion in the research community.

The new rules were proposed last April after President Obama issued an executive order rescinding Bush administration restrictions on government-funded hESC studies. The new rule promises to vastly expand opportunities for research in this area, despite continued curbs on funding studies that use stem cells created solely for research purposes or cell lines derived through somatic cell nuclear transfer, a technique that many researchers consider highly promising. While life-saving medicines ultimately may emerge, a near-term benefit may be the development of new cellular assays for screening drug candidates and other methods useful in drug development.

Money Talks

Money and Influence

"We live by the Golden Rule. Those who have the gold make the rules." B. Bavasi

The following is from Freshlife Inc. July 2, 2009, Issue 128, volume 10

- do you wonder how it’s possible for ideas that are opposed by a vast majority of Americans to become the law of the land – or at least the policy of the federal government? What ever happened to democracy, and how did we become a “corporatocracy”. It’s simple, really - money talks.

These are the amounts spent by the corporations listed. However, most of these corporations also contract out to private lobbying firms, so the amounts you see here are probably NOT the total amounts spent on lobbying in Q1-2009. For example, Monsanto spent $2,094,000 for its in house lobbying but then contracted out to Arent Fox LLP; Lesher, Russell & Barron, Inc. ($60,000); Ogilvy Government Relations ($60,000); Parven Pomper Strategies ($40,000); Sidley Austin LLP; TCH Group, LLC ($50,000); The Nickles Group, LLC ($63,000); The Washington Tax Group, LLC ($40,000); and Troutman Sanders Public Affairs Group ($30,000) - for a total of $2,437,000 in first quarter 2009. That’s right – nearly 2 million dollars in 3 months spent convincing our legislators that GMOs (and other Monsanto profit-making ideas) are a good idea.

Numbered by most dollars spent and separated by category – this is the money that poured into Washington during January, February and March of this year. (2009)

Health Care, Health Insurance, & Pharmaceuticals3.

Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America: $6,910,0006. Pfizer, Inc: $6,140,00012. American Medical Association: $4,240,00018. American Hospital Association: $3,580,00019. Eli Lilly and Company: $3,440,00037. America's Health Insurance Plans, Inc: $2,030,00039. CVS Caremark Inc: $2,005,00047. Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association: $1,800,00049. GlaxoSmithKline: $1,780,00063. Merck & Co: $1,500,00065. United Health Group, Inc: $1,500,00069. Sanofi-Aventis U.S. Inc: $1,460,00076. Novartis: $1,347,13487. Abbott Laboratories: $1,260,00089. Astrazeneca Pharmaceuticals, LP: $1,250,00092. Medtronic, Inc: $1,238,000

Oil2.

Exxon Mobil: $9,320,0004. Chevron U.S.A. Inc: $6,800,0007. Conoco Phillips: $5,980,93516. BP America, Inc: $3,610,00020. Marathon Oil Corporation: $3,380,00045. American Petroleum Institute: $1,810,000

Defense5.

Lockheed Martin Corporation: $6,380,00011. General Electric Company: $4,540,00028. Northrop Grumman Corporation: $2,570,00030. Boeing Company: $2,410,0051. Honeywell International: $1,760,00073. Raytheon Company: $1,360,000

Telecoms10.

AT&T Services, Inc: $5,134,87314. Verizon (excluding Verizon Wireless): $3,760,00021. National Cable and Telecommunications Association: $3,370,00023. Comcast Corporation: $2,760,00068. Motorola, Inc: $1,470,000

Automotive22.

General Motors: $2,800,00027. United Services Automobile Association: $2,590,24452. Ford Motor Company: $1,750,00084. Toyota Motor North America: $1,290,00086. Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers: $1,264,400

Financial32.

Financial Services Roundtable: $2,260,00033. Prudential Financial, Inc: $2,180,00041. American Bankers Association: $1,890,00061. Visa, Inc: $1,540,00074. Investment Company Institute: $1,359,91775. Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association: $1,350,00082. J.P. Morgan Chase Bank, N.A.: $1,310,00090. Citigroup Management Corp: $1,250,00090. Credit Union National Association: $1,250,000

Biotech36.

Monsanto: $2,094,00040. Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO): $1,920,00044. Bayer Corporation: $1,843,672

Railroads24.

Association of American Railroads: $2,759,54554. Union Pacific Corporation: $1,717,10871. BNSF Railway: $1,400,000

Life Insurance42.

American Council of Life Insurers: $1,867,07544. New York Life Insurance Company: $1,840,00064. State Farm Insurance: $1,500,00093. The Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Company: $1,237,000

Other1.

Chamber of Commerce of the U.S.A.: $9,996,0008. National Association of Realtors: $5,727,0009. U.S. Chamber Institute for Legal Reform: $5,480,00013. AARP: $4,090,00015. Southern Company: $3,650,00017. Altria Client Services Inc: $3,580,00025. Amgen, Inc: $2,750,00026. National Association of Broadcasters: $2,600,00029. Edison Electric Institute: $2,550,00031. Fedex Corporation: $2,370,00034. Textron, Inc.: $2,140,00035. General Dynamics Corp: $2,101,94538. International Business Machines (IBM): $2,030,00043. United Technologies Corporation: $1,860,00046. Recording Industry Association of America: $1,810,00048. CTIA-The Wireless Association: $1,790,00050. Time Warner Inc. $1,780,00053. The Dow Chemical Company: $1,735,00055. American Electric Power Company: $1,716,91356. Microsoft Corporation: $1,650,00057. Qualcomm, Incorporated: $1,620,00058. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc: $1,600,00059. L-3 Communications: $1,580,00060. Exelon Business Services, LLC: $1,540,00062. Johnson & Johnson Services, Inc: $1,530,00066. Norfolk Southern Corporation: $1,485,02667. Koch Companies Public Sector LLC: $1,480,00070. American Airlines: $1,450,00072. Oracle Corporation: $1,390,00077. Air Transport Association of America, Inc.: $1,340,00078. Disney Worldwide Services, Inc.: $1,330,00079. Sepracor, Inc: $1,324,15780. National Association of Home Builders: $1,320,00081. UPS: $1,316,42683. Siemens Corporation: $1,300,00085. Duke Energy Corporation: $1,282,77094. Distilled Spirits Council of the U.S., Inc: $1,230,00095. Business Roundtable: $1,220,00096. Wellpoint, Inc: $1,220,00097. American Wind Energy Association: $1,212,50498. F. Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd: $1,206,42799. National Rural Electric Cooperative Association: $1,200,00099. CBS Corporation: $1,200,000

reference: Freshlife Inc. July 2, 2009, Issue 128, volume 10