Republicans out Repubs on stem cells

It fell to Republicans this week to expose the hypocrisy of the Republican Assembly majority on the issue of job creation.

Moving on their 100-day agenda, the GOP passed what it called a job creation bill, but added a provision that would deny tax credits to companies doing embryonic stem cell research.

Stem cell research is one area where Wisconsin actually has an advantage over most other states, because of pioneering work and breakthrough discoveries at the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation.

But the right-wing runs the Republican agenda in this state, and insisted on adding that anti-jobs amendment to the jobs bill.

The biotech industry already accounts for 20,000 jobs in Wisconsin, and Gov. Jim Doyle and the Democrats want to build on that success and make Bucky a leader in the field. Doyle reacted, predictably, with a promise to veto the bill if the Assembly passes the same version.

Less predictable was the response from people with some Republican credentials.

Mark Bugher, former DOA and Revenue secretary and a key member of Tommy Thompson's GOP administration, had the harshest words. Bugher now runs the UW Research Park. This from WisBusiness.com:

"This sends a chilling ‘in your face' message to science and research-based companies that they will be treated differently," he said. "And this is from the Republican party, which is allegedly the ‘jobs' party," Bugher said.

Bugher said he believes Assembly Republicans will continue to make gestures catered to appeal to groups that oppose stem cell research. "It's only the beginning, I'm afraid," he said.

Bugher said Thompson was a conservative Republican who was a strong backer of stem cell research because he saw its potential for discovering disease therapies."He welcomed the potential for the science and for the economic development potential," Bugher said. "And he was not intimidated by the right to life groups."

Unlike Speaker John Gard, he might have added.

Also chiming in was Tom Still, former State Journal editorial page editor, who once flirted with a Congressional race as a Republican. He now heads the Wisconsin Technology Council.

"What are they thinking?" Still asked of the Assembly GOP.

WisBiz story