Green, Petri side with stem cell extremists

As the House did the right and courageous thing on Tuesday, voting for expanded stem cell research even in the face of a threatened presidential veto, Wisconsin's delegation split right down the middle.

The four Democrats voted for passage, the four Republicans against.

Not unusual, except this was not a party line vote.

Fifty Republicans stood up to the President, their leadership and their own party's evangelical right wing on this issue and voted for the bill.

There were lots of reasons to vote yes, many of them provided in personal testimony during the floor debate on the bill. It is an issue that cuts across party lines and personal lives. It is not one of those phony issues purt forward so politicians can posture. It is a real, life-and-death issue.

The best reason to support it, of course, is that embryonic stem cell research may prolong, save, or improve the quality of people's lives. Many believe stem cell research holds the key to one day fighting serious illnesses such as Alzheimer's, strokes, brain or spinal injuries, Parkinson's, diabetes and heart defects.

The bill, co-sponsored by Republicans and Democrats, was carefully crafted to meet many of the objections of the Christian right. For example, discarded embryos would be used for research only with the consent of the donors.

But none of that was enough for Wisconsin's Mark Green, F. Jim Sensenbrenner, Paul Ryan, or Tom Petri. They all voted against expanding this vital research.

Green, seeking the GOP nomination for governor, continues to pander to his party's right wing. In doing so, he turned his back on moderate Republicans (even Tommy Thompson) who support reasonable stem cell research, and on those whose families are desperately seeking a cure for debilitating disease.

Green want to be governor of a state that is on the cutting edge of stem cell research. But he votes against expanding it. Green would rather cater to the extremists in his party than do what's best for his state and its residents. (Or maybe he owed Tom DeLay, who's given his campaign $29,000, a vote on this one.)

Sensenbrenner and Ryan were no surprise. But I had held out some hope that Petri would see the light, since he is a member of the Republican group that was promoting a yes vote. His "no" vote was disappointing.

Now the bill goes to the Senate, where its chief sponsors include Orrin Hatch, the Utah Republican who's never been accused of any liberal tendencies.

This is not a Republican-Democrat issue. This is one where people's real concerns, values and priorities are exposed. And all four Wisconsin Republicans came up short. Washington Post story.