Churches sponsoring rally to support equal rights for gays

A pair of Livingston County churches are taking the moral high ground and co-sponsoring a rally on Sunday to support equal rights for gays.

St. Paul's Episcopal Church, Community Unitarian Universalists in Brighton and Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG) are sponsoring the rally set for 12:30 p.m. at the Mill Pond gazebo in downtown Brighton. Sunday is also National Coming Out Day, and it is also the day of the National Equality March in Washington, D.C. The public is invited to the brief ceremony that will feature speakers.

The Community Unitarian Universalists have a history of tolerance, acceptance and community service in the county, and they have sponsored past events that reflect that mission. In October of 2007 they co-sponsored a “Counter Coulter” event that brought in Ann Arbor author Jonathan Cohn to speak about health care reform that raised money for the free VINA Community Dental Center of Livingston County.

In September of last year they sponsored a forum on the expansion of embryonic stem cell research featuring former U.S. Congressman and medical doctor Joe Schwarz.

Most vocal opponent of Proposal 2 may not really oppose it

The deliberate deceptions by the opponents of Ballot Proposal 2 that will allow embryonic stem cell research continue.

Prop 2 proposal opponent Sen. Tom George, R-Kalamazoo, has been traveling the state debating the proponents of Proposal 2. Clearly, the head-to-head debates are a great idea, but the only problem is George, an anesthesiologist, is the only person the opposition can find to debate for their side. This time, George debated former Republican Congressman and medical doctor Joe Schwarz, of Cure Michigan, at a forum at Wayne State University, according to the Detroit Free Press.

One of the biggest deceptive talking points that has been repeated time after time is that as written, Proposal 2 would prevent the state from regulating a science that critics believe could lead to human-animal hybrids and other "chimeric" creatures.

According to the Free Press, George told "the seemingly pro-stem cell crowd, he said, "You can be in favor of embryonic stem cell research and still oppose this measure." He refused to say if he personally was in favor of embryonic stem cell research.

Schwarz called out George on the false talking point that the Legislature could do nothing to regulate stem cell research.

"I maintain that if this passes, that Tom George and the health committee in the Senate will be setting up a regulatory framework around which this research could be done," Schwarz said.

Better yet, if George is not against embryonic stem cell research and wants to ensure it's regulated properly, then he can vote for House Bill 4616 that will allow the creation of embryonic stem cells for research and HB 4617 and 4618 that would increase the penalties for engaging or attempting to engage in human cloning.

HB 4616 was introduced by Rep. Andy Meisner, D-Ferndale, on April 19, 2007 and is stuck in the Judiciary Committee. HBs 4617 and 4618 were introduced by Rep. Mark Meadows, D-Lansing, and are also stuck in the Judiciary Committee. George can get an assurance from the Senate Majority Leader that the bills will be taken up by Senate during the Lame Duck session so they can be moved out of the House Committee. He can then rewrite them any way he pleases to ensure proper regulation.

Stem Cell forum on tap featuring Dr. Joe Schwarz on tap

Nonpartisan Livingston County Voters Voice and Community Unitarian Universalists in Brighton are sponsoring a forum on the expansion of embryonic stem cell research that is on the General Election Ballot at 7 p.m. Sept. 29 at the Brighton Performing Arts Center at Brighton High School, 7878 Brighton Rd.

In July, the Stem Cell Research Ballot Question Committee, now called Cure Michigan, filed petitions with 570,793 signatures to place the question on the ballot. On Nov. 4 voters will vote on Proposal 2 that will allow the expansion of embryonic stem cell research. Federal law allows embryonic stem cell research, but it bans federal funding of it. But Michigan has even tougher restrictions, and Michigan law makes conducting the research a felony. Rep. Andy Meisner, D-Ferndale, introduced House Bills 4616-4618 in April 2007 that lift that restriction, but the bills are stalled in the Judiciary Committee.

The proposal on the ballot will allow doctors and researchers to use leftover embryos from fertility clinics that would otherwise be discarded as medical waste, and use them instead for finding cures and saving lives.

Dr. Jack Mosher, Assistant Research Scientist at the University of Michigan Life Sciences Institute, and former Republican U.S. Congressman and medical doctor
Joe Schwarz will be the presenters.

Embryonic stem cells are primitive cells that can be generated in a Petri dish after an egg is fertilized by sperm in a dish in a fertility clinic. Many scientists consider stem cell research the most promising medical technology of the 21st century. Stem cells could be used to treat or cure more than 70 diseases and conditions affecting millions of people, including diabetes, Parkinson's, Alzheimer's, cancer, multiple sclerosis, Lou Gehrig's Disease (ALS), spinal cord injuries, blindness, and HIV/AIDS.

The proposal has widespread support, and the only real opposition is coming from anti-choice groups like Right to Life because of false claims that it will promote human cloning and that it is destroying human life. It ignored the fact that the eggs are simply thrown away when no logger needed.

The event is free and open to the public. For more information call Voters Voice at (810) 229-7887.

The Voter's Voice is a group for independents, moderate Democrats and moderate Republicans formed in 2002 for people concerned about politics and public policy.

General Election starts in earnest for me

TECUMSEH - Sunday was my first official door-knocking session of the 2008 General Election.

I have already knocked doors in the primary for a House candidate , but this is my first time for the General Election. I knocked on some 70 doors Sunday in Tecumseh for State Sen. Mark Schauer, D-Battle Creek, in his quest to unseat extremist conservative Tim Walberg in the race for U.S. House in the 7th District. It was more fun that the extensive walking I did in 2006 because my wife walked with me. She had walked when she was a teen for her dad, but he was a Republican.

The one thing I discovered Sunday was that not many people knew much about Schauer, but we will change that. I had a few people tell me they don’t need to know anything about Schauer they are just sick of Walberg. This is a guy who still thinks Saddam Hussein financed the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. He’s apparently not a man who will let facts get in the way.

The 7th District has been held by Republicans for many years with Nick Smith and moderate Republican Joe Schwartz. But Schauer has unseated an incumbent Republican before.

The large 7th district covers Branch, Eaton, Hillsdale, Jackson and Lenawee counties and parts of Calhoun and Washtenaw counties. That’s the name recognition battle he faces, but I believe he can overcome it.

The 19th Senate District Schauer represents as the Senate Minority Leader only covers Calhoun County and part of Jackson.

I hope to increase his name recognition in Walberg’s home county of Lenawee door by door. It was once briefly my stomping grounds. I worked as the education reporter for the daily newspaper in Adrian that covers the entire county, and I held that same position with the Blissfield weekly.

Club for Growth goes after McCain for Michigan remarks

If we needed any proof here in Michigan that Sen. John McCain’s campaign for the Republican nomination for President has picked up some steam and is alive and well we only needed to see the press release put out by the conservative Club for Growth.

The release came in response to a Dec. 21 Detroit Free Press article where McCain told the Free Press editorial board he would “use federal money to make up the salary differences for workers who lose manufacturing jobs and take lower-paying positions while they train for new careers.”

The country has lost 3 million manufacturing jobs under the current administration to outsourcing and other causes, and the U.S. auto industry has been hit vary hard. The Club for Growth release came out as soon as the Free Press article was published, and it calls McCain’s plan “welfare” and pandering to Michigan voters as the Jan. 15 Michigan primary election fast approaches.

“This is exactly the kind of plan you expect to hear from the Democratic candidates, not an alleged economic conservative,” said Club for Growth President Pat Toomey in the press release. “The government should not be in the business of guaranteeing wages.”

Club for Growth is non-profit political organization with some 40,000 members with a political action committee (PAC) that raises money for conservative candidates who support a “low-tax and limited-government agenda.” The group has a history of backing conservative Republicans even against incumbent moderate Republicans.

Michigan residents are familiar with one of the most well known instances of Club for Growth’s handy work. They pumped thousands of dollars into the campaign of ultra-conservative Tim Walberg in his primary battle in the summer of 2006 against incumbent U.S. Rep. Joe Schwarz, and the moderate Republican lost his bid for reelection to Walberg in the 7th Congressional District despite Schwarz having the support and endorsement of the state Republican Party Chair and President George Bush

Ironically, Schwarz is now a member of McCain’s Michigan Finance Team that raises money in the sate for McCain.

Schwarz. says prognosis for opposition to stem cell research is terminal

BRIGHTON -- As a medical doctor, former Republican U.S. Congressman Joe Schwarz has a calm bedside manner, but he minces no words when he speaks about his support of embryonic stem cell research and his condemnation of the people who oppose it.

“The disingenuousness on this issue by some organizations has been stunning, just stunning,” he told an audience of about 30 people gathered at the Livingston County Democratic Headquarters last week for a seminar on stem cell research sponsored by the nonprofit, nonpartisan Michigan Citizens for Stem Cell Research and Cures (MCSCRC).

Embryonic stem cells are primitive cells that can be generated in a Petri dish after an egg is fertilized by sperm in a dish in a fertility clinic, and they have the potential to cure countless diseases, such as autoimmune diseases like multiple sclerosis; cancers; cardiovascular diseases; circulatory and respiratory diseases; spinal cord injuries; infectious diseases like HIV; metabolic diseases like cystic fibrosis and sickle cell disease; muscular dystrophies; neurological diseases of adulthood like Alzheimer's disease and Lou Gehrig's disease; and neurological diseases of childhood like Asperger's syndrome and autism. The embryos are never implanted in a woman’s body, and the embryos are routinely discarded by fertility clinics.

Schwarz said the majority of Michigan residents support embryonic stem cell research, and the opposition is another example of “tyranny of the minority.”

Federal law allows embryonic stem cell research, but it bans federal funding of it. But Michigan has even tougher restrictions, and Michigan law makes conducting the research a felony. Rep. Andy Meisner, D-Ferndale, introduced House Bills 4616-4618 in April that lift that restriction, but the bills are stalled in the Judiciary Committee.

“There are only six or seven states that are as behind as Michigan,” Schwarz said. “Michigan – with our excellent research universities and Michigan being a populous state – is akin to a jack-rabbit state like South Dakota.”

Life sciences have been pushed as a way to diversify Michigan’s economy and create jobs, but neighboring states like Ohio, Wisconsin and Illinois not only allow embryonic stem cell research, they are actively promoting the funding of the research. Schwartz said the University of Michigan is losing some of its top faculty and researchers to states that allow the research, like Florida, California and Texas.

“The train is leaving the station,” he said. “I want to be on it, I want Michigan to be on it and I want our research universities to be on it.”

The federal Castle-Degette bill – the Stem Cell Research Enhancement Act -- that allows federal funding of embryonic stem cell research has passed Congress twice with bipartisan support, but President Bush has vetoed it. Schwarz said the simple bill will pass again, and he said the next president, no matter who it is or from what party – will sign it into law.

“This bill says a few things,” he said. “It says excess blastocysts (an inner cell mass containing cells that will form the embryo) can be donated to a facility doing embryonic stem cell research under guidelines set up by the Secretary of Health and Human Services.”

Schwarz also said the restrictions are contributing to job loss when research goes to other countries that do not have very stringent ethical laws on such research in place.
“As you know, stem cell research is going on offshore,” he said. “We are being beaten by Korea and Japan where we cannot guarantee research will be done as ethically as it will in the United States.”

Marcia Baum, the executive director of the MCSCRC, said she expects the issue to be on the ballot next November. The MCSCRC has a wide variety of people on its board, including doctors, directors of associations that advocate for cures for various diseases, and business and academic leaders. The advisory committee has both Democrats and Republican leaders, such as Democratic U.S. Sen. Carl Levin, Schwarz and Mel Larsen, a former Republican state representative and the former chair of the Michigan Republican Party.

“Most people don’t understand the science, most people don’t understand what stem cells can do and most people don’t understand what’s going on in Washington,” she said.

The opposition to embryonic stem cell research has come primarily from the Michigan Catholic Conference and Michigan Right to Life. The MCSCRC has a speaker’s bureau that has been going to churches, service clubs and other groups to talk about stem cells. Much of the opposition has been because of claims that it will promote human cloning and that it is destroying human life.

“Some people want to call it the big ‘C,’ cloning,” she said. “It’s the fear of Dolly the sheep.”

Schwarz said the recent discovery that the possibility exists embryonic stem cells can be created without having to destroy an embryonic blastocyst shows promise, but the cells have the potential for developing cancer. He said regardless of what happens with these cells, research with embryonic stem cells need to continue.

However, proponents say there is no cloning involved, and no woman will be allowed to sell her eggs because the law will make harvesting eggs illegal.

“None of the stem cells are coming from abortion clinics,” said Matt Evans, the chair of the Livingston County Democratic Party. “That’s the evil rumor out there.”

Former Congressman Schwarz leads stem cell research discussion panel

The nonprofit, nonpartisan Michigan Citizens for Stem Cell Research and Cures (MCSCRC) is presenting a panel discussion on stem cell research featuring former Republican Congressman Dr. Joe Schwarz.

The discussion is sponsored by the Livingston County Democratic Party and will be held at 7 p.m. Tuesday Nov. 27 at the party’s headquarters, 10321 East Grand River Ave. Suite 600, Fonda Place in Brighton. In addition to Schwarz, Marcia Baum, the executive director of (MCSCRC), will be on the panel. The public, regardless of party affiliation, is encouraged to attend.

The MCSCRC is an educational coalition with the goal of educating citizens about stem cell research, and it does not endorse, propose or oppose legislation. Embryonic stem cell research has the potential to cure serious diseases like Parkinson's disease, diabetes, spinal-cord injuries and Alzheimer's, but conservative, pro-life groups have blocked embryonic stem cell research in Michigan.

Schwarz is a medical doctor from Battle Creek who was first elected to Congress in 2004 to represent the 7th Congressional District as a moderate Republican. He was targeted in 2006 by conservative groups like the conservative Club for Growth. He was unseated in the primary by conservative Tim Walberg, R-Tipton.