Republicans: Obama Shouldn't Walk And Chew Gum

There's this idea that's been out there for about a week now and it's picking up speed.

It says that Obama should only focus on this narrow view of the economy and he shouldn't mind anything else. It's just ignorant to think Obama shouldn't approach the economy without thinking about the aspects that affect the economy, such as healthcare and energy. The economy touches everything and everything touches the economy. It all needs to be dealt with at once.

What's Obama got all those staffers for?

Republicans are behaving like cowards and I, for one, am getting tired of hearing what they have to say. Can't we hear from Olympia Snowe, or Susan Collins? Even Bobby Jindal is better than Shelby, Cantor, Rush and Boehner. They're always politicking, jockeying for power.

What Obama has, that others lack, is vision. Obama has prioritized and everything is at the top of the list.

CNN: "Why are we going and distracting ourselves from the economy? This is job No. 1. Let's focus on what needs to be done," Rep. Eric Cantor, the Republican whip in the House of Representatives, told CNN's "State of the Union."

Obama's move, scheduled for Monday morning, is part of a broader effort to separate science and politics and "restore scientific integrity in governmental decision-making," White House domestic policy adviser Melody Barnes said Sunday. The Bush administration's 2001 policy bars federal funding for research on embryonic stem cells beyond the cell lines that existed at the time.

Cantor, R-Virginia, has been among the leaders of GOP opposition to Obama's economic policies.

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

Obama Stem Cell Speech Marks Return of Science and Reason

Transcript. Read Obama's executive order here.

Fertilized eggs are people, Snowflake people, so say some. The debate:

Nancy Reagan is pleased:

FORMER FIRST LADY NANCY REAGAN: “I'm very grateful that President Obama has lifted the restrictions on federal funding for embryonic stem cell research. These new rules will now make it possible for scientists to move forward. I urge researchers to make use of the opportunities that are available to them, and to do all they can to fulfill the promise that stem cell research offers. Countless people, suffering from many different diseases, stand to benefit from the answers stem cell research can provide. We owe it to ourselves and to our children to do everything in our power to find cures for these diseases -- and soon. As I've said before, time is short, and life is precious.

John Boehner is angry. Surprise!

HOUSE MIN. LEADER JOHN BOEHNER (says the “decision runs counter to his promise to ‘be a president for all Americans"): "This decision runs counter to President Obama's promise to be a president for all Americans. For a third time in his young presidency, the President has rolled back important protections for innocent life, further dividing our nation at a time when we need greater unity to tackle the challenges before us.
Read other reactions.

Eight reasons to applaud Obama's decision.

Obama To Lift Ban on Funding for Stem Cell Research

Obama's executive order on Monday would free up federal funding for research.

WaPo: President Obama is planning to sign an executive order on Monday rolling back restrictions on federal funding of human embryonic stem cell research, according to sources close to the issue.

Although the exact wording of the order has not been revealed, the White House plans an 11 a.m. ceremony to sign the order repealing one of the most controversial steps taken by his predecessor, fulfilling one of Obama's eagerly anticipated campaign promises.

The move, long sought by scientists and patient advocates and opposed by religious groups, would enable the National Institutes of Health to consider requests from scientists to study hundreds of lines of cells that have been developed since the limitations were put in place -- lines that scientists and patient advocate say hold great hope for leading to cures for a host of major ailments....

Opponents have argued that research on human embryonic stem cells has become unnecessary because of scientific advances in the interim, including promising advances, making it crucial to continue to study those cells along with embryonic cells.

Some opponents have suggested that Obama might qualify his executive order to try to take the sting out of the move as part of his effort to find common ground on divisive issues. But proponents expect Obama will simply lift the restriction without caveats and let the NIH work out the details. In anticipation, the NIH has started drafting guidelines that would address the many ethical issues raised by the research, using as models templates compiled by the National Academy of Sciences and the International Society for Stem Cell Research.

Companies are ready to move:

WSJ:
Geron Corp., a Menlo Park, Calif., biotechnology company, is expected to announce Friday that it received a green light from the agency to mount a study of its stem-cell treatment for spinal cord injuries in up to 10 patients. The announcement caps more than a decade of advances in the company's labs and comes on the cusp of a widely expected shift in U.S. policy toward support of embryonic stem-cell research after years of official opposition.

"This is the dawn of a new era in medical therapeutics," said Thomas B. Okarma, Geron's president and chief executive officer. The hope that stem-cell therapy will repair and regenerate diseased organs and tissue "goes beyond what pills and scalpels can ever do."

Limits on stem-cell research, which prevented federal funding and were imposed by Congress and former President George W. Bush for ethical and religious reasons, have had a chilling effect on both academic and corporate research involving such cells. Proponents of stem-cell research say restrictions have delayed development of promising new treatments, while critics contend that harvesting stem cells from embryos destroys human life.

Read about stem cells here. Here's the definition of an embryonic stem cell:

Embryonic stem cells, as their name suggests, are derived from embryos. Specifically, embryonic stem cells are derived from embryos that develop from eggs that have been fertilized in vitro—in an in vitro fertilization clinic—and then donated for research purposes with informed consent of the donors. They are not derived from eggs fertilized in a woman's body.

Some background: