4 - The Michigan Daily - Wednesday, March 9, 2005 OPINION ~iie £1dlaj.m.Md JASON Z. PESICK Editor in Chief SUHAEL MOMIN SAM SINGER Editorial Page Editors ALISON GO Managing Editor EDITED AND MANAGED BY STUDENTS AT THE UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN SINCE 1890 420 MAYNARD STREET ANN ARBOR, MI 48109 tothedaily@michigandaily.com NOTABLE QUOTABLE Press passes can't be that hard to come by if the White House allows that old Arab Helen Thomas to sit within yards of the president." - Conservative pundit and Law School alum Ann Coulter, on veteran White House correspondent Helen Thomas, who is Arab- American, in her now controversial Feb. 23 column, as posted on anncoulter.com. } N N N .-.~- SAM BUTLER THE SOAPx anssaor ................. Mtel? RI's+° .d.,Pr*-' T" 1 All of the benefits, none of the costs CHRISTOPHER ZBROZEK BORN IN THE U.SA. halk the failure of Tax cuts in good times might have been state $6 billion in FY 2003 alone - far more last month's jail meant to return excess revenue to taxpayers, than the deficit. millage up to one but once the economy soured, they were per- One obvious solution is to rescind some of of the great constants of ceived as essential to renewed growth. Though the tax cuts. Roberts argues the state would be American political life the state was hemorrhaging money, slowdowns in even worse fiscal shape if it hadn't made itself the public's reflexive of the incremental tax cuts - let alone tax more favorable to businesses and individuals aversion to taxes. increases - were not on the table. The income through tax cuts. Cutting taxes too far, how- Some liberal opponents tax cut proceeded as planned, and, though the ever, results in an equally unfavorably low level of the plan to expand the bill enacting the SBT cut had included a pro- of government services. No one wants to live Washtenaw County Jail, vision halting further cuts if the state's "rainy in a state with high taxes - or one with lousy like the No Giant Jail day fund" ran low, Engler signed a bill to speed schools and roads. Though some conservatives Committee, argued that our country already up the SBT's elimination to 2010. Responsibly deplore public spending on principle, most peo- has some of the highest incarceration rates in enough, this legislation included no plan what- ple 'like receiving government services. They the world and needs legal reform, not more pris- soever to replace the revenue derived from the just don't want to pay for them. ons. If voters had treated the millage as a ref- SBT after 2009. Despite the logical need for the public to erendum on prison policy, it should have been Why should we care? Well, the SBT goes balance its appetite for services against its lust more popular with strict law-and-order conser- directly into the state's general fund - the same for low taxes, there is rarely the political will vative voters than with liberals worried about portion of the budget that includes the Univer- - in Washtenaw County, in Michigan or in flaws in the judicial system and the rise of the sity's yearly appropriation. Historically, about a the nation as a whole - for any tax increases, prison-industrial complex. A look at the votes quarter of the general fund has come from the for any reason. Alabama Gov. Bob Riley, a cast, however, hints that what drove voters was SBT. Given Lansing's repeatedly demonstrated Republican and a Southern Baptist, couldn't the simple desire to avoid a tax increase. willingness to cut higher education funding, garner support for a 2003 referendum that The millage failed, county-wide, by a solid public universities could take a considerable hit would raise taxes to avert a fiscal crisis so bad margin. It had a fighting chance, with 42 percent if the law is left unchanged. the state was contemplating releasing prison- support, in precincts that voted for Sen. John The current SBT is fairly controversial, and ers - not even by telling citizens a "yes" vote Kerry (D-Mass.) last November. It even came Democrats introduced legislation yesterday to was their "Christian duty." close to passing in Ann Arbor. But in Washt- overhaul the SBT's structure. Though the bill Death and taxes are equally inevitable, and enaw County precincts that voted for President would increase taxes for some, it is designed to about equally unpopular. Right-wingers have Bush (yes, they exist), it went down three to one. be revenue-neutral and would result in a tax cut used this fact in a scheme to shrink govern- These are the same people who agreed with the for three-fourths of Michigan businesses. Gra- ment known as "starve the beast," where exces- simple argument on a billboard along I-94 dur- nholm spokeswoman Liz Boyd is hopeful that sive tax cuts in good times lead to shortfalls ing the presidential campaign: "It's your money. the Republican-controlled legislature will pass and, presumably, program cuts in bad times. Bush/Cheney '04." the bill, saying the administration was "taking This might be what's happening in Michigan, The motivation to avoid taxes also drives the legislature at its word that it will give the but the Bush administration's expansion of the politics at the state level. Former Michigan Governor's proposal a fair hearing." With state federal government while running huge defi- Gov. John Engler stayed in office for 12 years Republican leadership favoring a decreased cits argue against the theory's viability on the in part by delivering tax cuts. (Such formidable business tax, however, I'm less optimistic. federal level. Most voters want both low taxes Democratic opponents as Geoffrey Fieger, best There are no quick fixes left to deal with and lots of government services, and to hell known as Jack Kevorkian's attorney, also made Michigan's structural budget deficit, and the with the math. Engler's life easier).. In 1999, Engler signed rainy day fund is gone. Certainly, previous laws cutting the state's income tax over five tax cuts have contributed to the chronic lack Zbrozek can be reached years and phasing out the single business tax of revenue. Former State Treasurer Douglaszbroc brched over two decades. Roberts told me that the '90s tax cuts cost the at zbro@umich.edu. The Bush "ban" on stem cell research DAN SHUSTER THE VAST RiGHT-WIN CoNSI RACY mbryonic stem cell of forming dopamine-secreting brain cells, through the use of adult stem cells. Diabetic research is indeed the implanted cells formed hair, teeth, nails mice implanted with embryonic stem cells controversial, and bone, killing the patient. Also, due to this died, because these cells secreted only 1/50th with some objecting to uncontrolled growth, embryonic stem cells are the amount of insulin. its implementation solely likely to cause tumors. Adult stem cells cause To set the record straight, Bush has been the on moral grounds, while neither of these problems. They are capable first president to allot federal funds for stem others are touting these of only forming into the target tissue required cell research. Bush has put no restrictions on cells as a miracle "cure- and are non-tumorigenic. Additionally, embry- the use of adult stem cells and federal funding all." President Bush onic stem cells pose the risk of tissue rejec- is allowed for cells that were derived "with the has prohibited the fed- tion, unlike adult stem cells coming from the informed consent of the donors, from excess eral funding of embryonic patient's own body. To overcome tissue rejec- embryos created solely for reproductive purpos- stem cell lines that were created after Aug. 9, tion it would be necessary for a patient to take es and without any financial inducements to the 2001, and has come under intense criticism for immunosuppressive drugs. donors." Federal funds are not provided "for the this "ban." Without taking a moral approach to As of October 2004, adult stem cells have derivation or use of stem cell lines derived from this issue, are embryonic stem cells really the been successfully used to treat 58 different newly destroyed embryos, the creation of any panacea for innumerable human illnesses? illnesses in both rats and humans, whereas human embryos for research purposes or the Stem cells can be divided into two catego- embryonic stem cells have presently resulted in cloning of human embryos for any purpose." ries: embryonic and adult. Embryonic stem no successful treatments. In order to determine Notwithstanding, there is a current surplus of cells are those obtained from the blastocyst of which type of stem cells are more beneficial, embryos that were destroyed prior to the initia- a developing fetus. As a result, the fetus is no researchers performed a series of comparison tion of this "ban" in 2001, which can be feder- longer viable. Adult stem cells, found through- studies. Rats with Parkinson's received injec- ally funded to develop an embryonic stem cell out the entire human body, can be obtained tions of either adult or embryonic stem cells. line. Also, it is perfectly legal to privately fund without any harm to the donor. The goal of In 80 percent of the rats receiving adult stem any form of stem cell research. researchers is to use stem cells to form other cells, neural regeneration occurred. However, I am in no way trying to imply that the use bodily tissues. Adult stem cells are multipo- only 50 percent of those receiving embryonic of embryonic stem cells is fruitless, nor am tent; for instance, a stem cell from the brain can stem cells recovered, while 20 percent died I injecting any moral opinion regarding this develop into other types of brain tissue. On the from brain tumors. When adult stem cells issue. But the facts demonstrate that adult stem other hand, embryonic stem cells are pluripo- were injected into the spinal cord of 18-year- cell research has proved to be more successful tent, meaning they can form any cell within old Melissa Holley, a paraplegic patient with a at present and Bush's "ban" may not be that the human body. Sounds pretty good! But, this severed spinal cord, she regained movement of restrictive after all. is a double-edged sword, as it becomes dif- her toes and bladder control. When rats with ficult to control the type of cell proliferation. severed spinal cords received embryonic stem Shuster can be reached Recently, embryonic stem cells were injected cells, no recovery occurred. Also, scientists into the brain of a Parkinson's patient. Instead were able to reverse Type I diabetes in rats at dshuster@umich.edu. LETTER TO THE EDITOR 0 Proposal 2 advocates lied about its effects on benefits To THE DAILY: "To secure and preserve the benefits of mar- riage for our society and for future generations of children, the union of one man and one woman in marriage shall be the only agreement recognized as a marriage or similar union for any purpose." - Michigan's Proposal 2, passed last November. OK, so no gay marriage in Michigan. What's the big deal? The big deal, as many of us predict- ed, is those six little words: "or similar union for any purpose." In the Oct. 24 issue of MetroTimes, Gary Glenn, President of the American Family Asso- But now Glenn is quoted in the Daily (Same-sex EMU policy under fire, 03/08/2005) as saying, "We don't have any doubt that Eastern's intent is to treat homosexual domestic partnerships as being equal or similar to marriage and is thus a violation of the state constitution." My husband works as a consultant for the auto- motive industry and does not receive any benefits, like health insurance. Fortunately, as a GSI, I can cover him on my health insurance. For now. He and I have spent a significant sum of money in attorney fees for wills and power of attorney doc- uments, which appear to be valid. For now. Did you vote for Proposal 2? Was anyone really so naive as to think it had anything to do with marriage? Now we all see the truth. Groups like the AFA are just out to get LGBT folks any way scheme to steal my benefits, benefits I work hard for, benefits I still have. For now. Alan Kiste e Rackham LETTERS POLICY The Michigan Daily welcomes letters from all of its readers. Letters from University students, faculty, staff and administrators will be given priority over others. Letters should include the writer's name, college and school year or other University affiliation. The Daily will not print any letter containing statements that can- not be verified. Letters should be kent to approxi- I