I found this interesting. They agree that Bush vetoing this bill was a poor choice, but strictly in a political sense. Here is the part I found the most interesting:

"The Senate has joined the House in enacting, by a wide margin, legislation to expand federal funding of embryonic stem cell research. I'm not an expert on this subject, but my impression is that the issue has very little to do with science, and a great deal to do with politics. The benefits of embryonic stem cell research have been vastly oversold, and I believe there is little reason to think that embryonic stem cells are likely to yield more medical benefits than other stem cells. And, in any event, I would rather see pharmaceutical companies carry out this kind of research than the federal government."

While I certainly agree that I would much rather have pharma companies doing the research, doesn't federal funding go to these companies to fulfill this research? I guess I do not understand the point of the last sentence there...

Anyways...the full article (http://powerlineblog.com/archives/014746.php) brings up a couple of important points:

A) Has it been proven that *embryonic* stem cell research is more valuable than other stem cells?
B) The most important point--the veto of this bill strictly stops federal funding towards *embryonic* stem cell research. States are able to contribute as much as they want (see; California), and does not put any sort of "ban" on embryonic or any other type of stem cell research. In other words, this veto does not make any kind of stem cell research illegal--it strictly means that the Federal government will not be giving money to this research.

I'm not posting this as any sort of defense of what Bush did with his first veto of his Administration--just wanted to bring out another point of view, and a highlight a couple of points that are easily missed by simply reading headlines and quick news summaries.

(Just to be clear--I am very disappointed with the several Senators who bow to the Focus on the Family-type interest groups and did not do the right thing for people not only in the US, but the world. And I am disappointed with Bush's decision here.)