Perry and Palin in 2012.............Sarah will hold up the scientific end of the duo, she is a scientific wonder!!

And from South Carolina, where Perry campaigned yesterday:

South Carolina has shifted from persistently having one of the nation's lowest jobless rates to among the nation' highest since 2002 when Republicans gained control of the Statehouse and Governor's Mansion for the first time.

Everyone who wants to be SC, vote GOP. Everyone else, don't.

And by the way, Governor Perry, if "government doesn't create jobs", what exactly have you been doing for the last 26 years?

Would Governor Perry mind sharing how much his little experiment cost the people of Texas? Seeing as how he's on the state's health insurance policy.

Yep, that's the GOP all over - no money for basic antibiotics for the poor, but all the $$$ in the world for experimental treatments to cure a rich back that interferes with a golf swing.

The comment about the last president ruining the country due to the collapse of banks is way off. Why do people on the left ignore that it was your politicians that pushed banks to loosen up credit and loan money to people that would fail. I guess you think that if you say it enough that people will believe you fibs. We have problems on both sides of them aisle but you guys have never seen a social program you don't love and don't care how much money you spend that we don't have. When you are in war you do not spend other money too.

@ Tomhan "When you are in war you do not spend other money too." - - And why are we in these wars which necessitates not spending money on programs that actually HELP people?

The Afghanistan war started in 2001. The Iraq war started in 2003, both under a Republican White-house. Both costly in soldiers' lives and to the US economy. If we weren't in either of those wars, there would actually be some money to help the people in THIS country. The "entitlements" which people have paid into their entire life and deserve because it's their money wouldn't even be on the table. It's not a social program if you fund it yourself (i.e. with our taxes paid on our checks, at the gas pumps, grocery stores, etc.). There would be more money in the coffers for education, infrastructure, etc.

RealAmerican - Exactly. How much did this "treatment" cost? Was it covered by his health insurance which is paid for by the people who aren't afforded health coverage of their own? Those who have to chose whether to keep the electricity on or eat? People can't get treatments for life saving procedures but Perry can get this on the tax payers' backs?

How much science does Obama know? Just about all of our elected officials are attorneys, from out the liberal arts side of school. Of the presidential candidates now running, the only one I know with an extensive medical or science education is Ron Paul.

nolasmalls... please correct me if I am wrong (lol with evidence) but wasn't an insurance policy the source of payment for Mr. Perry's surgery? If so he would have to have paid the premiums. Perhaps he could provide the name of his insurance policy which supported the procedure? Or perhaps he may have paid it out of pocket? His own income or assets?

He has personal experience of the effects of this treatment, and evidently it benefited him. Why should we ignore him?

Folks who have Medicare have to pay the premiums. In fact FICA itself is insurance and all of us who work joined with our employers to pay those premiums. (Many folks think FICA is an "entitlement" paid by the Feds. Simply not true. The Feds are supposed to "administer" the fund.)

Originally FICA was set up to protect the proceeds from us, for us, who paid that premium. The fund was sacrosanct and could not be invaded.

Yet, the fund was indeed encroached upon for "loans to the feds" to finance their pet projects. And since those projects were paid by our taxes, the whole intent of the FICA fund was violated. Double payments if you think about it with our trad-trillion debt, and now Mr. Obama wants to REDUCE our coverage???? Our so-called "benefits"? Sheesh. He announced that himself.

Perhaps I am in the wrong thread... (it seems politics has, indeed, raised its unfortunate head under "health").

But if misrepresented it must be questioned... whether here or in a political genre. O, if some of you have forgotten... FICA stands for Federal INSURANCE Contributions Act.

aka Social Security.

Tomhan -- Under Bush, there wasn't a Republican sponsored program that did not get approved. They were spending left and right and damn the consequences. They got us into an illegal and very expensive war and damn the consequences. Obama was left to deal with not only the financial consequences, but also with a bunch of scoundrels in Washington whose goal is "to see Obama fail." This attitude will be to the detriment of our country, which is sinking slowly into an abyss of poverty and decrepitude.

Perry is just crazy. He doesn't give me a thrill up my leg like Barry.

JHarrison5

hmmmm the problem being he is encouraging research that has not been validated as standard based research...? why would we want to encourage further hoo dooo voodoo? That is not ethical research. I would agree with u if it was standard based practice.

Ok, I am not one to defend Rick Perry, but on this issue, he has some good ideas. Go look at the cases of MLB pitchers Bartola Colon and C.J. Nitkowski. Both used new procedures with their own adult stem cells to help heal and repair damaged throwing arms. This process has been ruled 'legal' by MLB, even though it is similar in nature to HGH treatments in how it actually works.

I agree it might not be as good as it hyped to be, but until it is tested for many years, you won't know. If I am the governor, I want in on the prize before it is proven years from now. I would want the R&D dollars here, and then we would be the world leaders if it does pan out. Who wouldn't want that?

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2011/writers/the_bonus/08/02/nitkowski/1.html

I don't know anything about Rick Perry...don't care. He's a politician and that's all I need to know. However, stem cell research is not hoodoo, voodoo. It's cutting edge science. I applaude him for having the courage to be a medical pioneer.

Fact: Texans are among the least insured in the nation. Perry and his GOP cohorts don't want to burden business.

Fact: Republicans/Tea Party have concluded that only those who can pay should have any health care and therefore survive. The government should limit its activities to killing people (making wars, ignoring disease, allowing pollution)

Fact: Conservative credo is as long as you can profit at it, it ought to be encouraged.

A reasonable person could conclude that:

. . . America's health care will be determined by corporate interests, with little regard for science/medical research.

. . . Only the wealthy will get any type of care -- quack or quality makes no difference.

. . . The poor or middle class should stop worrying. They're expected to die with no health care available.

Feel better already?

Makes you wonder what good any peace, prosperity, or security will do us, if our lives are simply things to be bartered by the powers that be. We should be striving to have the highest quality lives overall, not just those who can 'afford' it. As a nation we are all entitled to the material wealth of the Earth, including much of the stuff that's been corralled off by those who own things, those who came before, those who inherited the spoils of conquest...

Some people will never understand it, but a certain amount of socialism is required to accomplish the ideals of our Constitution. And surely a healthy amount of regulation is needed to limit the freedoms of those who poison the water and air, and those who make food products that get contaminated by bacteria. Food, housing, education, security, and health care are the basics of life, and we should do all we can to ensure these things for our countrymen as much as possible. Personally I'm too poor to pay much in taxes, as I make only about $10K per year as an itinerant freelancer, and yet I give to charities and do outreach work. I'm sure many wealthy individuals likewise give to charity to help poor people. But corporate wealth, made as it is on the backs of individuals and by leveraging jailed resources, could do much more than even the biggest charities to improve the equity of the situation. In short, somehow a HEART must be IMPOSED on corporations, if they can't or won't VOLUNTARILY choose to be more giving and self-policing.

Economic dogmatism aside, it seems obvious that Capitalism needs to be reformed if it isn't serving us any more. There's no reason in 2011 why anyone should be uneducated and hungry - except a lack of will.

@Greg--

If you Google Arthur Caplan, you will find that he is NOT opposed to the medical use of stem cell therapies-- he only wants them to be tested and verified. Indeed, U Penn (where he works) has been conducting definitive research in this area for years-- but to date there have been some successes and some failures.

The real obstacle for Stem Cell research in the US is NOT Big Pharma but rather, the social conservatives who effectively froze virtually all Federal funding for stem cell research, linking it to abortion. For these individuals, the fact that the embryonic stem cells were derived from cells that were not used for In Vitro Fertilization and would have been destroyed otherwise, was beside the point. But as a result, embryonic stem cell research-- and virtually all other forms of stem cell research-- were prohibited from receiving Federal support for research purposes.

As a consequence, the US lost almost 15 years in the search for new procedures not only for embryonic stem cells, but also skin cells, umbilical stem cells, and most recently, stem cells derived from fat cells.

By the way, stem cell therapy is only one category of cell therapy, and one that is still in its infancy.

Hey Nitwit:

One thing about big Pharma you seem to miss is this:

If the procudure worked, they would be using it today---to make money. And it would, indeed, make money because---stay with me--it WORKS!

Perry, you and all the other Bible Humpers cannot--repeat Nitwit--cannot STOP progress and foward thinking.

Best of luck to you and Jesus.

No no no!! Never hooray for Rick Perry! I am a Texan, and I, as are most well adjusted Texans, aware that most of the country believes Texas and Texans are just stupid. Flat out. Rick Perry does nothing but perpetuate that MYTH. Granted the state did vote him into office, but look at the Texans the country has voted into the White House in the past. Do we really want another president that can't find his a$$ with both hands?

nunya... with respect, yours must be a minority opinion (that is not an insult ... we need to hear both sides... if supported by evidence).

But I think we must speak for ourselves (and nothing wrong with that). Don't just name-call others who do not agree with us.

I couldn't help but think that Mr. Perry must have had a majority vote in his state, and that is significant of trust in him by most of the voting Texans. I think that implying that the majority voters are not well-adjusted simply does not make sense to me.

Denigrating previous presidents doesn't really wash. "Not even God can change the past." If you have presidential concerns, I think you might consider voting against Mr. Obama in the next election.

Heh...you better hope those analogous cells magically know where to go (the injured back tissue) and don't set-up shop somewhere else, aka: CANCER. Perry is a fool, and this is just a stunt to bolster his "religious/no fetal stem cells" cred with the lunatic Right. *YAWN* When will this clown stop appearing in 50% of articles and 90% of broadcast news? It's tiresome.

Romney is an empty suit and corporate stooge.

And Perry is an empty stooge in a corporate suit.

lol. Nice.

Tim@4.2: Romney and Palin in 2012...........Sarah will supply the suit and she is full of stooge material

Of course what you have seen is any normal slanderous approach by the left leaning media to discredit a candidate that apposes their agenda

I need help getting over Perry's cuff-links. Do men really wear cuff-links every day? Silly thing to pick on, I realize, but one that sends a message to me that he's not, and never will be, "one of us".

I had no idea he wore cuff links, I guess I hate him now too...

I am going to take a guess and say you also believe vaccines are part of some sort of hidden aggenda? Don't get me wrong, there is plunty of things wrong with the medical establishment and pharmacutical companies, but your argument does not hold true in this instance. If this therapy worked, then big pharma would be all over it in order to cash in. Anyone who says, "Hooray for Governor Perry" is going to be hard pressed to find anyone who takes them seriously.

No, it didn't. Look, he sat out 2010 altogether because he was having pain in his shoulder. When you're not pitching, the inflammation subsides and disappears. That's what happened. So the Yankees signed him on the off chance that he might be at least somewhat effective. He was...until July. Halfway through the season this year his performance deteriorated dramatically and his great season has turned into the season of a washed up third rate pitcher. The same problem he had in 2009 is back.

Is that offer for Texas to secede still open?

There's a big difference between trying experimental medicine as a last resort to save your life and trying it to save your golf swing.

O Real American... I vote for you often, even in this article above. But... has it occurred to you that waiting would make it too late to help ... and he might lose the function of one arm?

I have osteoarthritis and I still feel blessed because it is not rheumatoid arthritis (which attacks the major important stuff inside us like heart, lungs, etc). Still, osteo hurts like the dickens. It's progressive and degenerative. I have not been informed there is anything discovered that would halt that.

It seems to me that Perry's golf swing is not the target. It's the advance of the condition that they hope to stop.

Give the delusions a rest. His ERA since the seventh of July is 6.48. That brilliant adult stem cell 'cure' didn't work. Last year, in which he didn't play at all - or apparently even work out, since he was 30 pounds overweight - allowed the inflammation to subside to the point at which he had no pain. After pitching half of the season very well, you can now stick a fork in him. In fact, sticking a fork in him would be every bit as effective as his stem cell therapy. Why is it that right-wingnuts are always so anxious to become obsessed with snake oil salesmen?

That's why they call it fantasy baseball, Chung.

MSNBC should state what Caplan should stand to gain for being their front man on this issue.

Note...Caplan mentioned nothing about a patients rights to determine their own treatment options. To that point he seems to indicate that people must be pretty ignorant as they are seeking care from "quacks". He did not mention that the protocol for HPV vaccines have changed since the Governor tried to cover the cost for all young women to receive an experimental treatment, at that time. The legislation failed because people did not feel the Government had a right to interfere with an issue that should remain between pediatrician and parent. The Governor accepted his erroneous stance in that legislation.

There is 'documentation' that it works. I have written 'documentation' that shows that the earth is both flat and square. Unfortunately, there is exactly ZERO SCIENTIFIC EVIDENCE that 'it' works. There is also abundant evidence that most of these snake oil treatments with adult stem cells absolutely do NOT work. But, of course, if you're a right-wingnut, you'll believe anything if the salesman tells you that 'elites' don't 'like' it.

The imminent danger faced by this country is the large population of uneducated fools who arrogantly believe themselves to be just as knowledgeable as the 'elites' they revile, just because they also believe that all opinions are not only created equal, but forever remain equal. What America needs is a stimulus program to fund the construction of tens of thousands of mental hospitals for our pathetically deranged right-wingnut lemmings.

Martel... LOL... and so right-wingers are nuts? And left-wingers are... hmmmm sanity personified?

Weeel... in my humble (I try to be humble ROFL) opinion... extremists on either side are candidates for "tens of thousands mental hospitals."

The extremes of behavior regardless of which side of the continuum they occupy are... lol... not the average behavior... not, that is, the usual which we usually call "normal."

Those who are extreme ... either side... are abnormal... from geniuses to idiots. neither can outnumber "average."

Another minimally educated individual who confuses the casual definition of 'theory' with the scientific definition of theory. Educate yourself and you may not appear to be quite so clueless.

Look, the quacks are NOT doing research. They're performing experiment on human subjects for pay without any sort of research controls. They are NOT scientists. They're 'businessmen' whose goal is to turn a profit. Do not insult me and other intelligent, educated people with your adoration of snake oil salesmen.

Look, he IS a creationist; he rejects evolution and the big bang theory in favor of the Bible. He is also a dominionist (who believes in the imminent rapture, followed by the war between Jesus and the devil in which Jesus needs our help to conquer most of the world and eliminate the non-Christians so that they won't be fighting on the side of the devil when He comes...I'm not joking about this AT ALL). He is also, just generally, dumb as a box of rocks according to Texas Republicans who have worked with him and think that George Bush is brilliant by comparison. According to college students who knew him at the time, his inability to learn, or lack of interest in learning, frequently prompted him to say things that were pretty much endlessly amusing to most of the other students who knew him.

Look, the author listed just a few of the things which make poor Perry seem to be a loon. He didn't say, or imply, that he believed in creationism because he believes in the efficacy of adult stem cells. Perhaps you should read with a greater desire to comprehend. In any case, if you think that we should fire rockets from predator drones at people in the desert near the border, and if you think that we should invade Mexico to wage war on the drug gangs, by all means vote for Perry. Just know that Perry in the White House would be the end of America as a significant entity. We wouldn't be in a much worse position if we elected a marmoset to the presidency.

Nancy... well written ... objective... and I like what you said. All of it. For what that is worth.

Martel, I fear you are off the real subject. You condemn Perry for a personal philosophy which has nothing to do with the issue, which is scientific research for medical purposes, not a religious issue.

Well said, Nancy!

More research is needed into stem cell therapy and will ultimately separate the truth from the crap. What doesn't work is as significant as what does when gathering data.

Anecdotal 'evidence' is not, as you SHOULD know, actual evidence. Also, 'treatment' of human subjects with unproven methods is NOT science. There is nothing in the article/blog which condemns adult stem cell RESEARCH. If you believe otherwise, you should read it again...more carefully.

Well, in this case, it is not "government" it is scientific evidence. And this really has very little to do with government, unless he (Perry) is on Medicare. The fact it, it is insurance companies-private businesses-who make these decisions for most of us. Not government. Whether they will pay for a procedure or not. For Gov. Perry, the question is not just-why this treatment? That is his choice. I have no problem with that choice. To me, the question is: who paid for it?

Read it. He paid for it. Ya think he might be able to afford it.

Prayer 'does work' too. Often for the same reason. The difference between science and the snake oil industry is the scientific method. Because most people refuse to accept that there is any difference at all, this country is in rapid decline moving toward imminent collapse. Prepare for that.

By the way, you should check out those cave man public schools and compare them to any of the other states on the border (or facing the Gulf) with the hordes of children of illegal immigrants, many of whom have problems with English, and compare graduation rates. You might be surprised.

http://economix.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/06/02/graduation-rates-by-state-and-race/

Paul I agree... with your first half of your post.

sigh and maybe I am guilty of the same... but you do seem to get off subject in the last half... you turn it into a political issue. It isn't. We do not look at a person's job to define him (unless it is evil and harmful of others, like the gang mentality).

But you do have a good mind... if you could stem emotions a bit more.