July 20, 2006 | By Nathaniel Ward

President Bush’s first veto

President Bush used his first veto yesterday to block an expansion of federal funding for embryonic stem-cell research.

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After five-and-a-half years in office, President Bush yesterday issued his first veto, blocking a bill to provide additional federal funding for stem-cell research. President Bush initiated federal funding of such research in 2001.

Perhaps now the President can use his veto pen on other proposals, such as those weighed down with excessive waste of taxpayer dollars, those which impose burdensome regulations and those that expand the welfare state.

Another federal subsidy?

As Heritage President Ed Feulner wrote last May, “federal involvement usually means an approach has failed.” The federal government has a long history of picking winners and losers, thereby stifling free enterprise and innovation. For example, the government has funded farmers whose crops aren’t profitable and propped up manufacturers whose products are being made better and cheaper elsewhere.

Federal subsidies for embryonic stem-cell research are no different. This funding would replace private investment in that area of research, investments which have been drying up as investors move to more promising lines of scientific inquiry. Feulner elaborated as follows:

[I]t doesn’t make a lot of sense to force taxpayers to pour money into a project that private investors have largely avoided, especially when that project isn’t generating any results. It would make more sense to concentrate on stem-cell work that has proven productive and holds real promise for treating and curing disease.

If individuals, companies, universities or even state governments want to fund such research, there is nothing stopping them. California plans to spend some $3 billion on stem-cell research, including embryonic stem-cell research. In the spirit of federalism, other states may follow suit, if that’s what their voters want.

If embryonic stem cell research were as promising as some suggest, private industry would be falling over itself to fund it and thereby reap the financial rewards, Feulner concluded. That this is not the case suggests that a subsidy for such research should be reconsidered.

Heritage’s immediate impact

Heritage’s timely research and analysis continues to influence the debate on Capitol Hill. On Wednesday morning at 11:45, Heritage’s Ron Utt released a new paper on the need for reforming the Army Corps of Engineers to improve its performance. At 4:50 pm, Sen. John McCain quoted from Utt’s paper on the Senate floor during a debate on precisely this subject.

• Watch the video of Sen. McCain reading from a Heritage Foundation report on the Senate floor

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America’s stake in Israel’s current war

Several members have written in asking what interest the United States has in the current conflict. In a new paper, Heritage’s Ariel Cohen spells it out:

First, [America] needs to send a strong message to Iran that its policy of using terrorist proxies (Hezbollah and Hamas) to derail the multilateral diplomatic process to make the Iranian nuclear program transparent will not work.

Second, the U.S. and its allies have an interest in assuring that Hezbollah disarms, disperses, and ceases to exist as a terrorist militia…

Third, the U.S. wants to see stability in Lebanon and development of its democratic government. This means preventing foreign actors, such as Iran and Syria, from destabilizing it.

Finally, the U.S. is interested in limiting civilian casualties in Lebanon and Israel. For that to happen, Hezbollah must stop using civilians as human shields for its massive weapons caches, commanders, headquarters, and military targets and stop raining missiles on Israeli towns and villages, indiscriminately targeting civilians.

Cohen urges the United States to avoid imposing any premature cease-fire on Israel. “Israel has the right and duty to defend itself until its security is ensured and Lebanon’s future is safe from Hezbollah’s provocations,” he explains. Instead, the United States should work with Israel and Lebanon to ensure a lasting peace, which includes the disarmament of Hezbollah and their removal from the border with Israel.

In other news

• Illegal immigrants marched in Chicago yesterday to demand that the government not enforce the law.
• France’s “Solidarity Tax,” collected from the very wealthiest on top of already-high income and investment taxes, is driving innovators out of the country, Heritage’s Andrew Grossman reports.
• Iran says it will formally respond to a proposal to end its nuclear program at the end of August.
• The American Press Association reports that Venezuela’s authoritarian leader, Hugo Chavez, is cracking down on media that oppose his regime.
• All North American hotels owned by Marriott International, Inc., will become smoke-free starting later this year, the company announced yesterday. Several restaurant chains and now a major hotel chain have voluntarily prohibited smoking in their establishments. So why do certain local governments continue to press for mandatory smoking bans?

Coming up at Heritage

To attend these or any other Heritage Foundation events, RSVP at Heritage’s events website. Or you can watch these events live online at Heritage.org. All times are Eastern.

• On Friday, July 21 at 11:00 am, Heritage hosts a discussion with energy, technology, and national security experts on how to secure America’s energy supply and meet growing needs.
• On Monday, July 24 at 11:00 am, Assistant Secretary of Homeland Security Stewart Baker joins policy experts from Heritage and other organizations for a discussion of how to improve U.S. visa policy to strengthen our public diplomacy.

Nathaniel Ward is the Editor of MyHeritage.org—a website for members and supporters of The Heritage Foundation.

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