WTF Has Obama Done? - Issue No. 008 - Scientific and Medical Research

Okay, okay, I didn't post an issue of "WTF Has Obama Done?" yesterday, but it was the Superbowl and Madonna at half-time, can you really blame me? LOL.  There's going to be days I'll probably miss "here and there," because of personal events in my life, but I will continue posting them until election day, I promise.

In the last 7 issues I brought up the top 7 most important issues concerning Americans today - Civil Rights, Health Care, Immigration, our Military, Taxes, the Economy, and Foreign Policy.  I listed all of our President's achievements in regard to his broad policies and targeted actions for each topic.  I included an excerpt from each reference and listed the sources for each.

In today's issue I will cover 3 of the President's broad policies concerning Scientific and Medical Research.

WTF-20

Removed restrictions and provided support for embryonic stem-cell research and new biomedical research.

Pledging that his administration will “make scientific decisions based on facts, not ideology,” President Obama on Monday lifted the Bush administration’s strict limits on human embryonic stem cell research. [Reference-1]

"I believe that the restrictions that President Bush has placed on funding of human embryonic stem cell research have handcuffed our scientists and hindered our ability to compete with other nations. As president, I will lift the current administration’s ban on federal funding of research on embryonic stem cell lines created after August 9, 2001 through executive order ... .." [Reference-2]

"In recent years, when it comes to stem cell research, rather than furthering discovery, our government has forced what I believe is a false choice between sound science and moral values," Obama said at the White House.   In this case, I believe the two are not inconsistent. As a person of faith, I believe we are called to care for each other and work to ease human suffering. I believe we have been given the capacity and will to pursue this research -- and the humanity and conscience to do so responsibly." [Reference-3]

Launching a dramatic expansion of government support for one of the most promising but most contentious fields of biomedical research, the National Institutes of Health on Wednesday authorized the first 13 lines of cells under the administration's policy...[Reference-4]

WTF-21

Extended the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology.

By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, and in order to establish an advisory council on science, technology, and innovation, it is hereby ordered as follows:

The President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST) is hereby established. The PCAST shall be composed of not more than 21 members, one of whom shall be the Assistant to the President for Science and Technology (the ‘‘Science Advisor’’), and 20 of whom shall include distinguished individuals and representatives from sectors outside of the Federal Government appointed by the President. These nonfederal members shall have diverse perspectives and expertise in science, technology, and innovation. The Science Advisor shall serve as a Co-Chair of the PCAST. The President shall also designate at least one, but not more than two, of the nonfederal members to serve as a Co-Chair of the PCAST with the Science Advisor. [Reference-1, Reference-2]

President Barack Obama said, "This council represents leaders from many scientific disciplines who will bring a diversity of experience and views. I will charge PCAST with advising me about national strategies to nurture and sustain a culture of scientific innovation."

PCAST will be co-chaired by John Holdren, Assistant to the President for Science and Technology and Director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy; Eric Lander, Director of the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard and one of the principal leaders of the Human Genome Project; and Harold Varmus, President and CEO of Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, former head of the National Institutes of Health and a Nobel laureate. [Reference-3]

WTF-22

Supported Landsat Data Continuity Mission to enhance earth mapping.

Landsat is a satellite program, jointly run by NASA and the U.S. Geological Survey, that has been used for climate research, natural resources management, land development, public safety, homeland security and disaster recovery. It has operated for more than 25 years, with two satellites — Landsat-5, launched in 1984, and Landsat-7, launched in 1999 — still in orbit. But they are operating beyond their planned life and are subject to failure.

To ensure that the program survives, NASA and USGS are developing the Landsat Data Continuity Mission, or LDCM, which is planning to launch a spacecraft in December 2012, according to the Congressional Research Service.  [Reference]

As promised, I will come back to this topic in another issue.  Please make sure to read Issue No. 009 as I continue with WTF-23
Posted daily or weekly on BLADE 7184 until Election Day!