An effort has been launched in the state Legislature that could cripple dozens of research projects in Wisconsin and exile that work to other states - work that may lead to new therapies for such dreaded diseases as diabetes and heart disease.
Identical bills introduced by Republicans in the state Assembly and Senate would make it a crime for researchers in Wisconsin to use cells derived from fetal tissue. A ban would put an end to research in labs at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and the Medical College of Wisconsin and would almost certainly lead to an exodus of both scientists and the companies that are putting their research to work.
Sometimes I think Republicans are really intent on just screwing over Madison. Last month I found this interesting map showing where venture capital went during the first half of this year. Check out Madison.
And here's Milwaukee, the only other Wisconsin city on the map.
Little old Madison garnered $44 million in venture capital over the course of the first six months of this year while the entire Milwaukee area got only $8 million. (I wonder how much of this money came here because of Walker's policies.) Now the Republican assholes in the state legislature want to put that in jeopardy. I thought we were open for business.
I now await Scott Walker's seneschal Cullen Werwie to tell me how banning various lines of research and driving it to California and elsewhere will create more certainty for businesses in the state. And I suppose it would, in a sense. Some biomedical companies can be absolutely dead certain that their business is not wanted here. But how much certainty can other businesses expect when Wisconsin's government apparatus simply careers from one special interest to the next? The road builders got their turn at the trough, then the realtors, then the NRA, then Miller-Coors, and so on. Now it's time for Julaine Appling, an awful woman who is counting the days until she can start up her coal-fired Jack Rabbit and bring herself to orgasm while watching gay people fry in the electric chair, to get hers.
I guess the only way to get some certainty is to contribute money to campaigns.
Tom Still, president of the Wisconsin Technology Council, and UW chancellor David Ward have both made their opposition to the bills public.
The last word goes to Jesus and Mo:
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