Tom McClintock, California State Senator

California State Senator Tom McClintock, who finished third in the 2003 recall election that put Arnold Schwarzenegger and Maria Shriver into the California Governor's Mansion, has already appeared once on California Politics Today, on September 16, 2004, when he denounced Proposition 71, the Stem Cell Initiative, as a "self-serving sham".

Senator McClintock returned to California Politics Today on the eve of the November 2, 2004, general election to re-iterate his strong opposition to this measure, which he denounced as "perhaps the worst ballot measure that we've seen over the past decade because of the precedent that it sets and the burden that it places on our children."

Saying that the passage of Proposition 71 would mean "open season on California taxpayers," Senator McClintock predicted that its enactment would open the floodgates for similar ballot initiatives featuring promises from energy companies for limitless cheap energy and nanotechnology companies for medical breakthroughs left behind by the stem cell initiative, all at similar, $3 billion-per, taxpayer expense.

Asked what recourse Californians would have should this measure, which is in the form of a state constitutional amendment, pass, Senator McClintock said that "they have the recourse of paying through the nose for this research for the next 35 years whether it pans out or not."

Senator McClintock criticized Proposition 71 on multiple grounds. He said it would enshrine in the state constitution violations of state law regarding conflict-of-interest that are now felonies. He said it would burden future generations with debt payments that would prevent them from spending money on medical research appropriate to their needs and future technologies.

He said that the passage of Proposition 71 would create a market for human eggs to be harvested from women. He said it would mean "either higher taxes or by taking money away from research in a wide range of other areas as well as all the other things that government does."

Private companies, such as Geron, would, he said "make out like bandits," while citizens will not even have the right to ask about what the research is buying.

The Senator said that one need not even consider the ethical arguments against embryonic stem cell research in order to see what a financial disaster it would be.

Saying there is "no guarantee of any tangible benefit" from Proposition 71, he said it will require about $660 from each California family to repay the debt it will generate.

Senator McClintock concluded by comparing the proponents of Proposition 71 to snake oil salesmen who come into town, take the townspeople's money, and leave them only poorer and hung over.

Even scoundrels like that, he admitted, didn't burden the townspeople's children with debt that would make it harder for them to take care of their own needs for 30 years into the future.

To listen to Senator Tom McClintock's thoughtful and scathing attack on Proposition 71, the Stem Cell Initiative, click here.