Speaking as a scientist, we are not objective when it comes to bioethical concerns. I myself work on genetically engineering plants for improved crop characteristics. While I personally feel the technology has much to offer, I'm aware that I have tremendous bias when it comes to the ethical debate. President Obama's statement that politics should get out of the way of science belies his over confidence in scientists. The ethical decisions over embryonic stem cell research should not be left to those actually killing the embryos. We scientists get numb to what we do. Presidents Clinton and Bush had this one right.

Why does it cost so much to run our government? This is a question asked time and time again but I never hear a satisfactory answer. After working in government for 4 years I can now give you the answer. But as with everything it's complicated. First, Congress and the Executive branch have been slowly taking away operational authority from all government agencies. Congressional spending is highly specific, often in the form of so-called earmarks that mandate a specific agency to spend money on a specific pet project. This ties the hands of agency directors which have limited ability to redirect funds or use them more efficiently. Second, our government sets very high employment standards that are monitored by reams of government red tape. Ethics training, sensitivity training, security training, etc., etc. etc. is mandated for all employees. Aside from being political cover, these activities are useless, costly, and wasteful. Finally, and most important, annual baseline budgeting is killing us. Each year every agency must spend all of the money they get or it will be cut the next year. This means a spending spree at the end of every year. All of the government vendors know it and rely on it. It is so wasteful. It discourages efficiency and their is absolutely no incentive to save money or reduce costs. I could list a number of other reasons as well but these are the major points.

While Obama is not George Bush it appears he did learn a few lessons from him. After 911 Bush used the power of the presidential pulpit to take us to war in Iraq. Whether or not you agree with the war, it seems clear that the administration exaggerated the evidence to gain support for the war. Now president Obama is doing the same, but this time it's the economy. Pushing through a Democratic wish list of partisan policies that are less about the economy and more about ensuring dominance of the Democratic Party for years to come. At least George Bush had the interest of our country in mind.