NJ newspaper endorses "not best" candidate
philly.com wrote on 1 Nov 09:
In an editorial published Sunday [1 Nov 09], the newspaper said Independent Chris Daggett has run an admirable and credible campaign and is the strongest candidate in Tuesday's election. But it also feels he cannot win the race, citing recent polls.
So, the newspaper wrote, they had to choose between Corzine, a Democrat, and Republican challenger Chris Christie.
"It's not a nice choice ... but to limit the choices to those who can win, the incumbent is the better pick," the editorial stated.
IPBiz asks: why not the best?
The Newark Star-Ledger did endorse Daggett. In a follow-up, the Ledger wrote:
Unfortunately, only Daggett has treated voters and taxpayers to this truth. His recipe for dealing with the looming $8 billion budget hole is far from complete. But he alone among the three major candidates avoided promises that can’t be kept. And he alone has offered anything like a coherent plan to curb the runaway rise in local property tax rates that generates so much of the anger and cynicism about politics, politicians and state government.
Daggett would cut property taxes up to 25 percent or a maximum of $2,500 — but only for homeowners in municipalities that keep annual property tax rate increases at or below the inflation rate.
He’d thus put the onus for capping property taxes where it belongs — with local officials. They’d finally be compelled to chose between bowing to the perpetual demand of public employee and teacher unions for pay and benefit increases and the local homeowners forced to foot the bill.
Unlike his major-party rivals, Democratic Gov. Jon Corzine and Republican Chris Christie, Daggett makes no pretense of continuing the infamous homeowner rebates — a shameless scam in which the state takes taxpayer money with one hand and, good Samaritan that it is, gives some of it back with the other.
It’s the kind of deal you might expect from any three-card monte dealer in Manhattan.
LBE has likened patent reform to three card monte.
Jaffe/Lerner again: patent reform as three card monte?
See also
"Twittering taco trucks," or was that patent reform?
http://ipbiz.blogspot.com/2009/02/financial-guys-and-patents.html
**Of course, there is another dimension. From news.yahoo:
With so much involvement in so few races, Obama raised the stakes of a low-enthusiasm off-year election season.
Thus, any Democratic losses would be a blot on Obama's political standing to some degree and would signal trouble ahead as he seeks to achieve his policy goals, protect Democratic majorities in Congress and expand his party's grip on governors' seats next fall.
to californiastemcellreport on 17 Nov 09-->
In analyzing decisions to make an initial grant, or to continue it, reviewers are often guided by subjective criteria influenced by their own experience and personal network. In looking at a post below:
“Reviewers stated that the resources and investigators are outstanding and the team is superb, both scientifically and in therapy development. The Disease Team comprises a collaboration between two complementary groups, one academic and one corporate. Each brings unique expertise to the project, with the academic group providing scientific know-how and proof of concept and the corporate group providing expertise in biologics development and commercialization. The team leaders are accomplished, highly productive investigators with a demonstrated track record in the field of HIV research, gene therapy, and/or clinical drug development. Key members of this team made the initial scientific observations leading to their hypothesis and demonstrated proof of concept in tissue culture and relevant models. A subset of the team has direct experience with a gene therapy trial in humans.”
I noticed the formulaic, cookie-cutter, tagging of superficially objective favorable points, which likely could be applied to almost all CIRM academic applicants. One wonders how the Wright Brothers, or any "outsider" with step-out ideas, would fare in this regime. The collected wisdom of academics is generally to promote minor variations of the status quo. The Cooke experience suggests that "changing directions" will not be rewarded in the CIRM regime.
Of course, I'm in New Jersey, where Corzine's attempts to brand his opponent, Governor-elect Christie, as anti-stem cell, didn't resonate. Promises to the public to deliver research results in ten years simply are not credible. Micro-managing research to this end is silly, and, at best, will achieve politically-inflated, but otherwise micro-results.
**UPDATE
In the end, Corzine spent about $25 million of his own money.
He got about 1 million votes, thus spending about $25 per vote. Corzine out-spent his opponent 2 to 1, and still managed to lose in a heavily Democratic state.
In an editorial published Sunday [1 Nov 09], the newspaper said Independent Chris Daggett has run an admirable and credible campaign and is the strongest candidate in Tuesday's election. But it also feels he cannot win the race, citing recent polls.
So, the newspaper wrote, they had to choose between Corzine, a Democrat, and Republican challenger Chris Christie.
"It's not a nice choice ... but to limit the choices to those who can win, the incumbent is the better pick," the editorial stated.
IPBiz asks: why not the best?
The Newark Star-Ledger did endorse Daggett. In a follow-up, the Ledger wrote:
Unfortunately, only Daggett has treated voters and taxpayers to this truth. His recipe for dealing with the looming $8 billion budget hole is far from complete. But he alone among the three major candidates avoided promises that can’t be kept. And he alone has offered anything like a coherent plan to curb the runaway rise in local property tax rates that generates so much of the anger and cynicism about politics, politicians and state government.
Daggett would cut property taxes up to 25 percent or a maximum of $2,500 — but only for homeowners in municipalities that keep annual property tax rate increases at or below the inflation rate.
He’d thus put the onus for capping property taxes where it belongs — with local officials. They’d finally be compelled to chose between bowing to the perpetual demand of public employee and teacher unions for pay and benefit increases and the local homeowners forced to foot the bill.
Unlike his major-party rivals, Democratic Gov. Jon Corzine and Republican Chris Christie, Daggett makes no pretense of continuing the infamous homeowner rebates — a shameless scam in which the state takes taxpayer money with one hand and, good Samaritan that it is, gives some of it back with the other.
It’s the kind of deal you might expect from any three-card monte dealer in Manhattan.
LBE has likened patent reform to three card monte.
Jaffe/Lerner again: patent reform as three card monte?
See also
"Twittering taco trucks," or was that patent reform?
http://ipbiz.blogspot.com/2009/02/financial-guys-and-patents.html
**Of course, there is another dimension. From news.yahoo:
With so much involvement in so few races, Obama raised the stakes of a low-enthusiasm off-year election season.
Thus, any Democratic losses would be a blot on Obama's political standing to some degree and would signal trouble ahead as he seeks to achieve his policy goals, protect Democratic majorities in Congress and expand his party's grip on governors' seats next fall.
to californiastemcellreport on 17 Nov 09-->
In analyzing decisions to make an initial grant, or to continue it, reviewers are often guided by subjective criteria influenced by their own experience and personal network. In looking at a post below:
“Reviewers stated that the resources and investigators are outstanding and the team is superb, both scientifically and in therapy development. The Disease Team comprises a collaboration between two complementary groups, one academic and one corporate. Each brings unique expertise to the project, with the academic group providing scientific know-how and proof of concept and the corporate group providing expertise in biologics development and commercialization. The team leaders are accomplished, highly productive investigators with a demonstrated track record in the field of HIV research, gene therapy, and/or clinical drug development. Key members of this team made the initial scientific observations leading to their hypothesis and demonstrated proof of concept in tissue culture and relevant models. A subset of the team has direct experience with a gene therapy trial in humans.”
I noticed the formulaic, cookie-cutter, tagging of superficially objective favorable points, which likely could be applied to almost all CIRM academic applicants. One wonders how the Wright Brothers, or any "outsider" with step-out ideas, would fare in this regime. The collected wisdom of academics is generally to promote minor variations of the status quo. The Cooke experience suggests that "changing directions" will not be rewarded in the CIRM regime.
Of course, I'm in New Jersey, where Corzine's attempts to brand his opponent, Governor-elect Christie, as anti-stem cell, didn't resonate. Promises to the public to deliver research results in ten years simply are not credible. Micro-managing research to this end is silly, and, at best, will achieve politically-inflated, but otherwise micro-results.
**UPDATE
In the end, Corzine spent about $25 million of his own money.
He got about 1 million votes, thus spending about $25 per vote. Corzine out-spent his opponent 2 to 1, and still managed to lose in a heavily Democratic state.
posted by Lawrence B. Ebert at 10:29 AM
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