Californians waking up to CIRM funding issues?

Terri Somers, a cheerleader for CIRM in the past, noted potential problems for continued CIRM funding:

Because taxpayers voted to allow the institute to spend $3 billion to support stem cell research, the state is obligated to pay the grants it issues, said Robert Klein, the institute's chairman.

However, Klein said the institute's board is mindful that the funding source for the state's programs – the sale of bonds – has been turned off because Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and the Legislature have been unable to agree on a budget that deals with the state's projected $40 billion deficit.

Rather than wait for the state to issue bonds again – at which time there will be a multibillion-dollar backlog of bonds to be sold – the institute will seek private investors to lend it the money, Klein said.

Somers had an interesting quote: “What really happened here is that it came home for the first time just how absolutely dire the state's financial situation is,” John Simpson of the nonprofit Consumer Watchdog organization said after the board meeting in Burlingame.[29-30 Jan. 09] Simpson, when Consumer WatchDog was known as FTCR, launched the ill-fated re-exam of WARF stem cell patents.

About one year ago, in a post titled To Arnold: we are not jealous; CIRM is all yours!, IPBiz had text:

The [California] governor cited the $3 billion stem cell agency and its three-year-old grant program, the largest research effort for human embryonic stem cell research in the world.

"The rest of the world is somewhat jealous," he said.

Schwarzenegger added, "It's all about job creation."

IPBiz noted to californiastemcellreport and Schwarzenegger: We are not jealous. Our feeling is "better you than us." In a period of a bad economy, giving a few expensive jobs to researchers is not the job creation that will really help. IPBiz is more concerned about the "false pretenses" passed off on California Proposition 71 voters concerning patent royalties. That now seems to be "gone with the wind."

Hmmm, how could IPBiz recognize a bad economy one year before CIRM and Simpson??

IPBiz did not need a weatherman to understand how the wind was blowing when Jerseyans rejected the stem cell bond vote in 2007. Even Jon Corzine "sort of" got the message: Gov. Jon S. Corzine admitted voters sent Trenton a strong message about no more massive borrowing What took the guys in California so long to figure things out???

See also

http://ipbiz.blogspot.com/2007/11/stem-cell-bond-failure-it-was-buildings.html

http://ipbiz.blogspot.com/2007/11/new-jersey-voters-reject-bond-measure.html

http://ipbiz.blogspot.com/2007/11/on-californias-cirm-unwieldy-dinosaur.html

http://ipbiz.blogspot.com/2006/03/stem-cell-politics-obscuring-real.html

Some time ago IPBiz referred to californiastemcellreport as being a sort of
an anachronism. We are beginning to see "how much." And taxpayers are catching up to
the problems with CIRM. Maybe there should be a re-vote on Proposition 71. It likely would
be defeated by a larger margin than in Jersey in 2007.

***UPDATE

A curious post says polls prior to the NJ vote suggested the stem cell funding would lose.
IPBiz believes various polls suggested a win, right up to the end. As in California, the
pro-stem cell people outspent the anti's.

The stemcellbiology blog should read IPBiz-->

http://ipbiz.blogspot.com/2007/11/star-ledger-fails-to-rationalize.html:

a Rutgers-Eagleton poll in October 2007 found that by a 56%-37% margin, likely voters would support a $450 million bond referendum question to fund stem cell research.

It might appear that the stemcellbiology blog was pushing propaganda.