Roman Reed vetoed but we are not defeated

It was a law that WE supported. That WE backed by sending emails and faxes.

In the end, despite all our efforts, the governor of California, Mr. Jerry Brown, vetoed the law. But he didn't simply veto a law, he let down the paralyzed. He didn't just let us down in words, he let us down by taking away about $3 million dollars from the cure paralysis war chest.

There is a lot of discussion about why he did it, and since I'm no expert on California politics, the source I trust for this information is Mr. Don Reed, whose son Roman Reed the bill is named after. In Mr. Reed's latest post on StemCell Battes (www.stemcellbattles.com) he has this to say in regards to Governor Jerry Brown's reasons.

"Why did Jerry Brown do it? He stood by his beliefs.  He does not approve of fee-based government, believing programs should be paid for by the General Fund, not traffic tickets, already so expensive a poor person may not be able to pay them at all.

I understand that position, and agree with it. 

But our program was funded by the General Fund, for $1.5 million a year.

Then, two years ago, due to the economy, our funding was removed.  

We either had to find a new way to pay for the program, or watch it die."

Mr. Reed is clear about the reasons why funding does not come from the general fund as it should and does not blame Governor Brown.

"Important: I do not hold a grudge against Jerry Brown. He has an impossible task to perform. There is not enough money in the General Fund. That is not his fault, and it is the reason our program's original funding was removed.

Here is the problem.

Republicans have gamed the system. It has become virtually impossible to raise taxes on the rich. In California, Proposition 13, (a citizen's initiative funded by anti-tax groups), made it illegal to raise taxes without a 2/3 majority. Since virtually all Republicans sign a no-new-taxes pledge, the needed 2/3 majority is virtually impossible to achieve. This must change.

I strongly support Governor Brown's tax increase on upper-income Californians. If programs like ours, or school budget increases, or anything at all progressive to have a chance, taxes on the wealthy must go up."

I am actually of the same opinion. We shouldn't have to rely on add ons to fund research that changes the lives of people, but the Reeds knew that without the $1 add on, research funding for a paralysis cure would suffer, and we the paralyzed and our family and friends will also continue suffering.

So, do we give up? The Reeds aren't and are ready to go back at it starting in January. I say that we all continue to back them. After having gone through a half year of this, we're smarter and more ready than ever to take on part III of this battle.

I urge you to sign up as a Cure Captain to make sure we're all spreading the word. Not only in our Roman Reed campaign, but with all the other campaigns we are involved in for paralysis cure.

If you have a moment, a fax to the Governor expressing a polite sorrow that the bill was killed, would really be helpful.

Here is the name & fax number.
Name:  Governor Jerry Brown
Fax:  (916) 558-3160

Here is what I'm writing. Please feel free to cut and paste.

Dear Governor Jerry Brown,

I must admit that I was quite shocked after hearing that you vetoed the Roman Reed law. I can understand your opposition to fee based funding, but for the paralyzed this is the only way to fund research at the moment. 

I hope that in the future we can work together to find better ways to fund paralysis cure research.

Sincerely,

Dennis Tesolat
Osaka, Japan

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