Do it Yourself Project

Jason Steffans links to this piece

Silicon Valley tycoons, Nobel laureates and Hollywood celebrities are backing a measure on California’s Nov. 2 ballot to devote $3 billion to human embryonic stem cell experiments in what would be the biggest-ever state-supported scientific research program in the country....

Among those bankrolling the measure is Bill Gates, who contributed $400,000 on Monday. Silicon Valley tycoons such as Google investor John Doerr and eBay founder Pierre Omidyar have donated millions

Last I checked, Gates will be getting $3 billion from the Microsoft lump-sum dividend payment. If it's such a good idea, why not do it yourself? Why ask the poor folks in California to help pay for it?

Even if you get past the morality of the issue, this is cheeky. Gates could hit up his Silicon Valley buddies, even with their reduced PE ratios, and get a stem-cell start-up going if it were that promising an area.

No, he wants the citizens of Califonia to pick up the tab. It's easy to be generous with other people's money.

Comments

[Peter Sean Bradley]

It's obviously an attempt to divide the libertarian vote from the conservative vote.