Right idea, wrong issue

Frequently we see the spectacle of disgustingly rich people shilling for the govt to spend more money on their pet issues. Yeah, that's it - next time you see somebody who needs some money, send a check to Washington. Or the UN.

Andy Grove, the head of Intel, is taking a step in the right direction.

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Intel Corp. Chairman Andy Grove will donate $5 million to the University of California-San Francisco to boost studies in the controversial field of stem cell research, university officials announced on Thursday.

Embryonic stem cell research is controversial, and many would like to see it banned, especially when there are many research opportunities with non-embryonic stem cells. So why force people who disagree with this morally to pay for it too?

Besides, if Mr. Grove's $5 million donation went through the sticky hands of govt bureaucrats en route to the researchers, how much of it do you suppose would be left when it got there? And if he spent it to lobby politicians to spend money on stem cell research, he might get a huge payoff, but he might also get nothing at all.

Eliminate the middlemen, especially if they're the govt.