Honey, I shrunk the kids!

After intense debate the U.S. House of Representatives passed a bill that would expand public funding for embryonic stem cell research - a bill President Bush threatened to veto. Stem cell research has been touted by scientists as a possible step toward finding cures for diseases and afflictions including Alzheimer's, cancer and paralysis. The threatened veto would be the first of Bush's presidency.

Bush said the bill "violates the clear standard I set four years ago." Bush claims the research destroys life because embryos are destroyed in the process. Majority Leader Tom DeLay said before the vote it would be wrong for the government to finance "medical research predicated on the destruction of human embryos."

"An embryo is a person," DeLay said. "This bill tramples on the moral convictions of an awful lot of people who don't want their tax dollars to be spent for killing innocent human life," said the Texas Republican.

I think we should hold them to that standard. Let's count frozen embryos as tax deductions for being dependents. Let's count them in the census for congressional representation purposes. Don't forget welfare and child care credits. And each will have to get a social security number. Can't wait for the insurance industry to oppose life insurance for the little blastocysts. If this all sounds insane - it is. Just like Tom DeLay and W.