The California Stem Cell Program's Paucity of Critics

Despite its billions, CIRM is little known to the public and even potential opponents

Partial screenshot from the Independent Institute.

Ever wonder who and where are the sharpest critics of California’s $12 billion stem cell and gene therapy program? That’s because few exist in the usual public arenas.

However, K. Lloyd Billingsley is one. Billingsley is a policy fellow at the Independent Institute in Oakland, Ca. The institute is a non-profit enterprise whose board of advisors includes Lawrence Kudlow, who served for three years as director of Trump’s director of the National Economic Council.  Wikipedia describes the Independent Institute as a libertarian think tank. 

According to the institute, Billingsley is a book author and former editorial director of the Pacific Research Institute. His columns have appeared in a number of publications.

The institute’s headline on a Billingsley piece last month read:

“California’s Billion-Dollar Stem Cell Initiatives End in Failure

“Twenty years of false promises and white coat waste”

In the article, Billingsley minces no words.