National Journal

Smart Ideas: Monkeying Around

Gregory Angelo, writing for the Washington Examiner

Animal research on monkeys has proven to be effective in the search for an HIV cure, something animal rights activists are turning a blind eye to. “Through animal research, scientists learned of SIV, a parallel disease to HIV, that monkeys experience. This discovery led to the first medicines for HIV patients. Given the similarities between SIV and HIV, animal research holds the promise of leading to an HIV cure accessible to all.” While it is “important to ensure animals used in research are treated as humanely as possible,” the possibility of ending HIV is worth the lives of some primates. The Editors, writing for the Los Angeles Times

Sales-tax exemptions on products like diapers and menstrual products are “gimmicks” that don’t make a real dent in helping working families with young children. “Piecemeal carve-outs” like these, which California Gov. Gavin Newsom is proposing in his budget, are “inefficient” at best and add to a confusing tax code. “Does the duchess of Sussex really need a tax break on nappies for Archie when she’s in town? Of course not. But she will get one, along with all other consumers-rich and poor alike-and as a result, state and local governments will have about $55 million a year less to spend on programs and services” like paid family leave, which Newsom is also pushing. California Gov. Gavin Newsom gestures towards boxes of tampons and diapers at a news conference on Tuesday after proposing to eliminate state sales tax on such products in his upcoming budget. Jim Geraghty, writing for National Review

“Since formally announcing his presidential run, Joe Biden has enjoyed leads in national polls of 21, 32, 30, 26, and 24 percentage points ahead of Bernie Sanders.” If this turns out to be a long march toward the nomination, “the ramifications will be hilarious. After all the talk of the most diverse group of candidates in American history, and for all the identity-politics obsession gripping the party, the Democratic nominee would be a (very) old, straight, white male.” And “attitudes of a septuagenarian rarely change much.” It would likely mean fewer bold policy proposals. But more importantly, for “some progressives, Biden winning the nomination would be almost as severe a defeat as Trump’s reelection. It would mean that the Alexandria Ocasio Cortezs, Ilhan Omars, and Rashida Tlaibs of the world were no more than newer versions of Maxine Waters, Sheila Jackson Lee, and Barbara Lee.”