Kathy Jo, you need to pay more attention to the news. how else will you
become an informed voter or citizen?

Tamar Mag Raine
[log in to unmask]
IM: tamarmag48
Oakland Mayor's Commission on People with disabilities


> [Original Message]
> From: Kathy Pink <[log in to unmask]>
> To: <[log in to unmask]>
> Date: 9/29/2004 7:37:19 AM
> Subject: Re: [DGV] Halting Progress for the Disabled (fwd)
>
> What's no child left behind?  Kathy
>
> Kathy Jo Pink
> [log in to unmask]
> AOL IM ScreenName:  kjptde
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: St. John's University Cerebral Palsy List
> [mailto:[log in to unmask]]On Behalf Of [log in to unmask]
> Sent: Wednesday, September 29, 2004 5:07 AM
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: Re: [DGV] Halting Progress for the Disabled (fwd)
>
>
> I disagree that Bush opposes the disabled! Besides starting "No child left
> behind" which has been very beneficial to advocate for children to be in
> regular
> classrooms instead of with children displaying violent behaviors, he has
> also
> started Classroon Plus with provides money reimbursement for summer
tutoring
> for these children which has also been beneficial for my son because the
> school district refuses to ever support summer tutoring programs for him.
> These
> have been necessary because he learns at a slower rate and it provides
some
> reinforcement and hopefully catch-up.
> Cindy
>
>
>
>
>
>
> In a message dated 9/29/2004 4:11:50 AM Eastern Standard Time,
> [log in to unmask] writes:
> Title of Article:
> Halting Progress for the Disabled
>
> Submitted By: Catherine Alfieri
> 7 Summer Tree
> Pittsford, NY 14534
> 585-586-1682
> Founder:
> Monroe County Women's Disability Network
> [log in to unmask]
> http://www.mcwdn.org
> VirtEd
> http://www.mcwdn.org/VirtEd2.html
> RochEd Online
> http://www.mcwdn.org/Roch/RochEd.html
> "See with your heart, Speak with your heart!"
>
> Written By:
> Albert R. Hunt
> Wall Street Journal
> Page A13
>
> Article:
> Even trite clich=E9s occasionally are on the mark; today, for 53 million
> disabled Americans the glass of life is both half-full and half-empty.
>
> A survey this summer by Harris Interactive of Americans with disabilities
> is disquieting: Only a little over one-third reported being employed, a
muc=
> h
> higher percentage than non-disabled say they face inadequate health care
or
> transportation or are less likely to eat out or attend religious services,
> and a majority express dissatisfaction with their lives. The political
> progress of the '90s seems to have slowed and some large corporations,
such
> as Wal-Mart, have abysmal records.
>
> Yet accessibility to transportation, education and even employment has
> improved around the country. Advocates for the disabled say slow progress
i=
> s
> being made with small businesses and some large corporations, such as
> Microsoft, which has worked assiduously to make its software accessible,
an=
> d
> Verizon, get high marks.
>
> This dichotomy springs from the promise of the landmark 1990 Americans
> with Disabilities Act (ADA). It doesn't surprise Andy Imparato, head of
the
> American Association of People with Disabilities. "It's useful to think of
> the ADA in two phases," he notes. "One is bricks and mortars;
> transportation, budget and telecommunications all are essentially more
> accessible. These are very tangible ways in which the ADA has enabled more
> disabled people to participate in society. But the rest is attitudinal; we
> still have a long way to go with how people think. We need much more
> dialogue, public education and positive experiences."
>
> This underscores the stakes in this year's presidential race. The ADA was
> pushed and signed into law by George Herbert Walker Bush in 1990 --
> overriding the objections of his chief of staff; he is a hero to many with
> disabilities. His son inexplicably has shown little interest in the issue
> and through executive actions and judicial appointments threatens to roll
> back much of his father's top domestic legacy.
>
> That would be tragic. The ADA has made America a much better place. Just
> look around and notice how differently those with disabilities are treated
> compared to a decade ago. (I have two sons, one of whom is disabled; the
> other was a CNN intern at last month's Democratic convention; two of his
> fellow interns were deaf.)
>
> Politically, the picture is mixed. In Congress, support for the disabled
> crosses party lines. There is no more important champion than Ted Kennedy,
> and there are Republican supporters like John McCain, not surprisingly,
but
> also staunch conservatives such as Congressman Pete Sessions in the House
> and Orrin Hatch in the Senate. Yet the GOP-run House leadership recently
> blocked a bill to provide more health-care services for lower income
> families with disabled children because it wasn't financed with offsetting
> budget cuts, an issue it ignored when a big tax cut for special interests
> sailed through.
>
> Some of the most notable champions are on the local level, including
> America's most notable Democratic and Republican mayors -- Chicago's
Richar=
> d
> Daley and New York's Michael Bloomberg. Mayor Daley has vowed to make
> Chicago "the most accessible city in the nation." His Disabilities office
i=
> s
> cabinet rank and no politician has worked more effectively with a
sometimes
> skeptical business community than Rich Daley. There are 149 Chicago
schools
> that are accessible today up from almost none when Mayor Daley took
office.
>
> In New York, advocates say, Michael Bloomberg was that city's first mayor
> to really reach out to those with disabilities. He has increased the
number
> of accessible taxicabs, made numerous buildings and sidewalks more
> accessible and pushed career exploration and job-shadowing programs.
>
> But there are other state and local officials as bad as Messrs. Daley and
> Bloomberg are good. At the top of that list is the newly elected governor
o=
> f
> Mississippi, Haley Barbour. Facing a budget squeeze, the former Republican
> Party chair, and tobacco lobbyist, rejected measures like increasing the
> state's small cigarette tax and instead is slashing Medicaid benefits for
> poorer Mississippians. For thousands of disabled, this means a reduction
in
> prescription drug benefits and access to necessary medical care and a loss
> of transportation services to those who need it.
>
> These cuts will be devastating for people like Traci Alsup, a 36-year-old
> Jackson, Miss., quadriplegic. She's scheduled to lose her prescription
drug
> coverage, amounting to about $800 a month or just about what she gets from
> disability payments; she'd face additional expenses from any
hospitalizatio=
> n
> and for her wheelchair. This would necessitate giving up her inexpensive
> apartment and having to move back to a nursing home: "I am full of anxiety
> and I'm depressed. This isn't right."
>
> In the presidential race, John Kerry hasn't said much -- there was no
> mention in his Boston acceptance speech -- and George W. Bush has been a
> disaster. Cutbacks in health care and housing proposed by the White House
> disproportionately affect those with disabilities. Five years ago the
> government set a goal to dramatically increase the number of disabled
> federal employees; there are less today than when this president first
took
> office. Tragically, he has choked off promising research with embryonic
ste=
> m
> cells that eventually could profoundly affect many disabilities.
>
> Mr. Bush rarely uses the presidential bully pulpit for public dialogue or
> education. "This White House considers us a nuisance, too high
maintenance,=
> "
> says one leading disabilities advocate.
>
> Bush judicial nominees, like Jeffrey Sutton and William Pryor, are openly
> hostile to the Americans with Disabilities Act, following the lead of
> Antonin Scalia; the Supreme Court justice, from the bench, refers to
people
> with disabilities as "handicaps," and belittles the notion they have basic
> rights. The High Court has eroded some of the ADA and on 5-to-4 votes
> narrowly upheld other parts. Many legal analysts believe that with any
> vacancies filled by Scalia wannabes the court may well gut the act.
>
> If you're blind, deaf or in a wheelchair, the stakes on Nov. 2 are
> enormous.
> ****************************************************
> The Author's views reflect only their opinion and do not necessarily
reflec=
> t
> that of The Disability Grapevine.
> ****************************************************