Stem Cell Research Information + Impact

Messages In This Digest (1 Message)

1.: PRESIDENT OBAMA AND THE DISABILITY COMMUNITY by Don C. Reed From: Stephen Meyer

View All Topics | Create New Topic

Message

1.: PRESIDENT OBAMA AND THE DISABILITY COMMUNITY by Don C. Reed

Posted by: "Stephen Meyer" Stephen276@comcast.net stephen_meyer_stemcells

Wed Apr 15, 2009 5:46 am (PDT)

PRESIDENT OBAMA AND THE DISABILITY COMMUNITY

by Don C. Reed

Before my son Roman received a spinal cord injury, I never gave much
thought as to what it meant to be disabled. I was polite, of course. If
I met a person in a wheelchair, I just went around. But what was it like
to be denied the use of one's limbs? Or to be unable to hear? Aside
from an occasional movie, like the "The Miracle Worker", Helen
Keller's true story of being both blind and deaf, the subject never
seemed to come up.

Disability was just a word.

Then, in an instant, everything changed. Roman became paralyzed, and he
(and indirectly his family) became part of the disability community.

I had no idea how many citizens with disabilities there were.

According to the most recent U.S. Census, roughly one in five Americans
has a disability: meaning she or he has difficulty with everyday
activities: like breathing, or seeing, or getting dressed in the
morning.

The disability community is America's largest minority—even
without their families! If organized, we can win any election.

This vast potential power has not gone unnoticed.

During the 2008 Presidential campaign, Sarah Palin and John McCain tried
to rally the disability community against the Democratic party. Their
campaign stated that Obama's tax plan would hurt disabled people, by
taxing families who had set up trust funds for their special needs
family members.

That was a surprise to me. Trust fund? Most folks in the disability
community are poor: financially struggling to make ends meet. Even in
the best of times, unemployment for disabled workers is like the Great
Depression. When you are worried about scraping together enough money
to put food on the table, there is no extra cash for stocks or bonds or
any kind of trust fund.

I was glad to hear Obama spokespeople respond strongly. One advisor,
Jason Furman, called the attack a "blatant lie", saying that
Obama would work with the Treasury department to "make sure tax
rates do not…increase on any family making less than $250,000 a
year." Another (Bill Burton) said that Mr. Obama "has a
comprehensive plan to support families that have children with special
needs and empower individuals with disabilities." –Wall Street
Journal, Chozick and Timiraos, October 24, 2008.

Were they telling the truth?

Like millions of Americans, I was a volunteer worker for Obama, seeing
his leadership as crucial for the nation as a whole, and the disability
community in particular.

One of the people I worked with on the campaign was Kareem Dale. He was
in charge of outreach to the disability community. We never met, just
talked on phone conferences, where he was invariably calm and affable,
very focused and on top of the situation. I did not realize till much
later that he was blind.

So, after the campaign, did Mr. Dale go back to what he had been doing
before? Did the Obama campaign tell him, thank you very much, we
appreciate your support, see you next election?

Not exactly.

A new position was created in the White House.

And a few days ago, I received the following information from Kareem
Dale, now Special Assistant to the President for Disability Policy..

Kareem Dale may be visually challenged, but he sees deeply into the
problems of the disability community, and he is right there beside the
President, making sure our families will never be forgotten.

Remember the disability community saying, "Nothing about us, without
us"? Disability folks do not want occasional handouts, crumbs tossed
from the table—we want to be seated at the table of power,
contributing and participating when decisions are made.

The rest of this column is from Kareem Dale, listing some of the steps
the Obama Presidency has already taken in support of Americans with
disabilities.

ACCOMPLISHMENTS IN DISABILITY COMMUNITY IN FIRST 60 DAYS

SIGNINGS

* (President Obama) signed SCHIP, which will provide insurance to
millions of children, including children with disabilities.
* Signed stem cell Executive Order, which will open the door to
potential cures for many disabilities.
* Signed Christopher and Dana Reeve Paralysis Act, which will, for
the first time in history, bring together the best minds across the
country to collaborate on research, rehabilitation and improvement of
quality of life for people living with paralysis.

RECOVERY ACT

* People with disabilities were included as never before in the
recovery plan.
* Provided a one-time additional payment of $250 to people who
receive Social Supplemental Income.
* Provided $500 million to the Social Security Administration to help
reduce backlogs.
* Provided $87 billion in Medicaid funding for states.
* Provided $140 million in funding for independent living centers.
* Provided over $500 million in funding for vocational rehabilitation
services to help with job training, education and placement.
* Provided $12 billion in funding for the Individuals with
Disabilities Education Act.

APPOINTMENTS

* Appointed a Special Assistant to the President for Disability
Policy with responsibilities in the Domestic Policy Council and Office
of Public Liaison for the first time in history.
* Appointed a Special Assistant to the President in the White House
Office of Personnel to focus on disability appointments for the first
time in history.
* Appointed a Senior Advisor on Disability Policy in the Domestic
Policy Council for the first time in history.
* Nominated a person with a disability, Kathy Martinez, to be
Director of ODEP.
* Nominated Seth Harris, a long time disability advocate, to be
Deputy Secretary of Labor.
* Nominated Tom Perez, a long-time supporter of the disability
community, to head the Civil Rights Division of the Department of
Justice.

OUTREACH

* President hosted a greet with 10 disability leaders following the
signing of the Christopher and Dana Reeve Paralysis Act.
* Vice-President led a delegation to the Special Olympics.
* Included people with disabilities at all public White House events.
* Invited Carmen Jones, an African American woman with a disability,
to participate in the small group meeting with seven other small
business owners to discuss issues with the President facing small
business owners.
* Invited six leaders from the disability community to the signing of
SCHIP.
* Invited disability leaders to participate in the White House and
regional healthcare summits, including members of CCD, ADAPT, National
MS Society, mental health groups, autism groups and many other
disability groups across the country.
* Invited CCD to participate in the fiscal summit.
* Hosted outreach meetings with disability leaders and organizations.
* Hosting briefing and meeting for presidents of national disability
organizations.

Back to top
Reply to sender | Reply to group | Reply via web post
Messages in this topic (1)