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Ray - Excellent post. I would urge you to forward a copy to the White House. George L. Bousliman ----- Original Message ----- From: "rayilynlee" <[log in to unmask]> To: <[log in to unmask]> Sent: Wednesday, April 15, 2009 5:00 PM Subject: Obama and Disability Community > What an amazing record in first 60 days!!!! > President Obama and the Disability Community > April 15, 2009 by diverdonreed > > OBAMA AND THE DISABILITY COMMUNITY > > 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 funds? 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. > > Rayilyn Brown > Director AZNPF > Arizona Chapter National Parkinson Foundation > [log in to unmask] > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- > To sign-off Parkinsn send a message to: > mailto:[log in to unmask] > In the body of the message put: signoff parkinsn ---------------------------------------------------------------------- To sign-off Parkinsn send a message to: mailto:[log in to unmask] In the body of the message put: signoff parkinsn