Bush Marks Disabilities Act Anniversary

[goobergunch]

By JENNIFER LOVEN
Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Bush marked the 13th anniversary Saturday of the Americans With Disabilities Act with a name change that reflects his efforts to promote equality for people suffering from mental illness.

Bush changed the name of the President's Committee on Mental Retardation to the President's Committee for People with Intellectual Disabilities the same week that a commission he created recommended a campaign to bring the mentally ill more into the mainstream.

"With changes in old ways of thinking, the development of new technologies and the federal government's firm commitment to equality, more and more people with disabilities continue to become full participants in the American life," Bush said in his weekly radio broadcast Saturday.

The federal advisory committee, established in 1966, advises the president and the secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services and coordinates between different federal agencies.

more...http://customwire.ap.org/dynamic/stories/B/BUSH?SITE=PAPHQ&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT

[revcarol]

1. Now that he and the Supremos have devastated almost the whole Act!!

Sometimes you just get these uncontrollable impulses to kick somone in the n***!!

[DemBones DemBones]

6. How true!

:evilgrin:

[KC]

2. He renamed it

to something that sure fits his own disability.
(People with Intellectual Disabilities )

KC

[twilight]

3. Another living LIE = the ADA

Helloooooooooooooooooo ..........

The ADA was passed during Bush #1. This 'law' or I should say "MANDATE" never was worth two hoots in hell and it is even worth less than that now. What a joke!

<The Americans With Disabilities Act was passed with overwhelming bipartisan support in 1990. The civil rights law forbids on-the-job discrimination against the disabled and mandates access to most public places such as restaurants, stores and businesses. It requires public buildings to have wheelchair ramps and restrooms equipped for use by the handicapped.

Recent Supreme Court decisions have narrowed the law's reach, strengthening employers' hands while making it more difficult or impossible for some workers to claim the law gives them special protection.>

This law NEVER protected disabled workers (even if the disability is on their little 'list') FYI!

Why bother to hype this? It isn't worth * now and wasn't worth * before!!!!!! Believe me, I KNOW! Been there done that already! :grr:

:kick:

[otohara]

5. ADA Does Not Protect

w/ work discrimination, been there myself. I do credit ADA for access.

[DemBones DemBones]

4. Bush* re-named a committee? That's nice. But the AP writer is

careless in her description. She writes:

"President Bush marked the 13th anniversary Saturday of the Americans With Disabilities Act with a name change that reflects his efforts to promote equality for people suffering from mental illness."

But her next paragraph reveals the truth:

"Bush changed the name of the President's Committee on Mental Retardation to the President's Committee for People with Intellectual Disabilities the same week that a commission he created recommended a campaign to bring the mentally ill more into the mainstream."


Changing "Mental Retardation" to "Intellectual Disabilities" in a committee's name is not a giant step in any way and it has absolutely nothing to do with mental illness. An AP writer shouldn't even suggest that it does. Though now that I think of it, perhaps it's accurate to say that it "reflects his efforts to promote equality for people suffering from mental illness." Perhaps both are superficial efforts aimed only at getting as little positive press for Dubya.

Changing the name of a presidential committee so that it uses the terminology that's been used by those who work with the population in question for more than twenty years is a superficial change that should have been made years ago. It may have a lot in common with "a commission he created" recommending " a campaign to bring the mentally ill more into the mainstream" since that may also prove to be merely words suggesting something will be done. They may both be absolutely meaningless in terms of actually doing anything for the disabled.

We all know to watch what people do, not what they say. What has Bush* done that relates to disabilities? Well, he's nominated some people with very bad records on disability issues to the federal bench. And he overturned all the Clinton rules about workplace safety, rules that were designed to prevent disabilities caused by repetitive stress, etc.