Do you think disabled people will start voting Republican

[Tony_FLADEM]

because of the Schiavo issue?

I'm disabled (I have Spina Bifida) and I can figure out the Republicans are politically motivated, but what about other disabled people?

[Sandpiper]

1. Doubt it

Republicans hate the Americans with Disabilities Act.

[Fovea]

2. I am disabled.

But the stroke didn't take away so much that I can't tell who is
making what's left of my life unlivable.

No. I can't imagine a disabled person deciding that they want Tom DeLay as their advocate or Bill Frist as their doc.

[FreedomAngel82]

23. Only reason they would

is if they already do. Only thing I can think of. :shrug:

[Fovea]

28. It means that they have no self interest

because we are up to be first in the soylent green vat.

[UTUSN]

3. Well, They Shouldn't, but the ADA Came During Poppy's Reign n/t

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

17. Poppy was forced to pass it.

It was a Democratic bill.

[ultraist]

19. Yes. It was generally a Dem bill. Did a Dem controlled Congress pass it?

I don't know if Congress was Dem controlled at that time.

The Repukes certainly don't deserve full credit for the ADA considering Democrats were very instrumental in bringing and passing this bill in Congress (Harkin, Coelho, Owens, Kennedy). Reagan and VP Bush later tried to cut into the ADA by deregulating requirements for businesses.

http://www.empowermentzone.com/ada_hist.txt

The history of the ADA did not begin on July 26, 1990 at the
signing ceremony at the White House. It did not begin in 1988
when the first ADA was introduced in Congress. The ADA story
began a long time ago in cities and towns throughout the United
States when people with disabilities began to challenge societal
barriers that excluded them from their communities, and when
parents of children with disabilities began to fight against the
exclusion and segregation of their children. It began with the
establishment of local groups to advocate for the rights of people
with disabilities. It began with the establishment of the
independent living movement which challenged the notion that
people with disabilities needed to be institutionalized, and which
fought for and provided services for people with disabilities to
live in the community.

In September 1988, a joint hearing was held before the Senate
Subcommittee on Disability Policy and the House Subcommittee on
Select Education. Witnesses with a wide variety of disabilities,
such as blindness, deafness, Down's Syndrome and HIV infection, as
well as parents of disabled children testified about architectural
and communication barriers and the pervasiveness of stereotyping
and prejudice. A room which seated over 700 people overflowed with
persons with disabilities, parents and advocates. After the
hearing, a commitment was made by Senator Kennedy, Chair of the Labor and Human Resources Committee, Senator Harkin, Chair of the Subcommittee on Disability Policy, and Representative Owens of the House Subcommittee on Select Education, that a comprehensive disability civil rights bill would be a top priority for the next Congress. At the same time, both presidential candidates, VicePresident Bush and Governor Dukakis, endorsed broad civil rights protections for people with disabilities. The disability community was determined to assure that President Bush would make good on his campaign promise, and reinvoked it repeatedly during the legislative process.

On May 9, 1989 Senators Harkin and Durrenberger and
Representatives Coelho and Fish jointly introduced the new ADA in
the 101st Congress. From that moment, the disability community
mobilized, organizing a multi-layered strategy for passage. A huge
coalition was assembled by the Consortium for Citizens with
Disabilities (CCD), which included disability organizations, the
Leadership Conference on Civil Rights (LCCR), and an array of
religious, labor and civic organizations

In the early 1980's the disability community was called upon to defend the hard-fought-for Section 504 regulations from attack. After taking office President Reagan established the Task Force on Regulatory Relief under the leadership of then Vice President George Bush. The mission of the Task Force was to "de-regulate" regulations which were burdensome on businesses. The Section 504 regulations were chosen for "de-regulation." This news sent a current throughout the disability movement across the country, which quickly mobilized a multi-tier strategy to preserve the regulations.
----------------

I read recently that 66% of the Disabled Community supports assisted suicide.

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

22. Yes. Repubs didn't take congress til 94...Senate was Dem too

[K-W]

4. Doesn't the republican approach to social spending basically nullify that?

Im not close to the issue, so I dont really know.

[Mr_Spock]

5. Only the ones without brains....

lol - very bad joke - reminds me of why Bush knows Terri is a supporter :D:D:D:D

[seabeyond]

6. i would think a disabled would be more inclined to be afraid

i dont know about you, but i would feel being disabled if it got to a oint i didnt want to do it anymore i wuld have the right to make that decision and not have delay interfer.

also,

repugs are willing to disconnect if you are poor. so being disabled if i didnt have the income to support my disability and i was dependent on the government i would be afraid there too

[Proud2BAmurkin]

7. No because most of them need GOVERNMENT HEALTH CARE

.

[rockedthevoteinMA]

8. Not the ones I know

They've been absolutely screwed by this administration.

[Undercover Owl]

9. If they have a brain, then NO!

The B*sh admin gives people with disabilities the shit-end of the stick in just about every aspect.

;) Anyone with a functioning brain will know better! ;)

[chookie]

10. No way

Republicans seek to prevent people from suing the parties which have injured them, or to put severe caps on what reparations they are entitled to. Republicans make it harder to be classified "disabled". Republicans are very upset that they have to accommodate people with disabilities.

Look at the polls -- it's 3 to 1 AGAINST the extremist "Republican" stance -- even among REPUBLICANS, and conservatives, for heavens sakes. Looks instead, my friend, that they have just alienated more sane Republicans.

The "30%" keeps popping up -- it is Bush's core support group, and I would venture to say these are fascists and people with authoritarian personality disorders, or those who suffer from religious insanity (as opposed to being just religious). Bush has to pander to the wackos, as they were the ones who won the election for him. He's not "reaching out" to anyone!!!!!!!! This is not seeking converts -- this is preaching to the converted! As long as he can keep the insane 30% worked into a rabid frenzy, he will keep his hold on power.

Terri Shiavo is tragically being used as part of a grotesque circus -- I think sane people see through this.

Bush is NOT looking good in this -- except to his devoted worshippers and the Rove-fellated media which publishes the fantasy of widespread support of His Chimperial Highness.

Don't confuse their Potemkin Village for the real world....

[moobu2]

11. I think some will probably because they've been bombarded with

disinformation and propaganda about Terri Schiavo being disabled and murdered.

Terri Schiavo isn't disabled in any traditional sense and also she said she wouldn't want to be maintained this way forever on life support. Her entire cerebral cortex is dead, she's in a vegetative state with no hope for recovery, she said she wouldn't want this for herself.

The Terri Schiavo case isn't a disability rights issue at all even though many have attemted to make it one, it isnt.

[AtTheEndOfTheDay]

12. I'm a quad and I won't.

I remember who Hitler came after first. I like socialism in medicine. Fortunately I get a VA check or I'm unclear how I'd be paying my bills legally.

[lonestarnot]

14. Damn are you a vet? n/t

[firefox]

13. brain dead people already are n/t

[REP]

15. I'm Disabled, Not Stupid

My kidneys are failing, not my intellect.

[Dookus]

16. I doubt it

Disabled people want the same right to self-determination as everybody else.

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

18. Some actually might.

The reason being they feel strongly that this action is making a choice for someone else and they feel vulnerable and don't want to be part of a party that would write them off for expedience sake.

People may say that is an irrational emotional reaction, but I do try to stand in their shoes.

Even on this thread there are jokes about being brain dead. It communicates the wrong thing. It communicates that we are insensitive to the very real feeling some people with disabilities have that society views them as disposable.

I very much do not want people with disabilities to feel this way. The worst thing to have happened was for Terri Schiavo to have been given a feeding tube in the first place.

Feeding tubes are 1000 times harder to remove than they are to decline.

I don't take it lightly that some people with disabilities feel as they feel.

I do not think they are disposable nor dispensable. I do wish they would acknowledge though that Terri Schiavo has NO LIFE. She has a couple body functions left that have been betrayed by a feeding tube and her life left her long ago.

[LisaL]

21. And the reason they feel this way is clear to me.

Some say that nobody would want to "live that way" and that's why Terri should die. Well, what way would the healthy person want to live? What disability would a healthy person want to have?

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

25. I disagree. I prefer the litmus test in the Cruzan case

If she could wake up for 15 minutes knowing she'd have to return to her prior state, what would she choose?

What would you choose? Would you honestly choose to exist and decay with NO HOPE OF ANY LIFE?

Me..I'd personally want to be set free. I know many disabled folks who agree.

[mondo joe]

27. No, they say TERRI didn't want to live that way and THAT is why the feed

tube should be removed.

If you want to live that way go ahead.

[Pastiche423]

20. Informed PWDs won't

Prior to 2001, healthcare for my paralyzed self wasn't great, but at least I had some. Since then I have none.

I fall in the income crack to qualify for Medicaid, don't qualify for Oregon State Plan because I have "Medicare" and there are no doctors in my area that will take new Medicare patients.

I am poor, live w/three disablilities, in pain almost 24/7 and fucked.

THE SCHIAVO CASE IS NOT A DISABLILITY ISSUE!

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

26. I wish you would compose a post about this in the GD forum

It would be good for people who have no such issues to hear from you.

[Lugnut]

24. I'm disabled

I've never voted for a republican and I don't expect to in my lifetime.

[me b zola]

29. It depends on which person with disabilities you are speaking of

I worked for several years with adults with developmental disabilities, all but one of those individuals had previously lived (grown up)in a large institution. Most of the people who had lived in the large institution were very intelligent, but to varying degrees, socially retarded.

They were very susceptible to manipulation by predators of all ilks. I had a fundie staff person turn a woman who had very strong feelings against religion into someone that I did not recognize. The type of manipulation I believe can be used for votes. This was several years ago, and I had no idea about the fundie movement at the time, or I would have fired her like any other predator.

I do not know the politics of the one woman who received services by the agency that I worked for that had never lived in an institution, but not only was she highly intelligent, but was not susceptible to manipulation. She was a strong advocate for people with disabilities, working nationwide for the advancement of people with disabilities. I would wager big $$ that she would never vote against her own interest.

[applegrove]

30. Well there is the right to eat. And then there is the right to eat

cat-food. If the Bush WH manages to get people to vote against their best interests then I guess people may be voting with the Repukes. I don't know. Will certainly be keeping our right wing religious friends busy what with all the work of feeding and caring for the ones who would rather just have a few helpers for a few hours and day and then be left alone to live their soulful lives.

Then again anyone who has been through allot and many losses may find superficials hard to swallow let alone look at.

[zann725]

31. Most Disabled people are on SSDI, and would have NO interest in Repugs

and their "privatizing" schemes...which would certainly drastially reduce or eliminate their much-needed benefits and Medicare.

[BurtWorm]

32. Most people with disabilities apparently agree with other Americans

on this issue, that it's a private matter not for the Congress to decide. Most people with disabilities, I've read, would opt, like most other Americans, to take no special measures to stay alive if they were in Terri Schiavo's circumstance. That said, I've also read that a slight majority of people with disabilities, like most Americans, actually voted for the piece of shit in the WH--according to the NOD, anyway.

[mmonk]

33. No

not any that are informed, especially about the judges bush tries to get nominated that want to scrap ADA.