Tomorrow, this blog will get back to more the “usual” fare that readers are accustomed to, although I can guarantee this won’t be the last time this blog will be featuring news about health care and the budget battles. Remember, not so very long ago, a bunch of Republican candidates who want to be the next president of the US stood on a stage and offered no answer at all when Wolf Blitzer asked if we should let an uninsured person in need of expensive health care die.
The best response – by far – to that particular incident – can be found here:
Meanwhile, the ADAPTers are headed back to their homes across the country and can be proud of the work they did this week. Here’s a sampling of coverage from the week:
- The Washington Informer – Medicaid Activists at White House Gates as Obama Delivers Debt Plan
- Dallas Morning News – Protesters tell Congress not to cut or cap Medicaid for poor, disabled
- The Hill – Disability-rights advocates protest Obama’s proposed Medicaid cuts
- The Nation – Rally on Capitol Hill: ‘Medicaid Matters’
NDY – and most disability groups are nonpartisan. And yet it’s obvious the last week – in spite of ADAPT’s message to the White House – leans pretty heavily on Republicans. It would be nice to point to some friendly Republicans, but not one single Republican agreed to speak in support of protecting and preserving Medicaid at the Medicaid Matters rally. Not one.
It just could be that the party is totally controlled by – or in fear of – the “Tea Party.” That’s very bad news for those of us who depend on certain supports in order to maintain a minimum standard of living due to any combination of age, illness or disability.
Tea Partiers may be more inclined to speak vaguely of “making sure” there are still supports for those who are “really” in need, but some of us still haven’t forgotten the ugly reality exposed last year, when Tea Partiers treated a counter-protester with Parkinson’s with a blistering degree of hostility and scorn.
It looks like it’s the folks in that crowd who are in the driver’s seat in the Republican Party right now – a thought that gives me absolutely no comfort. –Stephen Drake
All people with disabilities want is the same as everyone else, to be able to live, work, and participate in their communities. They need community based care to be expanded, not cut. They should not be forced into more costly institutional settings in order to get the assistance they need. If you agree sign the petition http://wh.gov/4PD , copy and repost! Make this your status!