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## Nachricht vom 21 Aug 04 weitergeleitet

## Betreff : USA Behindertenpolitik
## Ersteller: sozialberater@yahoo.de (Werner Schuren)
## Msg-ID : 2oovftFcijf5U1@uni-berlin.de

Ein Text aus dem Wall Street Journal :

Es geht um den Stillstand in der Behindertenpolitik beider amerikanischer Präsidentschaftskandidaten. George Bush der Ältere hatte noch ein Gesetz gegen Diskriminierung von Behinderten verabschiedet, sein Sohn (der jetzige Präsident) hat überhaupt kein Interesse an dem Thema - und drei nachgewiesenermaßen behinderten-unfreundliche Kabinettsmitglieder. und John Kerry, der Gegnkandidat, hat zu diesem Thema noch kein einziges Wort von sich gegeben.

Mit freundlichen Grüßen

Werner Schuren

PROJEKT SOZIALLOTSE

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Tel & Fax +49.4171.880016

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Hier der Original-Artikel:

Halting Progress for the Disabled

August 19, 2004; Page A13

Even trite clichés occasionally are on the mark; today, for 53 million disabled Americans the glass of life is both half-full and half-empty.

A survey this summer by Harris Interactive of Americans with disabilities is disquieting: Only a little over one-third reported being employed, a much higher percentage than non-disabled say they face inadequate health care or transportation or are less likely to eat out or attend religious services, and a majority express dissatisfaction with their lives. The political progress of the '90s seems to have slowed and some large corporations, such as Wal-Mart, have abysmal records.

Yet accessibility to transportation, education and even employment has improved around the country. Advocates for the disabled say slow progress is being made with small businesses and some large corporations, such as Microsoft, which has worked assiduously to make its software accessible, and Verizon, get high marks.

This dichotomy springs from the promise of the landmark 1990 Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). It doesn't surprise Andy Imparato, head of the American Association of People with Disabilities. "It's useful to think of the ADA in two phases," he notes. "One is bricks and mortars; transportation, budget and telecommunications all are essentially more accessible. These are very tangible ways in which the ADA has enabled more disabled people to participate in society. But the rest is attitudinal; we still have a long way to go with how people think. We need much more dialogue, public education and positive experiences."

This underscores the stakes in this year's presidential race. The ADA was pushed and signed into law by George Herbert Walker Bush in 1990 -- overriding the objections of his chief of staff; he is a hero to many with disabilities. His son inexplicably has shown little interest in the issue and through executive actions and judicial appointments threatens to roll back much of his father's top domestic legacy.

That would be tragic. The ADA has made America a much better place. Just look around and notice how differently those with disabilities are treated compared to a decade ago. (I have two sons, one of whom is disabled; the other was a CNN intern at last month's Democratic convention; two of his fellow interns were deaf.)

Politically, the picture is mixed. In Congress, support for the disabled crosses party lines. There is no more important champion than Ted Kennedy, and there are Republican supporters like John McCain, not surprisingly, but also staunch conservatives such as Congressman Pete Sessions in the House and Orrin Hatch in the Senate. Yet the GOP-run House leadership recently blocked a bill to provide more health-care services for lower income families with disabled children because it wasn't financed with offsetting budget cuts, an issue it ignored when a big tax cut for special interests sailed through.

Some of the most notable champions are on the local level, including America's most notable Democratic and Republican mayors -- Chicago's Richard Daley and New York's Michael Bloomberg. Mayor Daley has vowed to make Chicago "the most accessible city in the nation." His Disabilities office is cabinet rank and no politician has worked more effectively with a sometimes skeptical business community than Rich Daley. There are 149 Chicago schools that are accessible today up from almost none when Mayor Daley took office.

In New York, advocates say, Michael Bloomberg was that city's first mayor to really reach out to those with disabilities. He has increased the number of accessible taxicabs, made numerous buildings and sidewalks more accessible and pushed career exploration and job-shadowing programs.

But there are other state and local officials as bad as Messrs. Daley and Bloomberg are good. At the top of that list is the newly elected governor of Mississippi, Haley Barbour. Facing a budget squeeze, the former Republican Party chair, and tobacco lobbyist, rejected measures like increasing the state's small cigarette tax and instead is slashing Medicaid benefits for poorer Mississippians. For thousands of disabled, this means a reduction in prescription drug benefits and access to necessary medical care and a loss of transportation services to those who need it.

These cuts will be devastating for people like Traci Alsup, a 36-year-old Jackson, Miss., quadriplegic. She's scheduled to lose her prescription drug coverage, amounting to about $800 a month or just about what she gets from disability payments; she'd face additional expenses from any hospitalization and for her wheelchair. This would necessitate giving up her inexpensive apartment and having to move back to a nursing home: "I am full of anxiety and I'm depressed. This isn't right."

In the presidential race, John Kerry hasn't said much -- there was no mention in his Boston acceptance speech -- and George W. Bush has been a disaster. Cutbacks in health care and housing proposed by the White House disproportionately affect those with disabilities. Five years ago the government set a goal to dramatically increase the number of disabled federal employees; there are less today than when this president first took office. Tragically, he has choked off promising research with embryonic stem cells that eventually could profoundly affect many disabilities.

Mr. Bush rarely uses the presidential bully pulpit for public dialogue or education. "This White House considers us a nuisance, too high maintenance," says one leading disabilities advocate.

Bush judicial nominees, like Jeffrey Sutton and William Pryor, are openly hostile to the Americans with Disabilities Act, following the lead of Antonin Scalia; the Supreme Court justice, from the bench, refers to people with disabilities as "handicaps," and belittles the notion they have basic rights. The High Court has eroded some of the ADA and on 5-to-4 votes narrowly upheld other parts. Many legal analysts believe that with any vacancies filled by Scalia wannabes the court may well gut the act.

If you're blind, deaf or in a wheelchair, the stakes on Nov. 2 are enormous.