As a disabled man in America, maybe I'm biased. Maybe I feel a little more deeply about the rights of the disabled. Maybe being married to a woman with disabilities makes me see things different. Or maybe i/m just a human being following the scripture that says what you do for the least of these, you do for me. Maybe it's the Vet in me that defends the weak and those who need our help. Maybe it's the civic minded American in me that believes that the promise of America isn't just limited to rich, healthy Republicans. Maybe it's the part of me who always stood against bullies and helped the underdogs. Maybe its remembering what my grandmother used to say, “there but for the grace of God go I." Maybe it’s the anger I have towards the party that USED to be "the party of the people" before the Koch’s and the NRA started feeding them, back when George HW Bush signed the bill into law and before his son George W Bush expanded it.
The Americans with Disabilities Act brought some fairness to the playing field. It gave the then hopeless some hope at feeling normal and being a part of the American dream. It showed the world "we cared" about ALL people, not just healthy rich white folks. The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 is a civil rights law that prohibits discrimination based on disability.
It affords similar protections against discrimination to Americans with disabilities as the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which made discrimination based on race, religion, sex, national origin, and other characteristics illegal.
The National Council on Disability had recommended enactment of an Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and drafted the first version of the bill which was introduced in the House and Senate in 1988. The final version of the bill was signed into law on July 26, 1990, by President George H. W. Bush. It was later amended in 2008 and signed by President George W. Bush with changes effective as of January 1, 2009
ADA disabilities include both mental and physical medical conditions. A condition does not need to be severe or permanent to be a disability. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission regulations provide a list of conditions that should easily be concluded to be disabilities: deafness, blindness, an intellectual disability (formerly termed mental retardation), partially or completely missing limbs or mobility impairments requiring the use of a wheelchair, autism, cancer, cerebral palsy, diabetes, epilepsy, Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) infection, multiple sclerosis, muscular dystrophy, major depressive disorder, bipolar disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder, obsessive compulsive disorder, and schizophrenia. Other mental or physical health conditions also may be disabilities, depending on what the individual's symptoms would be in the absence of "mitigating measures" (medication, therapy, assistive devices, or other means of restoring function).
The House on Thursday passed legislation that would amend the Americans with Disabilities Act over objections from disability rights advocates and Democratic leaders, who warned that the bill would remove incentives for businesses to comply with the law.
Activists say the bill, if enacted, would essentially gut the ADA’s provisions dealing with public accommodations by removing any incentive that businesses have to comply with the law before a complaint is filed.
The bill would effectively gut the ADA, detractors argue. Without a fear of being sued, businesses might be inclined to ignore ADA compliance rules. Critics of the bill also believe people with disabilities should not bear the responsibility of making sure businesses are compliant with the law.
"Instead of expecting businesses to own the responsibility of complying with civil rights laws, it shifts the burden to the individual who is being denied access," the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) wrote in a letter to congressional representatives on Thursday
Disability activist were forcibly removed from the house Thursday when they disrupted the meeting and vote from the gallery. Severely handicapped folks were arrested for standing up for what they believe.
Their disruption interrupted their "thoughts and prayers" they were preparing to offer to the victims and first responders at the Florida school mass shooting. Otherwise they interrupted NOTHING. Paul Ryan and the other NRA supported Representatives had already used the "it’s to soon to discuss gun restrictions so soon after the tragedy" line they use after every shooting to postpone and drop any talk or action that would piss off their NRA donors. Ryan’s plans to gut all social programs that help Americans who aren't rich, white or Republican still moved forward though. Most folks who are disabled have many disadvantages to begin with. Excessive medical expenses and doctor bills. Some insurances won’t cover many of the things needed to live daily. Now the legal burden is placed on them to get businesses to comply with access laws.
Donald Trump and the Republicans are actively working to destroy Medicare, Medicaid. Social Security and Disability laws and succeeding. What a better time to gut the ADA than after a shooting tragedy at a school when so many may not notice it. It wasn’t "tagged" onto another bill, or a result of something else being voted on. It was specifically targeted to gut the ADA passed by two previous Republican Presidents.
This act alone should be enough of a reason to GUT the Republican Majority holding our House prisoner to corporate donors. They are SUPPOSED to represent us all, not just the Rich donors of the NRA, Insurance companies, Pharmaceutical companies and Banking and Oil Corporations. Votes are passed on what they decide America needs, not what the citizen’s want or need.
Gutting the ADA is just the first part of undoing these laws and programs. Things we actually "need" like tighter gun controls and bans on certain weapons and ammunition won’t even come up for a vote. DACA will never come up for a vote. Food stamps-kill. ADA-kill. Medicaid-kill. Conservation programs-kill. Gun control- maybe later. Drug rehab- maybe later.
Make no mistake. They are NOT representing the American people. They ARE NOT doing anything to HELP American citizens. They ARE NOT doing anything to ease or help those with disabilities. They ARE NOT working FOR American Citizens at all. So why are we paying these 400+ folks 100 thousand a year and benefits to "represent" us? Come fall, they will get funding from their masters. They will get millions in campaign funding from the NRA, Wall Street, and pharmaceutical companies to convince us they represent US. They will try and destroy those who run against them with outright lies and deceptions in ads.
They will TRY and convince you "They Got your back" and they actually do! That where they place the knives given to them by their corporate donors. Make no mistake. I will not vote for any Republicans who stood with Trump and defended him. Who voted for the gut job on the ADA? Who call Social Security and Medicare "entitlements" NOR will I vote for any Democrat who voted for them or their policies either. We need new blood. New folks who represent us, all of us. Who rebuke policies set forth by lobbyist for their masters? People, real people, are the true masters of both houses and must be represented fairly. Americans with Disabilities have fought for decades to be seen and heard. To get a fair shake at the American dream. To be treated equal and fair. To be given a chance to succeed.
They are not afraid to fight for those rights. To place themselves in harm’s way to get equal treatment. They fought hard and long and now the House is wanting to reverse those actions and used a gun tragedy to try and sneak it through unnoticed. Just like Grassley did with the repeal of Obama's gun legislation that helped prevent mentally ill folks from getting guns. They passed it, and Trump signed it into law. Now they complain about "mentally ill" folks getting guns? WTF? You make it easier to get a gun legally if you’re mentally ill, then COMPLAIN about the ease mentally ill people can get guns? But at least you gave those thoughts and prayers, yet again, right? Now you can ignore it yet again, till the NEXT ONE.
It’s time to come together. To unite, for all of us. To help defend each other’s rights together. Vets, BLM, Americans with Disabilities, DACA, Women, LGBT communities, Women and METOO. We can and must help defend each other’s rights and back each other. To stand with each other. Then America will be truly great again.
We can’t allow these programs to be gutted. To be changed to benefit the wealthy and privileged. We must stop them from harming OUR people and making their lives harder.
Like I said, maybe I’m prejudice. Maybe I’m biased. Maybe I just love my Country and want it to be better for all. Maybe I believe Dr King’s Dream. Maybe I believe God only blesses those who bless themselves. Who take care of the least among us? Maybe I want a better Country for my kids and grandkids. Maybe I’m just wanting a fair America for ALL Americans regardless of physical or mental issues. Regardless of sex, religion, race or sexual orientation or age and disabilities. Maybe I’m just Human and want everyone to be treated equally.