How are the RNC and DNC Talking about Disability?

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Subject: How are the RNC and DNC Talking about Disability?

How are the RNC and DNC Talking about Disability?

JFA is a free service of the American Association of People with Disabilities (AAPD)

Today's JFA:

How are the RNC and DNC Talking about Disability?

What Do You Think?

More on Palin's Direct Appeal to Families of Children with Disabilities?

Coverage of the 2008 Paralympic Games

EEOC Issues Guide for Hiring, Promoting Individuals with Disabilities

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How are the RNC and DNC Talking about Disability?

Both Democrats and Republicans reference disability in their 2008 platforms (their affirmative statements of goals and values). However how disability is cited and where it is cited (under which categories) in each platform varies between parties. Each party's disability 'mentions,' whether direct or indirect, are quoted below.

from the Democratic PlatformHealth Care (from the section entitled 'Affordable, Quality Health Care Coverage for All Americans') - Health insurance plans should accept all applicants and be prohibited from charging different prices based on pre-existing conditions....Chronic-care and behavioral health management should be assured for all Americans who require care coordination. This includes assistance for those recovering from traumatic, life-altering injuries and illnesses as well as those with mental health and substance use disorders....We should... lower drug costs by allowing Medicare to negotiate for lower prices, permitting importation of safe medicines from other developed countries, creating a generic pathway for biologic drugs, and increasing use of generics in public programs.Social Security (from the section entitled 'Retirement and Social Security') - [W]e believe that it is indispensable. We will fulfill our obligation to strengthen Social Security and to make sure that it provides guaranteed benefits Americans can count on, now and in future 14 generations. We will not privatize it.Stem Cell / Medical Research (from the section entitled 'Affordable, Quality Health Care Coverage for All Americans') - For the millions of Americans and their families suffering from debilitating physical and emotional effects of disease, time is a precious commodity, and it isrunning out...We need to invest in biomedical research and stem cell research, so that we are at the leading edge of prevention and treatment. This includes adequate funding for research into diseases such as heart disease, Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, multiple sclerosis, breast cancer, diabetes, autism and other common and rare diseases, and disorders. We will increase funding to the National Institutes of Health, the National Science Foundation, and the National Cancer Institutes.Long-Term Care (from the section entitled 'Affordable, Quality Health Care Coverage for All Americans') - Seniors and people with disabilities should have access to quality affordable long-term care services, and those services should be readily available at home and in the community. Americans should not be forced to choose between getting care and living independent and productive lives.(from the section entitled 'Americans with Disabilities') - We will restore dignity for Americans with disabilities by signing the Community Choice Act into law, which will allow them the choice of living in their communities rather than being warehoused in nursing homes or other institutions.(from the section entitled 'Seniors') - We believe that we must pay caregivers a fair wage and train more nurses and health care workers so as to improve the availability and quality of long-term care.Education (from the section entitled 'A World Class Education for Every Child') - We will also meet our commitment to special education and to students who are English Language Learners. We support full funding of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act.(from the section entitled 'Americans with Disabilities') - We will ensure there is sufficient funding to empower Americans with disabilities to succeed in school and beyond.(from the section entitled 'A World Class Education for Every Child') - We support education delivery that makes it possible for non-traditional students to receive support and encouragement to obtain a college education, including Internet, distance education, and night and weekend programs.Technology (from the section entitled 'Creating New Jobs By Rebuilding American Infrastructure') - We will ensure every American has access to highspeed broadband...(from the section entitled 'A Connected America') - We will implement a national broadband strategy (especially in rural areas, and our reservations and territories) that enables every American household, school, library, and hospital to connect to a world-class communications infrastructure. We will rededicate our nation to ensuring that all Americans have access to broadband and the skills to use it effectively.Housing (from the section entitled 'Housing') - We will work to end housing discrimination and to ensure equal housing opportunity.Veterans (from the section entitled 'Do Right by Our Veterans and Their Families') - We will ensure that every veteran has access to quality health care for injuries both physical and mental, and we will require that health professionals screen all service members upon their return from combat. We will aggressively address Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and Traumatic Brain Injury. We will work to ensure that every veteran receives the benefits he or she has earned and the assistance he or she needs by making the disability benefits process more fair, efficient, and equitable. We will dramatically reduce the backlog of disability claims. U.N. Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (from the section entitled 'Americans with Disabilities') - We will once again reclaim our role as world leaders in protecting the rights of people with disabilities. We will lead the United States in ratifying the U.N. Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, the first human rights treaty approved in the United Nations in the 21st century. (from the section entitled 'A More Perfect Union') - We will sign the U.N. Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities....Restoration of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) (from the section entitled 'A More Perfect Union') - We will... restore the original intent of the Americans with Disabilities Act. Hate Crimes (from the section entitled 'A More Perfect Union') - We will pass the Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act.Voting (from the section entitled 'Voting Rights') - We will fully fund the Help America Vote Act and work to fulfill the promise of election reform, including fighting to end long lines at voting booths and ensuring that all registration materials, voting materials, polling places, and voting machines are truly accessible to seniors, Americans with disabilities, and citizens with limited English proficiency. We will call for a national standard for voting that includes voterverified paper ballots. We will ensure that absentee ballots are accessible and accurately counted...[W]e oppose laws that require identification in order to vote or register to vote, which create discriminatory barriers to the right to vote and disenfranchise many eligible voters... Finally, we will enact legislation that establishes harsh penalties for those who engage in voter intimidation and creates a process for providing accurate information to misinformed voters so they can cast their votes in time.Quotations from individual participants in DNC Platform Meetings:

Greenwood, SC, 7/19. Stop forcing special needs children to mainstream without adequate resources.

Bessemer, AL, 7/24. The federal, state and local government should become proactive in establishing policies that address the needs of the disabled.

View the 2008 Democratic Platform

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from theRepublican Platform

Veterans (from the section entitled 'Supporting Our Heroes') - We must make military medicine the gold standard for advances in prosthetics and the treatment of trauma and eye injuries. ...We encourage private businesses to expand their outreach to the veterans community, especially disabled veterans....The VA must become more responsive and more efficient by eliminating its disability backlog and reducing waiting times for treatment....The VA's current disability compensation formulas need to be restructured and modernized. Those who have borne the burden of war must have access to training, rehabilitation, and education. Their families and caregivers deserve our concern and support...We pledge special attention to combat stress injuries. There must be adequate counseling when veterans return home - for them and their families. ...We recognize the need for more mental health professionals who can give the highest quality treatment to our veteransVoting (from the section 'Reforming Government to Serve the People' and subsection 'Protecting the Right to Vote in Fair Elections') - We support the right of states to require an official government-issued photo identification for voting...Taxes (from the section 'Expanding Opportunity to Promote Prosperity' and subsection 'Republican Tax Policy: Protecting Hardworking Americans') - Republicans support tax credits for health care and medical expenses.Health Care (from the section entitled 'Health Care Reform: Putting Patients First' and subsection 'Patient Control and Portability') - Individuals with pre-existing conditions must be protected; we will help these individuals by building on the experiences of innovative states rather than by creating a new unmanageable federal entitlement.(from the subsection 'Patient Control and Portability') - Because the family is our basic unit of society, we fully support parental rights to consent to medical treatment for their children including mental health treatment.(from the subsection 'Improving Quality of Care and Lowering Cost') - A culture of wellness needs to include the treatment of mental health conditions. We believe all Americans should have access to affordable, quality health care, including individuals struggling withmental illness. For this reason, we believe it is important that mental health care be treated equally with physical health care.(from the subsection 'Medicare') - We support the provision of quality and accessible health care options for our nation's seniors and disabled individuals and recognize that in order to meet this goal we must confront the special challenges posed by the growth of Medicare costs.(from the section 'Reforming Government to Serve the People' and subsection 'Entitlement Reform') - As discussed in the health care section of this document, we commit to revive Medicare by rewarding quality care, promoting competition, eliminating waste, fraud, and abuse, and giving patients and providers control over treatment options. We envision a new Medicaid partnership with the states, improving public health through flexibility and innovation.Stem Cells / Medical Research (from the section entitled 'Health Care Reform: Putting Patients First' and subsection 'Improving Quality of Care and Lowering Cost') - [W]e call for a major expansion of support for the stem-cell research that now shows amazing promise and offers the greatest hope for scores of diseases - with adult stem cells, umbilical cord blood, and cells reprogrammed into pluripotent stem cells - without the destruction of embryonic human life.Long-Term Care (from the subsection entitled 'Modernize Long-Term Care Options for All) - The financial burdens and emotional challenges of ensuring adequate care for elderly family members affect every American, especially with today's aging population. We must develop new ways to support individuals, not just institutions, so that older Americans can have a real choice whether to stay in their homes. This is true not only with regard to Medicaid, where we spend $100 billion annually on long-term care, but also for those who do not qualify for that assistance.Physician-Assisted Suicide (from the section 'Health Care Reform: Putting Patients First' and subsection 'Funding Medical Research') - We believe medicines and treatments should be designed to prolong and enhance life, not destroy it. Therefore, federal funds should not be used for drugs that cause the destruction of human life.Furthermore, the Drug Enforcement Administration ban on use of controlled substances for physician-assisted suicide should be restored.(from the section 'Preserving Our Values' and subsection 'Maintaining the Sanctity and Dignity of Human Life') - ...[W]e oppose the nonconsensual withholding of care or treatment from people with disabilities, as well as the elderly and infirm, just as we oppose euthanasia and assisted suicide, which endanger especially those on the margins of society. Education (from the section 'Education Means a More Competitive America' and subsection 'Maintaining Our Commitment to IDEA') - Because a federal mandate on the states must include the promised federal funding, we will fulfill the promise of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act to cover 40 percent of the costs incurred because of that legislation. We urge preventive efforts in early childhood, especially assistance in gaining pre-reading skills, to help many youngsters move beyond the need for IDEA's protections.(from the subsection 'Asserting Family Rights in Schooling') - It is not the role of the teacher or school administration to recommend or require the use of psychotropic medications that must be prescribed by a physician.(from the subsection 'Higher Education) - Our country's system of higher education - public and private, secular and religious, large and small institutions - is unique for its excellence, its diversity, and its accessibility. Learning is a safeguard of liberty. Post-secondary education not only increases the earnings of individuals but advances economic development. Our colleges and universities drive much of the research that keeps America competitive. We must ensure that our higher education system meet the needs of the 21st century student and economy and remain innovative and accessible.Civil Rights (from the section 'Preserving Our Values' and subsection 'Ensuring Equal Treatment for All') - We consider discrimination based on sex, race, age, religion, creed, disability, or national origin to be immoral, and we will strongly enforce anti-discrimination statutes.Employment (from the section 'Preserving Our Values' and subsection 'Maintaining the Sanctity and Dignity of Human Life') - Respect for life requires efforts to include persons with disabilities in education, employment, the justice system, and civic participation....Because government should set a positive standard in hiring and contracting for the services of persons with disabilities, we need to update the statutory authority for the AbilityOne program, the main avenue by which those productive members of our society can offer high quality services at the best possible value.

View the 2008 Republican Platform

What Do You Think?

What do you think of the DNC and RNC platforms, as they pertain to disability issues? Do they influence your vote on November 4? Any surprises? Share your thoughts on the JFActivist blog!

More on Palin's Direct Appeal to Families of Children with Disabilities

As referenced in the last JFA, last night, Governor Palin (R-AK) made a direct appeal to the families of children with disabilities during her speech at the Republican National Convention (RNC). The appeal came after she introduced members of her family to America, mentioning the recent birth of her son, Trig, who has Down syndrome. The appeal she made, in its context, follows below:'Our son Track is 19.And one week from tomorrow - September 11th - he'll deploy to Iraq with the Army infantry in the service of his country.My nephew Kasey also enlisted, and serves on a carrier in the Persian Gulf.My family is proud of both of them and of all the fine men and women serving the country in uniform. Track is the eldest of our five children.In our family, it's two boys and three girls in between - my strong and kind-hearted daughters Bristol, Willow, and Piper.And in April, my husband Todd and I welcomed our littlest one into the world, a perfectly beautiful baby boy named Trig. From the inside, no family ever seems typical.That's how it is with us.Our family has the same ups and downs as any other ... the same challenges and the same joys.Sometimes even the greatest joys bring challenge.And children with special needs inspire a special love.To the families of special-needs children all across this country, I have a message: For years, you sought to make America a more welcoming place for your sons and daughters.I pledge to you that if we are elected, you will have a friend and advocate in the White House.'

>>Read Gov. Palin's entire speech.

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