How exactly did disability rights become a partisan issue?

Back when the ADA was first passed, in 1990, it was signed by Bush 41 (y'know, the elected one). Bob Dole is said to have twisted his arm (sorry) to sign rather than veto. Its original cosponsors included some of the (otherwise) biggest wastes of oxygen in all of Congress, such as Elton Gallegly, Duncan Hunter and Dana Rohrabacher (all from CA, the birthplace of the disability rights movement), Don Young (AK), and (shudder) even Denny Has-turd himself.

Fast-forward to today: Majority Leader Steny Hoyer has introduced H.R. 3195, the ADA Restoration Act. Its purpose is to strengthen the ADA against the constant assaults from the repuke-stacked Federal judiciary. It has 181 cosponsors, led on the repuke side by, would you believe, Senselessbrenner. Seems his wife has a disability, and remember, repukes are allowed to give a shit about something as long as they are directly affected.

So what's the breakdown overall? Care to hazard a guess?

144 D, 37 R. True, we're in the majority, but it's not that big a majority. Do repukes actually hate people with disabilities? Or is it just that they oppose civil rights for all Americans, us included? Hmmmm?

edit: figures didn't add up; added 3 more Dems!

If it's naming a post office or making mud the official soil of tennessee, the congresscritters are all over it.. but when there's legislation to pass that involves "giving" money to the peons..well they gotta draw that line :)

And, of course, people with disabilities don't "contribute". Better they should just die and decrease the surplus population so that money could be used for tax cuts for the rich. :sarcasm:

un contributing members of society.

the Nazis tested their gas chambers on people with disabilities before "putting them into production" against Jews, gays, Gypsies, etc., etc. :scared:

But they are planning on throwing them out on the streets it seems:

Bush has proposed cutting housing programs for low-income people with disabilities by 50%.

http://www.motherjones.com/news/exhibit/2006/07/exhibit.html


"Compassionate Conservatives" my backside.

I'm never surprised about the Republicans, but it is a constant source of irritation to me that there are people who consider themselves Democrats who not only don't give a damn about disability rights but actively oppose them. If we had every Democrat in the House supporting the measure, with the help of the few Republicans who also support it, it would be passed and Idiot Son wouldn't dare veto it. And this is one bill that can't be used against anyone in the elections, so what's the excuse for the rest of them?

thought I was answering a different question

to any that do not support the act, would be to learn that it only takes seconds to become disabled for life.

Do you know where I can find the list of co-sponsors?

http://thomas.loc.gov

Enter H.R. 3195 in the search box, click the "Bill Number" radio button, then "Search". You will be taken to the bill page; click "Bill Status & Summary". On that page, click "Cosponsors". They perversely make it difficult to link to the actual pages.

is to oppose anything that helps people, support anything that represses people.

I'm series. If it prohibits something individuals do, like abortion, gay marriage, sex other than missionary-style heterosexual, its a good law. If it provides for something, like welfare or access to services, it is a bad law. If it prohibits corporations from doing something, it is bad. If it provides something to corporations, it is good.

That's all you need to know. Go become a pug congresscritter.

And it's fucking ridiculous to think that anyone could live on that.

:toast: :laff:

they consider that individuals should have the right to 'get ahead' in any way possible, and it's OK for them to trample on other people in the process, and that they shouldn't be required to make adaptations to other people's needs. It's the same principle as objecting to high earners having to pay taxes to support a safety net for everyone. Add to that the prejudice that extreme righties have against anyone who is 'different' in any way whatsoever from what they see as conventional (i.e. the great majority of people!) and you have the stage set for virulent opposition to disability rights. If you want an example, google Rod Liddle (right-wing and disgusting British journalist) and look at his articles on disability; e.g. one in the 'Spectator' in I think 2003; but I wouldn't recommend it to anyone with high blood pressure or a weak stomach.

I say 'extreme righties' rather than 'conservatives' because moderate conservatives do not typically have such views. The landmark Disability Discrimination Act of 1994 was passed in Britain by a Conservative-dominated Parliament.

If you want an example, google Rod Liddle

What. a. jerk. :puke:

I think Mouth Magazine said it best recently. "People need to stop dividing the world into the Disabled and the Non-Disabled and instead divide it into the Disabled and the Not-Disabled-Yet." And they're right. Really all it takes is a stroke, a car accident, Alzheimer's Disease, a fall or some other such incident or illness for a perfectly healthy person to join the ranks of the "disabled". Next thing you know even the die-hard Rethugs who don't want to hand out a penny to those "no-good, useless people" suddenly become one of them. And how the perspective can change in a heartbeat.