Surprise, surprise, surprise! Rand Paul distorts disabilities act, again

Makin' it up again?

Via Think Progress, top tier GOP Senate candidate Rand Paul has now published an op-ed in a Kentucky paper clarifying his views of the proper relationship between government and the private sector.

Paul's piece is getting attention because he hails the idealism of Martin Luther King and explains why restaurant owners shouldn't be forced to ban smoking. But what's also interesting is that in the course of denying claims that he opposes the Americans with Disabilities Act, he floats a widely-debunked distortion about it:

Now the media is twisting my small government message, making me out to be a crusader for repeal of the Americans for Disabilities Act and The Fair Housing Act. Again, this is patently untrue. I have simply pointed out areas within these broad federal laws that have financially burdened many smaller businesses.

For example, should a small business in a two-story building have to put in a costly elevator, even if it threatens their economic viability? Wouldn't it be better to allow that business to give a handicapped employee a ground floor office?

Yes, but it's highly unlikely that a "small business in a two story building" would ever have to put in a "costly elevator." The Americans With Disabililties Act specifically exempts most buildings of this size

read more

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/plum-line/2010/06/rand_paul_again_floats_distort.html