Journalist – Historian – Speaker
The Disability Integration Act was introduced by Senator Schumer to, in the words of the important disability rights group ADAPT, “address the fundamental issue that people who need Long Term Services and Supports (LTSS) are forced into institutions and losing their basic civil rights. The legislation (S.2427) builds on the 25 years of work that …
Yesterday the Sanders campaign released a statement on New York’s new 15$ minimum wage law. So much credit goes to the fight-for-15 folks who have the seemingly impossible into a new norm in progressive states around the country. On disability, Sanders wrote [my emphasis] “I’m proud that today two of our largest states will be …
Over a year ago I wrote about problems with the ABLE Act, the well-intentioned bill that the divide-and-conquer wing of the GOP was tweaking into semi-irrelevancy. It passed with a definition of disability that only included those disagnosed before age 26, a sign of the way too many politicians like to differentiate between the worthy …
A few months ago I wrote about Clinton’s policy on helping people with Autism and their families. More recently, I wrote about disability entering the political frame of “interest groups.” Yesterday (Monday, 3/28), I was alerted by Ari Ne’eman of the Autistic Self Advocacy Network that Clinton was asked by an autistic adult about subminimum …
Charles Pierce has a piece on the many victims of the Cold War in Latin America. It’s being raised as an issue versus Sanders (and will be used to hammer him in the general, if he gets there, because much of America remains afraid of “socialists” and “Communists”). History in public!
#CripTheVote has become an important hashtag, founded by Alice Wong, Andrew Pulrang, and Gregg Beratan, intended to bring disability into the conversation around the 2016 presidential campaign. Like most forms of online activism, its primary function (to my mind) is to thicken networks. We tweet, we use the hashtag, we encounter each other and find …
Until last week, neither Sanders nor Clinton used the word “disability” at most rarely. Then, in her close to the final debate in New Hampshire, Clinton concluded her remarks as follows: You know, we didn’t get to talk about the continuing struggles that Americans face with racism, with sexism, with discrimination against the LGBT community, …
It’s primary day in New Hampshire and later I’ll be observing a new tablet-based system for disabled voters. In the meantime, I now know who the best candidate is for disabled Americans. No-one has done more for people with disabilities than me. I have spent many millions of dollars to help out-and am happy to …
.@JessicaValenti sigh. I hate to say it. But disability rights would be nice to hear. Just once. — David M. Perry (@Lollardfish) February 2, 2016 This tweet came in response to Clinton’s Iowa speech, in which she said: I know we can make college affordable and get student debt off the backs of young people. …
From last night’s Town Hall. SANDERS: I get calls – I have gotten calls in my office, and I’m sure other senators have as well. This is the call. Somebody calls us up and said, I’m very worried about my brother. I’m worried what he might do to himself or, to answer your question, to …