Your vote for McCain is a vote against me 3

October 6th, 2008 · 2 Comments

I would love to compare McCain and Obama’s America’s with Disabilities plan but sadly, McCain doesn’t have one. Obama’s plan is quite exciting in my opinion.

Barack Obama and Joe Biden have a four-part plan to provide Americans with disabilities with the greatest possible access to the same opportunities as those without disabilities: (1) providing Americans with disabilities the educational opportunities they need to succeed; (2) ending discrimination and promoting equal opportunity; and (3) increasing the employment rate of workers with disabilities; and (4) supporting independent, community-based living for Americans with disabilities. And they will work closely with individuals with disabilities and disability rights advocates to achieve this vision of a society where all can live with dignity and respect.

While I hope I never have to worry about being on disability, it is a major concern for those of us with Multiple Sclerosis. Lisa from Brass and Ivory and I have had some lively discussions over Obama’s plan over at PatientsLikeMe. I must admit, I can’t really open my mind enough to think someone with Multiple Sclerosis would vote for McCain but none the less…. there are quite a few. Since there seemed to be such a huge push back on actually reading the plan, I will try my best to summarize parts of it. Please please please… If you have time time, I highly suggest reading the 8 pages yourself.

Just to understand the problem, here are a few stats about adults with disabilities:

In 2006, working-age Americans with disabilities were almost three times more likely to live below the poverty line than those without disabilities. While the average annual household income of individuals in the United States without disabilities was $65,400 in 2006, the average annual household income for people with disabilities was $36,300. And the employment rate for persons with disabilities in 2006 was at least 40 points lower than the employment rate of working-age individuals without disabilities.

Now that we know the problem, here are a few ways Obama wants to fix it:

Restore the Americans with Disabilities Act -

The Supreme Court has severely restricted the application of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) by narrowly defining what it means to have a “disability.” As a result, lower courts have held that people with epilepsy, diabetes, heart disease and cancer can be fired from their jobs because they have those conditions.

Guaranteeing Health Care Coverage -

Many people with disabilities do not seek work or leave the workforce because they need the guaranteed health insurance that the federal government’s benefit programs provide. As a result, many stay on Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) and Supplemental Security Income (SSI), which include Medicare or Medicaid coverage, rather than take a job that might jeopardize their health care coverage. Barack Obama has pledged to sign universal health care legislation by the end of his first term in office that will assure that Americans with disabilities will have quality, affordable, portable coverage that will allow them to take a job without fear of losing coverage.

Increasing Executive Branch Hiring of Workers with Disabilities -

Barack Obama and Joe Biden believe the federal government should serve as a model for other employers in hiring and accommodating employees with disabilities. The federal government is the United States’ largest employer. Barack Obama and Joe Biden believe the federal government must recruit, hire, retain and advance workers with disabilities. To achieve this end, Obama will reinstate Executive Order No. 13173 which President Clinton issued just before he left office. Executive Order No. 13173 failed to achieve its mandate of hiring an additional 100,000 federal employees with disabilities within five years. Obama will issue this executive order early in his first term and designate a senior White House official to assure that all federal departments and agencies meet the mandate.

Providing Private-Sector Employers with Resources to Accommodate Employees with Disabilities.

Encouraging Private-Sector Employers to Use Existing Tax Benefits to Hire More Workers with
Disabilities -

The tax code already contains several provisions designed to encourage employers to hire employees with disabilities, including the Disabled Access Tax Credit, a Tax Deduction for Architectural and Transportation Barrier Removal, and the Work Opportunity Tax Credit. Yet, very few employers actually take advantage of these credits. Barack Obama and Joe Biden will launch an aggressive effort to educate employers about these tax benefits so that more employers use them to hire greater numbers of employees with disabilities.

Supporting Small Businesses Owned by People with Disabilities -

Barack Obama and Joe Biden would direct the Small Business Administration to amend regulations under the Small Business Act that provide preferences in federal contracting to small businesses owned by members of socially and economically disadvantaged groups to include individuals with disabilities.

Now, for my personally… the most annoying part of MS has been the doctors appointments in the middle of the day. I mean, I do enjoy a good MRI at lunch time but I do miss work. My boss said I could “work from home” when I needed to take time for doctors appointments. I am lucky that I have a good boss/employer. For those that don’t Obama would like to:

Assuring Workers with Disabilities and Family Caregivers Get the Flexibility at Work They Need -

Some workers with disabilities are unable to take or keep jobs, or even to remain in the workforce, because they don’t have the scheduling flexibility to tend to their health care needs. Scheduling flexibility, including time off from work, can be an appropriate – even an essential – “accommodation” for many employees with disabilities.

Expand the Family and Medical Leave Act -

Barack Obama and Joe Biden will guarantee that millions more workers have access to FMLA leave by reducing the threshold for which employers are covered from companies with 50 or more employees to those with 25 or more.

Encourage States to Adopt Paid Leave.

Mandate A Reasonable Amount of Paid Sick Leave -

Barack Obama will require that employers provide seven paid sick days per year – which may be taken on an hourly basis – so that Americans with disabilities can take the time off
they need without fear of losing their jobs or a paycheck.

Now, there is a TON more in Obama’s plan. I will go over it more at a later date. I just want to say that while this is just a plan.. a vision, it is more of a vision than we have seen from McCain. We need new ideas. We need new regulation to protect those of us that need it. McCain must think it’s fine the way it is now otherwise he would have a plan also.

Stay tuned for more later.

Tags: Activism

2 responses so far ↓

1 Lisa Emrich // Oct 7, 2008 at 4:26 pm

Hey Nina, the President recently signed the Bill into law which restores the ADA. So one thing on this list has already been accomplished.

And yes, those lively conversations are driving me crazy. Like trying to reason with a 2-year old sometimes. What’s sad and scary is that there are way too many people who think the same way as what we’ve witnessed. *sigh*

[Reply]
nina reply on October 7th, 2008 9:16 pm
Good to know about the ADA thing. You are more on top of it than I am.

And yes, about the 2 year old thing. I don’t get it.

[Reply]

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