We at Planet of the Blind wonder why The Rachel Maddow Show or other progressive news outlets are not covering the story of disability protest of the Romney-Ryan Plan.
(Between The Lines)
June 20, 2012
WASHINGTON, DC– [Excerpt provided by Inclusion Daily Express] On April 23, 74 disability rights activists were arrested in the Cannon House Office Building in Washington, D.C., there to protest the Republican-led House of Representatives’ proposed plan to cut $800 billion from the federal Medicaid budget. The protest was part of the disability rights’ group ADAPT’s My Medicaid Matters Campaign.
ADAPT used to stand for American Disabled for Accessible Public Transportation, but with the passage of the Americans With Disabilities Act in the early 1990s, that battle was largely won. ADAPT now stands for American Disabled for Attendant Programs Today, emphasizing the need for personal care assistance to help disabled citizens to remain in their own homes and not be institutionalized.
Actor Noah Wyle, a star of the “Falling Skies” TV program, was among the ADAPT activists to be arrested at the April protest. ADAPT says that like Americans of the past, disability activists are practicing nonviolent civil disobedience to prevent the nation from stepping backward toward oppression and segregation.
Elaine Kolb was one of those arrested in the April protest. She uses a wheelchair as a result of a stabbing injury many years ago. This was her 19th arrest since joining ADAPT in 1987. She is also a singer/songwriter whose work focuses on disability rights issues. Between the Lines’ Melinda Tuhus spoke with Kolb, who explains why she participated in this latest protest, as she considers what the future may hold for Americans with disabilities.
Entire article:
GOP Proposal to Cut $800 Billion from Medicaid Budget Focus of Disability Rights Protest
http://www.btlonline.org/2012/seg/120622cf-btl-kolb.html
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