Advocates for people with disabilities were no doubt pleased to see their constituents given specific attention in the democratic party platform document, which was released on the eve of the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, North Carolina, earlier this month. The copy of Moving America Forward found on the Democratic National Committee website has a clickable table of contents that allows one to easily find the passage, which is under the first subheading, “Strengthening the American Community,” found under the section titled, “Greater Together.”
American with disabilities are one of many special interest groups collected together in this section, along with Native Americans, immigrants, military veterans, and citizens of U.S. territories such as Puerto Rico, Guam, and American Samoa, reflecting the Democrats’ goal of achieving “full integration into society” for the approximately 50 million individuals with disabilities in our country.
Employment was at the top of the list for how inclusion could be achieved. The text mentions President Obama’s executive order directing federal agencies to hire 100,000 individuals with disabilities by 2015 and outlines how its positions on other issues reflect the party’s commitment to “expanding access to employment for people with disabilities and removing barriers to work.”
This includes upholding regulations with regards to workplace accessibility under the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, as well as the updates that went into effect earlier this year. For the democrats, it also includes provisions in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010 which prevent health insurers from denying coverage for pre-existing conditions.
Yet for all the grand language in this section of Moving America Forward, there were very few references to people with disabilities by speakers at the convention. (Although the presence of U.S. House candidate Tammy Duckworth on stage was a statement in and of itself.) Every speaker who did mention these individuals did so in the context of Medicaid, and the contrast of their plan with the Republicans.
The GOP party platform seeks to give states more control over how to allocate these funds in ways that best serve the needs of their population, much like the BadgerCare waiver program in Vice Presidential Candidate Paul Ryan’s home state of Wisconsin. As with just about every other topic covered that week, former President Bill Clinton was the most verbose:
Almost two-thirds of Medicaid is spent on nursing home care for seniors and on people with disabilities, including kids from middle class families, with special needs like, Downs syndrome or Autism. I don’t know how those families are going to deal with it. We can’t let it happen.
In addition, Clinton references the “disabled voters” in his concluding call to end voter suppression. This language is also found in the platform document.
But outside of Connecticut Governor Dannel Malloy prefacing Clinton’s remarks on Medicaid with his own warning of how the GOP plan would “slash” benefits for people with disabilities, and First Lady Michelle Obama’s heart-wrenching account of her father’s commitment to supporting his family while suffering the effects of multiple sclerosis, that was it. As we acknowledged during coverage of the Republican National Convention, these speeches are not exactly intended to lay out policy details, but some vocalization of what was outlined in Moving America Forward might have helped its message of inclusion resonate a little more strongly.
If anyone heard additional messages about people with disabilities at the Democratic National Convention, please share in the comments below, along with any relevant links.
Image by Steve Bott.