Ben Adler on what has disability activists worried in the debate on health reform:
With an estimated 37.5 million eligible voters with a disability — and the aging baby boom generation means the ranks of the disabled will grow — disability rights is an emerging brand of identity politics. The Democratic Party has been attuned to the change. The Democratic National Committee (DNC) disability caucus is growing in size and prominence. The Obama campaign had a comprehensive disability-issues platform, and President Obama hired Kareem Dale to be the first White House special assistant for disability policy. On July 21 the president also announced the U.S. will sign on to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.
So why are disability activists in an uproar? Instead of celebrating Obama’s announcement, on July 21 a coalition of disability-rights organizations held 26 simultaneous protests at the DNC headquarters, local Democratic Party offices, and at Senate Finance Committee Chair Max Baucus’ state office in Missoula, Montana. In April, 400 activists chained themselves to the White House fence and were arrested for civil disobedience. Why do they say they are being ignored, and even that they are victims of political discrimination? Because, like other key progressive constituencies, such as gay-rights and reproductive-rights advocates, disability-rights groups are watching long-awaited priorities be delayed as the president and Congress focus on the economy, climate-change legislation, and health reform.