Pollack on the Politics of Disability

Today's New York Times has an important op-ed by the always enlightening Harold Pollack.  Read the whole thing, but this paragraph gives you a taste:

But more is at stake here than factual inaccuracies. Mr. Santorum and Ms. Palin are spreading a poisonous meme: that liberals disdain the disabled and look down upon parents who raise children with physical or intellectual limitations. They seek to insert the hateful rhetoric of the culture war into one of the few areas of American life that had remained relatively free of such rancor. Care for people with disabilities has quietly been one of the few causes in this country on which social liberals and conservatives could put aside their differences to get important work done. I fear this may be changing, and at the precise moment when budget crises and the knife fight over health care reform place the future of key disability services into doubt.

Obama, McCain Statements on Disability Issues

In honor of the ADA's anniversary, Barack Obama and John McCain issued statements supportive of disability rights this weekend. Both express support for the ADA Amendments Act, and Obama's expresses support for the Community Choice Act, while McCain's more vaguely expresses support for "legislation that would build on the principles of the Money Follows the Person Initiative, while also keeping my commitment to a responsible budget." For some doubts about McCain's support for disability rights, see this post on GoBecky. And it's certainy true that Obama has the best, most well thought-out position statement on disability rights of any candidate I can recall.