Editor's Column
by
Tim Benjamin
It seems like we just
entered the new millennium and here we are in the second half of
its first decade already. I’d like to
extend New Year’s greetings and best wishes for 2006 to all
Access Press readers. While a new year always brings promise, this
one opens with some real challenges. A couple issues have come up
over the holiday season that should concern all of us, and in this
issue we turn right to them with some in-depth articles.
First, the U.S.
budget reconciliation bill that was recently passed with Vice President
Cheney’s tie-breaking vote, may bring problems
soon to those of us on Medicaid. The Pioneer Press reported that “Minnesota
counties’ case management programs should brace for a $121
million cut. A reduction of that size would knock 400 families from
the county’s child services and child protection roster, or
increase staff caseloads by about 20%. That’s a tall order,
as caseloads in some areas are already near record highs.” These
case management programs are the programs that fund the public health
nurses and social workers for the poor, disabled, and elderly. Case
managers, most of them already overloaded, are necessary to keep
us out of institutions and to direct us to the social services that
keep us living independently. At this point it just isn’t clear
how much and where these reductions will affect the disability community.
I just heard that the US House
recessed before they could vote on the final wording, so the bill
was not enacted into law. This gives us another chance to fight the
passing of this bill. When Congress returns at the end of January
2006, the House will again take up the issue. We must call our legislators
now and urge them to reconsider, and vote against the passage of
this bill. The following representatives should be called: Gutknecht,
Kennedy, Kline, Osborne, Ramstad. We will keep you posted. For more
information see www.bazelon.org/takeaction/index.htm.
Second, President George
W. Bush’s Supreme
Court nominee,
Samuel A. Alito, Jr., has a troubling record with regard to disability
issues. Lance Hegland has written an informative article about Judge
Alito’s background and how a Supreme Court judge can affect
the interpretation of legislation for many years. The confirmation
of Judge Alito, Supreme Court scholars’ say, will most likely
weaken enforcement of the Americans with Disability Act. Agencies
like the Department of Housing and Urban Development will possibly
have to abide by a new style of interpreting the ADA. Alito is considered
to have a strict constructionist philosophy, which means he limits
his interpretation of the law to the actual wording and phrasing
used in the law without giving as much weight to its intent. In some
situations this could be considered good, but unfortunately, the
ADA has some vague wording and phrasing and there is much to read
between the lines in interpreting its intent. A constructionist approach
could be devastating to the disability community’s rights to
employment, housing, and freedom from discrimination.
Herb Drill contributes
a couple of articles about what happened at the World
Congress on Disabilities
Convention in December. He discusses a
media panel that critiqued media coverage of disability issues.
The articles bring home for us here at Access Press how important
it is that Minnesota’s disability community has its own newspaper.
Through Access Press we have some control over coverage of disability
issues. Unlike most mainstream media, Access Press relies on people
with disabilities as reporters and news sources and not just as examples.
These articles make me proud of what we work hard to accomplish at
Access Press.
Finally, on a personal
level, with a new year ahead, I am reminded of the importance of
paying attention to my own motivations in everything. I need to
constantly remind myself of how easily my motivation can be, in
the words of a wise friend, “polluted by ego.” I
have to remember that doing the good deed isn’t meant to make
me feel that “I’m a good person.” The intent of
doing good actions, in personal life as well as in politics, is not
to satisfy individual needs or ego but to help others, to help us
all live better and happier lives. Here’s hoping for a good
start on that in 2006.
