1) What’s Happening in the Nation’s Capital?

Obama Introduces Economic Team; Calls for 'Cuts and Sacrifices'

2) National News

MindFreedom Filing Complaint with UN Claiming "Torture" in Minnesota – Take Action!

Health Insurers Offer to Accept All Applicants, on Condition

New National Center for Parents with Disabilities

States Cut Services for Elderly, Disabled As Budget Shortfalls Force Reductions in Home Care, Low-Income People May Face Nursing Homes, Advocates Say

Employment Gap Widens for Workers with Disabilities

3) State News

After More than 400 Lawsuits, Jarek Molski Barred from Litigation in Central California

Iowa Mother Wants to Limit Voting for Disabled

A Year after Violations Addressed, Sexual and Physical Abuse Rampant at Lubbock State School

4) Announcements

COAT Launches Logo Contest

1) What’s Happening in the Nation’s Capital?  

Obama Introduces Economic Team; Calls for 'Cuts and Sacrifices'

Source: Politico

President Elect Barack Obama selected a Mr. Defense and a Mr. Offense for his economic team Monday, picking Timothy Geithner as Secretary of the Treasury and Lawrence Summers as director of the National Economic Council. “We do not have a minute to waste,” Obama said in his comments to a nationally televised audience. “Right now our economy is trapped in a vicious cycle.”

The dual selection set up a formidable tag team to take on the global financial crisis. Geithner at Treasury will likely take a defensive role, spearheading the remainder of the $700 billion Troubled Assets Relief Program and decisions to bail out individual financial institutions. Inside the White House, Summers will be the architect of the administration’s economic stimulus proposals, including what is shaping up to be a multi-hundred billion dollar jobs and infrastructure spending plan.

President-elect Barack Obama introduced his economic team during a news conference today in Chicago; Treasury Secretary-designate Timothy Geithner, Council of Economic Advisers Chair-designate Christina Romer, and National Economic Council Director-designate Lawrence Summers.

Obama said as he announced his economic team that he plans to follow that up with remarks on Tuesday about "cuts and sacrifices" the nation will need to make in the days ahead. He said that in addition to spending to get the economy going, he wants to "reform how business is done in Washington, and how the budgeting process works, how projects are done, so that we have a path towards a sustainable and responsible budget scenario down the line."

...Obama, trying to set realistic expectations as he prepares to take office in 57 days, warned in his prepared remarks that the "economy is trapped in a vicious cycle: the turmoil on Wall Street means a new round of belt-tightening for families and businesses on Main Street – and as folks produce less and consume less, that just deepens the problems in our financial markets."

"There are no shortcuts or quick fixes to this crisis, which has been many years in the making – and the economy is likely to get worse before it gets better," Obama said. "Full recovery won’t happen immediately. And to make the investments we need, we’ll have to scour our federal budget, line-by-line, and make meaningful cuts and sacrifices as well – something I’ll be discussing further tomorrow."

His remarks served as a reminder to supporters that he may not be able to grant all their wishes right away. Already, he has said that he may have to delay the full scope of some of his promises, although he has said he will make a start on all his priorities, including health care, energy and the economy.

2) National News

MindFreedom Filing Complaint with UN Claiming "Torture" in Minnesota – Take Action!

A MindFreedom investigation revealed that Ray Sandford, 54, complained of being escorted every week for months from his supported living home in Columbia Heights, Minnesota to Mercy Hospital for another course of electroshock over his objection.

After a MindFreedom News international alert, Ray's doctor let him skip his forced shock this past Wednesday, November 19. This Wednesday morning, November 26, Ray expects to be woken up early once again to be escorted the 15 miles to what he is told will be his 34th involuntary outpatient electroshock under special Minnesota laws.

Meanwhile, MindFreedom is filing an official claim with the United Nations calling Minnesota's abuse of Ray "torture," using a new process and expanded definition by the UN. This past Friday, November 21, disability advocates met with Ray at the Minnesota Center for Independent Living. Ray told advocates he very much supports this campaign.

During the meeting a teleconference was held with MindFreedom President Celia Brown in New York City and MindFreedom Director David Oaks in Oregon. Celia interviewed Ray so that MindFreedom may file a human rights complaint under a new process with a United Nations Special Rappateur. Because of recent developments, some types of severe psychiatric abuse may now be considered torture by the UN.

Involuntary outpatient electroshock (IOE) is part of a trend to bring the power of forced psychiatric procedures out into the community, from the back ward to your front porch. Electroshock itself has made a comeback throughout the USA, and internationally, without adequate human rights protection.

The next forced outpatient electroshock of Ray Sandford is scheduled for this Wednesday morning, 26 November 2008, the day before the USA holiday of Thanksgiving. Join an international campaign *NOW* to phone Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty today and tomorrow, before the shock:

• Ask the Governor to give Ray Sandford a reprieve from his next forced electroshock.
  
  
• Ask the Governor -- who claims to believe in limited government -- if he supports laws in Minnesota allowing this torture: the involuntary administration of electroshock therapy (ECT) of people living out in the community?
  
  
• Insist on talking to a staff person. Staff is directing many of these calls into voice mail.  MindFreedom is not aware of anyone actually getting a response to this voice mail. Do Not Give Up! Politely but firmly insist on talking to a staff person. If you get redirected to voice mail leave a message, but call back until you get an answer from a live person. Call any day, but especially call today and tomorrow, *before* Ray's scheduled electroshock this Wednesday. You have the best chance of reaching staff from 8:00 am to 4:30 pm Central Time weekdays.
  
  
• From anywhere in the world phone (651) 296-3391.  From inside Minnesota phone toll free (800) 657-3717. If you do receive any helpful information, e-mail it to news@mindfreedom.org.

Remember Ray - Take Action Now! Don't let Ray get escorted without you saying "no" to torture out in our communities. It takes just a few moments. Please nonviolently "zap back" by asking questions. The campaign is being heard in the Governor's office. MindFreedom has evidence that at least one frustrated operator has hung up on callers about Ray. Ray did not give up. So we won't give up! You may read some of the many public comments that have been e-mailed to the Governor here. Tim Pawlenty's email is tim.pawlenty@state.mn.us.

Health Insurers Offer to Accept All Applicants, on Condition

Source: New York Times, by Robert Pear

The health insurance industry said Wednesday that it would support a health care overhaul requiring insurers to accept all customers, regardless of illness or disability. But in return, the industry said, Congress should require all Americans to have coverage. The proposals, put forward by the insurers' two main trade associations, have the potential to reshape and advance the debate over universal health insurance just as President-elect Barack Obama prepares to take office.

In separate actions, the two trade groups, America's Health Insurance Plans and the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association, announced their support for guaranteed coverage for people with pre-existing medical conditions, in conjunction with an enforceable mandate for individual coverage. In the absence of such a mandate, insurers said, many people will wait until they become sick before they buy insurance.

Members of Congress said Wednesday that they wanted to pass legislation next year, as proposed by Mr. Obama, to expand coverage and rein in health care costs. The new position taken by the insurance industry - the industry that helped sink President Bill Clinton's plan for universal health coverage in 1994 - could ease the way for passage of such legislation.

But the industry's position differs from that of Mr. Obama in one significant respect. Insurers want the government to require everyone to have and maintain insurance. By contrast, Mr. Obama would, at least initially, apply the requirement only to children. In the race for the Democratic presidential nomination, that was a major point of contention between Mr. Obama and Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York. Mrs. Clinton said that everyone should be required to have coverage. Mr. Obama said he wanted to be certain that insurance was affordable and available to all before considering such a broad requirement. Asked on Wednesday for reaction to the insurance industry's proposals, Tommy Vietor, a spokesman for the Obama transition team, said, "We are declining comment." Mr. Vietor cited Mr. Obama's view that "we have only one president at a time." Read More.

New National Center for Parents with Disabilities

A new National Center for Parents with Disabilities and their Families has been established in Berkeley, California under the auspices of Through the Looking Glass, a non-profit organization founded in 1982.  The Center will oversee several national research studies concerning parents with disabilities and their families, as well as provide consultations, trainings and publications to parents, family members and professionals.

The research and resources of the Center will address the nearly 9 million U.S. parents with disabilities – 15% of all American families.  Parents with disabilities include mothers and fathers in all disability categories – such as parents with physical disabilities, deaf parents, blind parents, parents with psychiatric or cognitive disabilities.  The Center is funded by a $500,000 per year federal grant for three years from the Washington, DC-based National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research (NIDRR), U.S. Department of Education. 

The new Center will focus its research and resource activities on four critical areas that impact parents with disabilities: custody, family roles and personal assistance; paratransit; and, intervention with parents with cognitive disabilities and their children.  One of the notable activities planned over the next three years is a scholarship program for high school seniors and college students whose parents have disabilities.  The Center will be staffed by nationally recognized experts regarding parents with disabilities, most of whom have personal or family experience with disability or deafness. 

More information about the Center and Through the Looking Glass is available at the organization’s website, through two toll-free numbers, 800-644-2666 (voice), 800-804-1616 (TDD/TTY), or by email at tlg@lookingglass.org

States Cut Services for Elderly, Disabled As Budget Shortfalls Force Reductions in Home Care, Low-Income People May Face Nursing Homes, Advocates Say

Source: Wall Street Journal, by Philip Shishkin

Faced with widening budget shortfalls, several states are rolling back support services for the elderly and disabled. The move is making it tougher for them to continue living on their own, advocates say. At least 15 states, including Alabama, Virginia and Massachusetts, are targeting such funding, mostly for programs that allow low-income shut-ins to receive personal care -- like cooking, cleaning and basic health services -- in their own homes, according to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, a liberal-leaning Washington, D.C. think tank that studies state budgets.

The cutbacks are exacerbating the already long waiting lists for home-care support services in many states. That leaves the low-income elderly and disabled to dip into their meager incomes to hire their own help, reach out to family or charity, or seek more restrictive and expensive care in a nursing home, advocates say. "We are beginning to see serious cuts and we are expecting those cuts to get worse," says JoAnn Lamphere, director of state government relations at AARP, an advocacy group for the elderly.

As the economy falters, declining revenues and tax receipts have led state agencies to cut spending, with 41 states facing current or looming deficits, according to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. Services for the elderly and disabled are just one of the areas facing cuts. But the cuts hit hard because the population is especially vulnerable. "The call volume is increasing exponentially and the people are desperate," says Sarah Lightell, chief operating officer at the Senior Resource Alliance, which uses state funds to provide home-care services to the elderly in central Florida. …"Without any intervention, a nursing home may be the only option," Ms. Lightell says. Read More.

Employment Gap Widens for Workers with Disabilities

Source: Delmarva Media Group

Just in the past few years, the employment gap has widened between the number of working-age Americans with disabilities who are employed and those workers without disabilities, as a recent government study has reported. The finding was part of a series of reports released by Cornell University in collaboration with the American Association of People with Disabilities. The researchers found that the "employment gap" between those with disabilities in the work force and those workers without disabilities was 40.3 percent. That represents a .6 percentage point increase from the previous year, when the gap was 39.7 percent.

The growth in the gap means that there are fewer people with disabilities in the work force relative to the total number of Americans employed. "The rise in the employment gap also suggests that people with disabilities are not participating in the current economy," said Andrew Houtenville, director of Cornell's Rehabilitation Research and Training Center on Disability Demographics and Statistics.

Another key finding in the reports also highlighted the fact that the poverty rate rose more for people with disabilities than for those without. For people with disabilities, it increased .8 percentage points, to 24.1 percent of working-age Americans, and from 23.3 percent the year after. For people without disabilities, while the poverty rate did increase, it only increased .2 percentage points, to 9.1 percent, from 8.9 percent the year before.

Some Cornell researchers are investigating whether the employment gap may be due, in part, to what they call the "poverty trap." Under current federal rules, people with disabilities must be essentially unemployed to receive government benefits, but the support they receive isn't enough to keep them out of poverty, they point out. As a matter of fact, to my recollection, nothing significant has been done to right this wrong. "Those with the lowest incomes lose 50 cents for every dollar they earn. That's a higher tax rate than Bill Gates pays," said David Stapleton, director of the Cornell Institute for Policy Research. Stapleton and others recommended that federal policy be revisited to reward, rather than punish, people with disabilities who earn income through employment. Read More.

3) State News

After More than 400 Lawsuits, Jarek Molski Barred from Litigation in Central California

U.S. Supreme Court refuses to hear Jarek Molski's appeal, letting stand a federal judge's ruling barring the disabled man from filing any further litigation. Whether Jarek Molski is a crusader for the disabled or an extortionist who abused the law for personal gain, the vexatious litigant has filed his last lawsuit.

The U.S. Supreme Court declined Monday to hear the case of Molski vs. Evergreen Dynasty Corp., owner of a Chinese restaurant in Solvang, Calif., in a legal Waterloo for the 38-year-old Woodland Hills man. Molski filed more than 400 suits under the Americans with Disabilities Act before a federal judge barred him from future litigation.

An article in Tuesday's California section said that Jarek Molski of Woodland Hills had "filed his last lawsuit" as a result of the U.S. Supreme Court's refusal to review a federal judge's order that barred Molski from filing further lawsuits over alleged violations of the Americans With Disabilities Act. The judge's order applied only to the Central District of California, which includes Los Angeles.

In a highly unusual action in 2004, U.S. District Judge Edward Rafeedie, who has since died, branded Molski a "hit-and-run plaintiff," accusing him of systematic extortion of businesses across California. Molski, who has used a wheelchair since a motorcycle accident two decades ago, sued restaurants, bowling alleys, wineries and other retail outlets for insufficient handicapped parking, misplaced handrails and other violations of the disabilities act, demanding that business owners be fined $4,000 for every day their facilities failed to meet exacting federal standards. Fear of adverse judgments compelled many to settle out of court, earning the Polish-born plaintiff hundreds of thousands of dollars in less than two years. Read More.

Iowa Mother Wants to Limit Voting for Disabled

Source: The Gazette, by Steve Gravelle

Brenda Lyddon wants to change the state law so people like her son can't vote — at least without her supervision. "I don't want to take away a person's right to vote," said Lyddon of Deep River. "It's just that a lot of us, (group) homes and parents, need to work together and agree on what's best for our loved ones."

Lyddon's son Kristopher Willis, 26, is developmentally disabled and lives in a Grinnell group home. She was upset to learn that staff at the home took her son to a polling place on Election Day despite her instructions not to. "I went to the home and told the person who is in charge of the home he is not allowed to vote," said Lyddon. "I am his mother and he was not allowed to vote." Doesn't matter, said Len Sandler, a University of Iowa law professor. "It's one of the rights that are fairly sacred," said Sandler, who makes a specialty of laws that apply to the disabled.

Lyddon, who unsuccessfully challenged her son's ballot, retains guardianship over him for most legal decisions. However, to prevent him from voting would require a court hearing. "The idea is, what's in the best interests of the ward and as much power and authority as the individual can apply in their own right, that's what you're supposed to preserve as much as possible," Sandler said. "I don't know that it's been litigated that often here."

... Lyddon supported and did volunteer work for the Republican Sen. John McCain. Her son voted for Democratic Sen. Barack Obama. But she said that's not why she complained. "He does not have the mental capacity to choose for himself," she wrote in an e-mail. Read More.

A Year after Violations Addressed, Sexual and Physical Abuse Rampant at Lubbock State School

Source: The Dallas Morning News, by Emily Ramshaw

More than a year after health officials said that federal civil rights violations inside the Lubbock State School had been addressed, Texas' own quality rating system gives the institution for the disabled a score of 20 out of a possible 100 – worse than all but two other facilities. As recently as this summer, a state inspection found critical deficiencies that jeopardized resident health and safety, threatening the school's certification to care for mentally disabled residents. The most serious finding was that staff could not prevent the facility's hundreds of residents from punching, kicking, biting and sexually abusing one another – and that they weren't always reporting the injuries.

"The state's most recent quality review clearly shows the system is broken," said Rep. Patrick Rose, the Dripping Springs Democratic chairman of the committee that oversees the state schools. "It underscores the need to pass legislation next session that allows us to provide services to this population in a different and more cost effective way."

The U.S. Justice Department, which recently announced plans to investigate all of Texas' state schools for the disabled, first reviewed the Lubbock State School in 2005, finding atrocious living conditions, civil-rights violations and 17 deaths over an 18-month period. As early as March 2007, officials with the Department of Aging and Disability Services, the agency that oversees the state schools, said they had made sweeping changes in Lubbock to fix the problems, which included nursing shortages and a poor management structure. And lawmakers agreed to spend nearly $49 million to hire nearly 1,700 new state school employees, an effort to address staffing ratios and other health and training concerns system-wide. Read More.

4) Announcements

COAT Launches Logo Contest

The Coalition of Organizations for Accessible Technology (COAT) is pleased to announce the launch of its Logo Contest.  The logo will be used to represent COAT and its mission to the general public, and may be used for COAT’s printed materials, website, apparel, and other uses for which COAT deems appropriate. 

The contest began on Monday, November 17, 2008, and will end on Tuesday, January 20, 2009.  All entries must be accompanied by a Contest Entry Form and received by COAT at the addresses noted in the Contest Rules, by midnight EST, January 20, 2009.  The contest winner will be announced as soon as possible thereafter.  Entry Form and Contest Rules are available on the main COAT web site, or go directly to http://coataccess.org/node/79.

Be sure to send your winning Logo Contest entry and Entry Form by e-mail to COATlogo@COATaccess.org, or by mail to:  COAT c/o TDI, 8630 Fenton Street, Suite 604, Silver Spring, MD 20910-3803, Attn. J. House.

About COAT:  The Coalition of Organizations for Accessible Technology, or COAT, founded in March 2007, is a coalition of over 220 organizations that advocates for legislative and regulatory safeguards that will ensure full access by people with disabilities to evolving high speed broadband, wireless and other Internet protocol (IP) technologies. COAT is dedicated to making sure that as the nation migrates from legacy telecommunications to more versatile and innovative IP-based and other communication technologies, people with disabilities will benefit like everyone else.