Let’s see…who else in history made it their priority to go after gay and transgender people, those without citizenship (Jews), unions, political opponents and disabled people?
(DREDF.org) “The Department of Energy (DOE) is trying to get rid of important rules of Section 504! DOE is trying to change the rules that new buildings must be accessible to people with disabilities. They are also trying to get rid of other rules that help disability accessibility. Please make your voice heard and say “no” to these changes. You can send in a comment as part of an organization. You can also send a comment on your own. The deadline to send in comments is Monday, June 16, 2025, [by 11:59 pm EDT]”
How to make that “significant adverse comment” by June 16, 8:59 PDT:
This is all GOP political theater to protect the interests of the wealthy and corporations who fill their campaign chests.
Kevin McCarthy and the MAGA majority in the House have threatened to take the economy hostage, seeming willing to drive the US to default on our debts if they don’t get their way. Their goal is always the same – slash Social Security, Medicare, and other programs our families and communities rely on. Cuts to these programs could be devastating for millions of Americans, and would pull the rug out from underneath all of us who have paid into the programs. Not to mention the risks of a recession and job losses if Republicans force the government to default on its debt.
They’ve added more detail to their campaign of punching downwards – blocking Biden’s student loan forgiveness, instituting work requirements for our country’s poorest who receive “Medicaid healthcare benefits and SNAP food benefits” (like Jesus would have done!); cutting 22% from funding for veterans, Head Start and other childcare programs, Meals of Wheels, cut safety inspections for trains, provisions of the House-passed energy package and more.
This is all a diversion to keep us from noticing that “it was GOP tax cuts enacted under Presidents George W. Bush and Donald Trump―disproportionately benefiting the wealthy and profitable corporations―that are major drivers of our debt.” In fact, under the new GOP-dominated House’ rules, these kinds of tax cuts do notneed to be offset with any sort of savings elsewhere in the budget, even if they add more trillions to the debt.
His administration now wants to recreate a 1980’s policy from the Reagan era that resulted in 200,000 Americans losing their earned Social Security disability benefits and 21,176 deaths. Several people committed suicide after being told they no longer qualified for benefits and Medal of Honor winner and Vietnam war hero Roy Benavidez was told to get a job, despite war injuries that left him with severe pain and shrapnel in his heart.
After massive public outcry, that policy was reversed, but now the administration is proposing a similar rule, which increases the frequency of eligibility reviews in an attempt to rip benefits away from hundreds of thousands of Americans with disabilities, especially adults nearing retirement and children.
So we say…Why wait to howl until AFTER people die? Let’s do it NOW!
Although 25% of the U.S. population is disabled in some way, voter turnout in the disability community lags nearly 6 percentage points behind that of nondisabled people. Challenges include voter ID laws; inaccessible polling places; finding accessible election materials; and properly trained poll workers.
Action #1 – H.R.1/S.949 – “For the People” Act includes disability access improvements.
ANOTHER reason why HR.1 and the senatorial version S.949 are so important… These bills increase voting access for those with disabilities by increasing accessibility requirements at polling places, and giving out grants to help pay for necessary alterations. These bills also make registration materials and notices regarding voter roll purges more accessible and expand access to early voting and same-day voter registration. Extending hours helps not only those with schedules dependant on personal care attendants, but also parents of young children, and those with jobs that conflict with normal polling hours. Combo-scripts and contact info. below
Action #2 – H.R.865/S266 – the Rebuild America’s Schools Act will make many polling places more accessible.
(Today’s actions from Americans of Conscience, quote from – Lisa Schur, Rutgers School of Management and Labor Relations.)
35.4 million people with disabilities were expected to vote in the 2016 presidential election. That was an increase of 7 percent over 2012 and represented nearly one-sixth of the total U.S. electorate at the time.
Action #1 – Check to see if our state has Automatic Voter Registration.
We do. CA was the 2nd of 15 states to adopt the process that makes voter registration an “opt-out” instead of “opt-in” option when eligible citizens interact with government agencies, like the DMV in CA, that provide this service. “Automatic voter registration” (AVR) makes voting easier for those with disabilities by eliminating the need to submit paper forms that are not accessible to them.
Action #2 – Thank our state legislators for their record on voting accessibility.
Senator Hannah-Beth Jackson voted for the bill that created AVR – AB 1461 in 2015, as well as a lot of of other great voting legislation listed in the “Background” section below. Relatively new Assembly Member Monique Límon (2016) has also consistently supported voter accessibility legislation.
INDIVISIBLE VENTURA 