Readers Respond on Debt Deal

We recently posted this blog about the passage of the Debt Deal and what we know as of now about its impact on individuals with disabilities. After chatting with several TASH Blog readers, we decided to post a poll to get your feedback on this issue. Thank you to everyone who provided feedback.

What’s clear is the Debt Deal is being watched very closely by the disability community. With the super committee now in place, there will be cuts ahead. Whether these are targeted at Medicare, Social Security and Medicaid (directly or indirectly) will be determined in the coming months. Here are the responses from the poll, along with some additional feedback we’ve received.

Poll_What Impact Will Debt Deal Have?

Poll_How Concerned are You?

Note: there were zero responses for “Not Concerned” or “Unsure”

Readers speak out:

“I want congress to know that I am disabled, my daughter who is 7 years old is disabled, and both of us only receive SSI. These benefits are so important … the Medicaid that we receive is so important to us, too. Please do not play games with our only form of taking care of ourselves.”

“If the government did more to protect children and help families give their children more education, recreational and home opportunities, children would not be abused, neglected or abandoned. Parents would be able to take better care of their children.”

“Initially, the debt deal will only have a slight impact on individuals with disabilities. But looking forward several years, there’s no doubt that there will be significant cuts to entitlements, which will result in major austerity measures on the scale of what we see now in Britain.”

“Spending cuts are the wrong approach, because they are done in ways that hurt people who are struggling to be a part of society – people with disabilities who want to live in the community and contribute by working, for instance.  The tax cuts of 2001 and 2003 were a mistake. No one should be exempt from paying his or her proportional share for the common good.”

“These cuts on the disabled violate the Geneva Conventions, Convention Against Torture etc, and Genocide Convention. They could have extraordinarily negative adverse effects on US foreign policy.”

“Instead of just blindly cutting services like in-home care, now more than ever is the time to use our resources wisely by ending the institutional bias for people with disabilities. What will it take to address this???”

“Financial crisis caused by Bush tax cuts, two unfunded wars, unfunded Medicare Part D Prescription plan and the bank bailout and resulting stimulus needed to keep us from another Great Depression, and now the Republicans want to fix all that by going after Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid!”