Sen. Harkin slams budget proposal for disability cuts

From AAPD:

Wednesday, May 4, 2011 Senator Tom Harkin (pictured) spoke on the Senate floor about the damages done by the House Budget Proposal. He included concern for the disability community as a key reason to oppose this plan which drastically cuts Medicaid funding and converts Medicare into a voucher system that will not cover the costs of medical care for older Americans.

Excerpts from Senator Tom Harkin's speech (5.4.11):

"Mr. President, everyone in this body agrees that we must take aggressive action to reduce the deficit. But we have to do it right... [this] budget dismantles Medicare and Medicaid, and lays the groundwork for deep cuts to Social Security – changes that will devastate the economic security of the middle class in this country...It repeals Wall Street reform as well as the consumer protections in the Affordable Care Act – including the ban on denying coverage for preexisting conditions...

We can overcome our current challenges without sacrificing our great middle class – and without abandoning seniors, people with disabilities, and the less fortunate among us...Yet, [this] budget places almost the entire burden of deficit reduction on programs that support the middle class, seniors, people with disabilities, and the poor....[It] guts Medicaid. Will that improve the lives of seniors and people with disabilities who depend on Medicaid to pay for nursing home care and home care assistants? ...

We need an alternative – a budget that invests in education and opportunity for all Americans . . . a budget that invests in the retirement security of the middle class . . . and, yes, a budget that does not abandon the less fortunate among us, including seniors and people with disabilities... In the field of education, we need major new investments that say “leave no child behind” – and really mean it! ... providing resources to ensure that the goal of graduating students who are “college and career ready” applies equally to students with disabilities...

Through our government, we come together to ensure that our citizens have a secure retirement with guaranteed access to health care . . . and to ensure that the less fortunate among us, including people with disabilities, are not abandoned to the shadows of life