Nick Analysis: Focus on Long-term Policy Choices This attack ad put out by “The Agenda Project,” an org that apparently exists solely to place anti-GOP TV spots, is aimed at the electorate voting in the upcoming decisive midterm races for House and Senate. And it is unique in several ways. Most obviously, the ad is … Continue reading “Public Health Back on the Frontburner with Ebola Panic”
December 5th, 2013, Vice President of the U.S. (VOTUS) Joseph R. Biden, speaking to a conference room-full of PRC diplomats and dignitaries after meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing, made an accidentally revealing comment: The United States has a profound stake in what happens here, because we need—we are, and will remain—a Pacific power, diplomatically, economically, and … Continue reading “VP Biden Accidentally Suggests U.S.-Asia Influence Waning”
I’ve blogged about many historical events over the years, deeply exploring significant events for Medicaid and health care reform, for state politics, for national politics…and I think the current federal government shutdown is one of the most significant political events I’ve covered. I think it represents a major turning point. Fiorello LaGuardia famously said “There is … Continue reading “My Take on the Great Gov’t Shutdown of 2013”
The debate over Chained CPI has been heating up all over the country and all over the web. What’s Chained CPI? Congressman Ellison explains. Rep. Ellison recorded this video in December. If he were recording today, he’d mention that PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA is the driving force behind Chained CPI, despite its intense unpopularity on all … Continue reading “Chaining down the money you’ve earned: the debate over Chained CPI”
High-Speed Rail (HSR) would help everyone and boost the economy but would disproportionately benefit PWD—people with disabilities—because for a significant percentage of us, it’s difficult to impossible to use the airlines. And with the TSA confusing the grit you get on your hands operating a manual wheelchair with “bomb residue” again and again, fewer PWD … Continue reading “High-Speed Rail Vital for PWD and the Nation; Why Have the Promises Evaporated?”
Dear reader: We’re facing really horrible corruption in our government; it’s getting so bad, we’re nearing like end-stage Byzantine Empire type corruption, with the rot of corruption undermining every government bureaucracy, every political appointment, and the decay reinforced by a corrupt people and the government feeding it back to people in this demonic loop. This … Continue reading “Wow!! Obama appointments sold to highest bidder”
How I’ve Changed Since Moving to New York City or… Living in Zomerica I started out and made my name as an activist in Alabama, where the left is deeply influenced by Martin Luther King Jr. I always spoke in the language of Biblical and , sometimes overtly, very much in the tradition of the … Continue reading “Living in Zomerica”
Continuing my comments on Mitt Romney’s “very ample safety net” statement on CNN; see the first half of my post: Mitt Romney: Can You Help Us, Mr. Fix It? (Part 1)… So, as I said in Part 1, it’s very important to assess presidential candidates in a just and fair manner, and too often the … Continue reading “Mitt Romney: Can You Help Us, Mr. Fix It? (Part 2)”
Everyone interested in understanding the current crisis in the Middle East should watch Jon Stewart’s conversation with Mansour O. El-Kikhia, a Benghazi-born professor who chairs the political science department at UT San Antonio. This is an important pro-intervention viewpoint to think about, though I differ in pivotal areas and OPPOSE American intervention in a third concurrent … Continue reading “U.S. Expat Professor From Benghazi Talks To Jon Stewart (a pro-intervention viewpoint)”
Last week, like the careful student of political science I am, I was reading the full text of the Pledge to America, the new policy platform for the GOP’s Fall Election campaign… The thing that disturbed me the most is that the text so emphasizes the Constitution and a return to the Constitution, all this … Continue reading “Do The Orwellian Police State Cha-Cha!!”
Question: In light of Obama’s plan to expand Medicaid eligibility, is anyone in Congress noticing the MASSIVE state budget cuts to Medicaid across the country and ruminating about how that jives with this impending expansion? I fear that if states have to raise income eligibility and bring millions of uninsured onto the Medicaid rolls, that … Continue reading “Feds Fiddling While State Medicaid Programs BURN”
I’ve been away for quite some time, I know, but I haven’t stopped thinking about public policy and the way things are going. They aren’t going well. I followed the health care reform debate with a magnifying glass throughout, and came away deeply disgusted in both the final product and the process that made that … Continue reading “Nick’s Essay on America’s Decline, with Big Solutions (long)”
My biggest beef with Health Care Reform right now is that we’re building a new tower on top of a broken foundation. Medicare and Medicaid are badly broken, and we’re building more programs on top of that. Bad idea. Insurance company bureaucracy is even worse, but federal programs have to be significantly better in the … Continue reading “Fix The Broken Foundation Before Building A Skyscraper On Top Of It”
Obama Administration Signs the CRPD Treaty, But Is In Flagrant Violation Of It, The ADA, Olmstead, and Its Own “Year of Community Living” PR Campaign, As Arbitrary Termination of Medicaid Home Care Services at Age 21 Continues Unabated The recent addition of the U.S. as a signatory to the UN Convention on the Rights of … Continue reading “Disabled Still Forced Into Institutions Just For Turning 21: Open Letter To The Disability Community, August 2009”
Congratulations, Regina Benjamin!! I couldn’t think of a better candidate for Surgeon General than Dr. Benjamin, and I was surprised and pleased that someone from my old hometown that I am familiar with hit the big-time! Dr. Benjamin works in a clinic in Bayou La Batre just south of Mobile, Alabama (where I’m from). As … Continue reading “Alabama’s Own Regina Benjamin, Advocate For Nick’s Crusade, Named Surgeon General Of US”
Jeff Crowley from the president’s Domestic Policy Council met with the board of the NDRN (National Disability Rights Network, formerly NAPAS1) this week and a summary of how Crowley conveyed the administration’s views on the Community Choice Act was leaked to several listserves online. The disability community deserves to know what the thinking inside their … Continue reading “The Latest Leaked Info on Obama Administration’s Views About The Community Choice Act”
Fifth Nick’s Crusade Video Blog: “A Seat At The Table” Determining Health Reform, Doesn’t Include People With Disabilities from Alejandra Ospina on Vimeo. In my fifth video blog, I go after the administration’s health reform deliberations for their lack of inclusiveness. Full transcript of the video, with supporting links and footnotes Hello, this is Nick … Continue reading “Fifth Nick’s Crusade Video Blog: “A Seat At The Table” Determining Health Reform, Doesn’t Include People With Disabilities”
Transcription (as captioned in the video): Hello, this is Nick Dupree for the for the Nick’s Crusade blog. This is my fourth video blog, and today is the 252nd day that I’ve been in an institution because I can’t get access to community services. And it seems that the Obama administration is not going … Continue reading “Fourth “Nick’s Crusade” Video Blog: ObamaFail! Administration Refuses To Lead On Disability Desegregation”