HOW HE SEES IT Bush's budget plan is no friend to the disabled

By MIKE ERVIN
KNIGHT RIDDER/TRIBUNE
If you're wondering where President Bush plans to find the money to pay for the war and tax cuts, take a look at his latest budget proposal. Millions of those dollars are coming out of social programs important to people with disabilities.
A few days after taking office, the president announced his New Freedom Initiative, dedicated to "tearing down the barriers to equality that face many of the 54 million Americans with disabilities." In keeping with the initiative, the president included $380 million in additional funds in last year's federal budget proposal to help people with disabilities get out of nursing homes. States can use this money to pay for long-term care assistance so that people who leave nursing homes can live independently in their communities.
This is great. Thousands of people with disabilities usually end up in nursing homes only because they need help from others, and going to a nursing home is the only way they can get the state to pay for it. This program could enable them to instead employ people in their own homes.
No money
But that proposal came last year. The new budget proposal Bush unveiled in February contains no money at all to support this program this year and only $500 million -- a cut of 70 percent -- to cover it through 2008.
Another huge obstacle people with disabilities face is finding affordable, accessible housing. Those who are lucky enough to receive housing choice vouchers through the Department of Housing and Urban Development pay no more than 30 percent of their income for market rate rent while the government pays the rest. But the new Bush budget calls for $1 billion less for that program. This could cause 250,000 families to lose voucher rental assistance, according to the National Low Income Housing Coalition.
People with disabilities also often find it hard to get or afford the equipment they need. The Assistive Technology Act of 1998 provides for technical assistance and financial support to help people with disabilities. The president has touted this program, but his budget cuts $11 million from it.
Bush's skewed spending priorities make it impossible for him to accomplish what he says are his goals for people with disabilities. He's leaving a lot of us in the lurch.
XMike Ervin, a disability-rights activist with ADAPT, wrote this for Progressive Media Project, a source of liberal commentary on domestic and international issues that is affiliated with The Progressive magazine.