Washington, Dec. 12 – In an exclusive interview with a coalition of disability groups including RespectAbility, Paralyzed Veterans of America and the National Association of Councils on Developmental Disabilities, Sen. Lindsey Graham discussed his policies to help wounded veterans and other people with disabilities achieve the American Dream by entering…
Washington, Dec. 10 – As The RespectAbility Report continues to track all of the presidential candidates’ statements on disability issues, we are asking for our readers’ help. Since our staff is small, we need you to ask the candidates to talk about these important issues that are often not discussed by…
Washington, Dec. 1 – In a new ad, Ohio Gov. John Kasich takes a shot at Donald Trump for publicly poking fun at an award-winning reporter with a congenital joint condition. The ad, titled “Is he worthy,” says Trump is too heartless to be president and not worthy to follow in the footsteps…
Des Moines, Nov. 15 – The second Democratic presidential debate began with a focus on American foreign policy and military involvement in the Middle East. Presidential hopeful Bernie Sanders interrupted the conversation, pivoting to veterans’ affairs – causing criticism to grow that he lacks the international affairs experience needed to be presidient. Yet,…
Des Moines, Nov. 14 – Sen. Bernie Sanders’ campaign is focusing on caregivers and assistance for people with disabilities this month, according to Bruce Koeppl, a senior advisor for the campaign who is based in Iowa. “That’s what you can look for this weekend as we begin to unroll some additional…
Des Moines, Nov. 14 – While presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton had a shaky start with outreach to the disability community, recently she has talked about issues such as autism and treatments for mental illness. In addition, her campaign website has a page dedicated to disability issues and campaign staffers are beginning…
Des Moines, Nov. 14 – Ahead of tonight’s Democratic debate, all of the Democratic campaigns in addition to two Republican campaigns met with twenty disability leaders in Iowa yesterday. Ben Chou, Martin O’Malley’s Constituency Outreach Director in Iowa, said the former governor is a champion for dignity for all people. “Dignity…
Washington, Nov. 11 – As the nation celebrates Veterans Day, it is important to truly remember our veterans and ensure we are taking care of their needs. One of their top priorities is employment. Government policies that help veterans with disabilities get and keep jobs are a win-win because they…
Washington, Nov. 11 – While disability issues were not discussed during last night’s debate, Republican hopeful Marco Rubio brought up a very important topic – the stigma attached to vocational training as an alternative to traditional college. “For the life of me, I don’t know why we have stigmatized vocational…
Washington, Nov. 11 – When FOX Business Network’s Maria Bartiromo asked former Gov. Jeb Bush about unemployed Americans seeking a job or who have stopped looking, the Republican presidential hopeful listed off a few ways he’d attempt to drive the economy back to four percent growth. “The reason why we…
Washington, Nov. 11 – In the undercard debate, the Republican presidential hopefuls were asked how they would get America back to work again. One after another, they dodged the question and said they would reduce taxes. However, when Sen. Rick Santorum answered the question, he focused instead on job skills.…
Washington, Nov. 9 – Hillary Clinton announced support for medical research of marijuana. She is the latest of the three Democratic presidential hopefuls to do so. While Clinton had previously declined to endorse legalized medical or recreational marijuana at the federal level, on Saturday she detailed a proposal to increase research…
Washington, Nov. 5 – When Canada’s new prime minister, Justin Trudeau, was sworn into office on Wednesday, he revealed his diverse cabinet. Many news outlets are reporting how 50 percent of the cabinet ministers are women, helping to make it the most diverse cabinet Canada has ever seen. But it…
Washington, Oct. 30 – As The RespectAbility Report continues to track all of the presidential candidates’ statements on disability issues, we are asking for our readers’ help. Since our staff is small, we need you to ask the candidates to talk about these important issues that are often not discussed by…
Washington, Oct. 29 – Presidential hopeful Bernie Sanders is the first presidential candidate to call for removing marijuana from the Controlled Substances Act – a list of the most dangerous drugs outlawed by the federal government. This would allow states to legalize recreational marijuana. Possibly even more importantly, this also would mean medical…
Washington, Oct. 28 – One topic sure to come up during tonight’s CNBC debate is marijuana legalization. Colorado, the location of the debate, has legalized marijuana. Many of the Republican candidates already have come on the record if they support this or not – often supporting because they support states’…
Washington, Oct. 27 – Sec. Hillary Clinton pledged to help people with mental health problems get assistance, not jail time, when asked by a young boy named Chris of the National Action Network (NAN) Youth Huddle. “Can you fix the prison problems?” Chris, who is in a program for youth interested…
Washington, Oct. 26 – The last time all of the democratic candidates addressed a dinner in Iowa, none of them talked about rights for people with disabilities. Three months later, and the tide has turned. “While we fight for a growth and fairness economy that works for everyone, we can’t forget…
Washington, Oct. 25 – When Gov. Jeb Bush was yelled at for not helping the developmentally disabled by a mom of a child with autism, the then-gubernatorial candidate said, “teach me.” “She didn’t know me but … she was mad at me,” Bush said at LIBRE Initiative’s policy forum series at…
Las Vegas, Oct. 16 – At this week’s Democratic primary presidential debate, the Webb campaign invited several people with disabilities to attend as their guests. According to the campaign, they wanted to offer the tickets to people who would normally not have the opportunity to attend such an event. “I…
