Protesters block Capitol with wheelchairs

AP ^ | 3/20/6 | LUCAS L. JOHNSON II

[SmithL]

NASHVILLE — Hundreds of disabled people parked their wheelchairs in the intersections around the state Capitol on Monday, shutting down traffic to protest a lack of options for people in nursing homes.

Sixty people were arrested, Nashville Police spokesman Don Aaron said. Fifty were voluntarily cited for blocking streets and refusing to move, while 10 were physically removed by officers and taken to jail.

Lawmakers, state workers and legislative staffers were blocked from entering or leaving parking garages as the protesters chanted slogans, held signs and camped out for several hours in busy intersections.

The protest was staged by American Disabled for Attendant Programs Today, or ADAPT, and the protesters came from all over the country to complain about Tennessee’s long-term care system.

ADAPT spokesman Mark Johnson said most long-term care money in Tennessee goes to nursing homes, and that people don’t have a choice to stay in the own homes.

"We’re fighting for the rights of people with disabilities," said Jose Lara, a protester from El Paso, Texas. "Tennessee is among the worst in providing long-term care. People with disabilities are being forced to live in institutions and nursing homes."

The protesters chanted, "People ... united ... will never be defeated," while setting up signs that said, "Our Homes. Not Nursing Homes." One activist, Cassie James of Philadelphia, got out of her wheelchair to block a state worker’s car.

Nashville police spokesman Don Aaron said his officers tried to be "very lenient" with the protesters. He said some moved onto the sidewalk, but others chose to be arrested.

"They have told us their beef is not with the police department; it’s not with the city of Nashville," Aaron said. "We understand that. We don’t have any beef with them other than they can’t obstruct the passageway."

House Speaker Jimmy Naifeh said a dispute between the city of Nashville and the Tennessee Highway Patrol over who was responsible prolonged the confusion.

Naifeh said the disturbance should have been handled by the city, and he told lawmakers that "if anybody gets a ticket or gets towed, I want you to give me that ticket, and I’ll take it straight to the mayor."

Sen. Steve Cohen, D-Memphis, is sponsoring a bill that would allow money spent on nursing homes to be used for alternative community care, such as a personal care attendant.

"There’s no question that people want to stay at home and are better served at home," Cohen said. "It’s unfortunate that the people had to come up here in the cold and their wheelchairs to bring that home, and I think they’ve done that effectively."

But Democratic Gov. Phil Bredesen called the protest "an extreme publicity stunt." He said he has met with the group on several other occasions and that "this has never been about a meeting with the Governor."

"There is nothing constructive to be gained by these actions," said Bredesen, adding that the protesters had asked for a meeting with the governor about two hours after first blocking downtown streets.

Earlier Monday, TennCare Director J.D. Hickey told a legislative committee that the state is doing what it can to provide options for people who don’t want to live in a nursing home.

Hickey and several other officials updated the TennCare Oversight Committee on changes to the state’s health care program since Gov. Phil Bredesen cut 191,000 adults from the rolls and reduced benefits for thousands of others last year to control costs.

Hickey said the state is taking steps to get federal approval for in-home services.

"We’ve already made a request to expand available slots," he said after the meeting. "We’re now going to present a waiver to expand services."

[SmithL]

Isn't that special, . . .

[caseinpoint]

Unfortunately the handicapped have a problem. By becoming a powerful special interest group, it has attracted a lot of people to define themselves as handicapped. A lot of kids are competing for the designation so they can get extra time to take the SAT, for example. SSI is its own bugaboo. To some extent, teachers and administrators encourage the designation to get extra funds for teaching.

In other cases, people argue that while they are not actually handicapped, the "perception" of a handicap, ala AIDS and other problems, is enough to earn them the handicapped designation.

Add in the professional blackmailers who purport to represent the interests of handicapped in access by suing businesses for lack of access to nearly anything and get substantial payoffs to go away. A local motel was sued by a hearing-impaired man recently for lack of a telephone system designed to accommodate his handicap in his room. The motel was a typical fleabag cheapie hotel but it had to cave and pay the man $2000 and his attorney $2000, and install accommodations. That was a cheap way to make the problem go away.

Finally, consider the accommodations demanded of some handicapped people: partially blind individuals want to drive large delivery trucks, sight impaired women want to pilot airlines, quadriplegics want to enjoy lap dancers, and seriously-disturbed individuals want to live in college dorms, and so forth to defy rationality.

All of this stretches handicap monies and sympathy to the breaking point. At least it does for me. Accommodations for handicapped people is a worthy goal but it shouldn't come at the expense of common sense or from a type of blackmail. I know they want and deserve as normal a life as possible but they also need to balance their demands against what makes sense politically and financially.

[Warren_Piece]

I'm kind of torn on this. I, for the most part agree with their cause, both as a taxpayer and as a human being. MUCH money could be saved with home health care over nursing homes, with the disabled AND the elderly. Cohen's bill is probably a good idea and maybe should be nationalized. The nursing home operators have been greasing too many palms to ensure their care monopoly.

That being said, what happened yesterday was inexcusable. They HURT their cause. They crippled (pardon the pun) downtown Nashville, and of all the local news reports, I saw only 1 that was sympathic. The rest were about all the mayhem these people caused.

Just stupid.

[cpanter]

Hurts their cause when they get out of their wheelchairs (leaving them blocking intersections) and walk around then come back and sit in them... according to witnesses.

Makes you wonder if these are paid protesters like the ones who usually show up for Tenncare protests.