THE PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES IN TENNESSEE PICKETED SIT IN FOR OVER A MONTH  AND THE NATIONAL MEDIA AND LOCAL MEDIA KEEPS FLORIDIANS WITH DISABILITIES IN THE DARK

 

The Florida Media has been keeping a valiant continuing story out of the press in Florida. This story is about people with disabilities doing sit ins at the Tennessee Capitol and the Governor's Office. This has been going on for at least 12 days in the Capitol of Tennessee.

 

The national news coverage on this issue stinks. We found out about it third hand in an e-mail questioning where is the national media on the Tennessee Capitol issue.

 

What our local newspaper considers news every single day is how a politician blew his brains out at the Miami Herald for the best news coverage in the history of the Miami Herald. To get coverage of the Tennessee sit ins and daily protests, maybe one of us must go down to  the Herald and commit suicide to get some coverage of our brothers and sisters picketing the Tennessee Capitol. Their issues are our issues. Their medical problems are identical to our problems.

 

In Miami, Editor Tom Fiedler, chooses not to consider people with disabilities issues news worthy. He ignores that approximately 20% of Herald readers are people with disabilities. They take our subscription money and shortchange us on disability news. Our go to editor or reporter at the Miami Herald does not exist. Our writer with substantial disability at the Miami Herald does not exist. Our coverage of disability issues at the Miami Herald has always sucked.

 

Editor Fiedler, is best known for trying to determine local elections with slanted news coverage, the latest having been the Mayoral race. His claims of ethics in reporting and journalism is laughable. His treatment of an excellent journalist, Defede, was to fire him. Defede, grossly overweight, was our closest to a person with a disability, who also had his first disability article to write. We kept hoping and hoping.

 

For coverage of the people with disabilities movement go to www.tennessean.com.

 

The following came off the www.nashvillepeacejustice.org web site.

  

TennCare sit-in gains supporters -- your presence is needed.

Citizens offer Bredesen yet another cost-saving reform option to save TennCare that works in other states.

The TennCare enrollees who have been engaged in the longest continuous sit-in in U.S. history (now at 32 days) were joined today by a group of  20 disability rights activists, most of them in wheelchairs, from ADAPT (American Disabled for Attendant Programs Today). The group spoke with the press and presented Governor Bredesens office with yet another option to help save TennCare: move the more than 6,000 Tennesseans who have stated that they want to leave the confinement of nursing homes back into their communities through home- and community-based care.

Such a reform to the TennCare program could generate hundreds of millions of dollars in cost-savings because home- and community-based care generally costs only 1/3 as much as institutional care. In fact, National Council of State Legislatures recently rated the strategy of expanding home and community based services #1 in their Top 10 of successful strategies for Medicaid cost-savings. Tennessee rates dead last, out of all 50 states, in pursuing this strategy.

Several ADAPT members from Arkansas spoke about how being freed from nursing homes have allowed them to live full lives againbeing reunited with their families, able to work and pay taxes, able to be part of their communitiesall while saving the state of Arkansas money that would have gone to their nursing home care.

Following the press conference, those assembled tried to enter the Governors reception room in order to make an appointment with him and were denied access by several State Troopers. This is contrary to the policy of the Governors office that the public be allowed in on official business, including to make appointments.

Don DeVaul, a paraplegic TennCare enrollee who stands to be cut, had this to say:

We've been here 32 days, Governor Bredesen, and we think its time you got down to business and really tried to reform the TennCare program, like you promised to do when you ran for Governor. Until you do that, we arent going anywhere.

What you can do:

Call Andrew Jackson, assistant to the Governor (615-741-2001). Tell him that the Governor must respond to this and the many other proposals put forward by citizens to save money for the TennCare program. Also, demand that citizens must not be prevented from entering the Governors office to make appointments.

Come support the TennCare sit-in at the Capitol. Come any week day between 8am and 3:30 pm with a photo ID. If you can spend the night, contact the sit-in group at:
(615) 485-7739.

Come show your support at the Candlelight Vigils: every night from 9 to 10pm, steps of the State Capitol above Legislative Plaza. 
 
Jen Cartwright

Director of Education
Nashville Peace and Justice Center
1016 18th Avenue South
Nashville, TN 37212
www.nashvillepeacejustice.org
(615) 321-9066 (ph) (615) 320-8897 (fax)