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ON MENTAL ILLNESS: All People with Disabilities Should Vote for Clinton

Jack Bragen
Thursday August 04, 2016 - 10:00:00 AM

In her nomination speech, Hillary Clinton touched upon the existence of people with disabilities. This is better than Trump's speech, in which he said, "I am the candidate of compassion, believe it." And then, Trump quickly switched back to the tack of being "The law and order candidate," without adding a milligram of substance as to why we should believe his claim of being compassionate.

On the other hand, Clinton's background included fighting for the rights of disabled children to attend school. That is at least something that would make a voter believe that Clinton might help those of us with disabilities.  

 

Trump claimed he "would leave Social Security alone." However, President Obama suggested an expansion of Social Security. If a Clinton Presidency is seen in part as a continuation of Obama's policies, and if Sanders got through to Clinton adequately, there is a little bit of hope that benefits could at some point be expanded for people with disabilities.  

Since Trump is a pathological liar, there is no reason to believe he would leave Social Security alone as he promises to do. Paul Ryan wants cutbacks in Social Security and wants to raid its funds to pay for other parts of the government, doubtless, things like the military. Ryan could possibly be seen as a co-conspirator with Trump. Thus, if living on SSA, SSDI, or SSI, we should be afraid of the Republicans, especially Donald Trump.  

Furthermore, Trump is a very mean man, not a nice person at all. Mean people have more of a likelihood of being intolerant of the disabled. Since his only real experience is that of big business, and since big businesses are constantly looking for more ways to exclude disabled people, there is no reason to believe Trump would be kind or nice to disabled people.  

On the other hand, at the convention, Clinton was portrayed as someone who cares. If there is any truth to this, it could mean that there is a possibility that Clinton will help those of us who have a physical or mental disability.  

Obamacare is one way that disabled people have a chance of rising out of poverty. We have been unable to work in any substantial way because of the need for the medical benefits that come with Social Security.  

In the past, we could not afford to lose our Medicare, and this has been a blockage toward getting a job and moving upward economically. Repealing Obamacare would eliminate the last shred of hope of working and having better conditions, if disabled.  

So, whether you have a disability that is physical or mental; whether your disability came about through military service, through an accident, or through heredity, a vote for Clinton will help keep Trump from cutting needed benefits, from cutting social programs that are lifelines for us, and from stomping out our last shred of hope that things will be better some day.