We have all heard the hype: most important election in years; a moment in time; a chance to change the direction of the country; Register, Vote, Exercise your rights; not everyone gets this opportunity!  This time it isn’t hype, its all true!

by Tom Foley, Access to Assets Program Manager

If not now, when? Politicks, the election and recognizing what is really at stake this time.  Get involved in politics as if your life depended on it, because it does. -- Justin Dart 

September 11, 2008: Tiananmen Square, Beijing China
I have been thinking about this issue of EQUITY for quite some time.  We, here at the Access to Assets Project, knew we were planning a “get out the vote” issue timed for the month prior to the November 4th 2008 election.  To be honest, I wanted this issue to be a bit different.  Perhaps take a new angle, an unusual approach, an article that takes a bit of a chance.  Therefore, here I am, literally sitting in Tiananmen Square, an hour or so before sunset, waiting for the beginning of a ceremony, which daily lowers the Chinese National Flag.

In China to attend the 2008 Paralympics, I came to Tiananmen Square specifically looking for inspiration, or at least hoping the setting would trigger a softening of the sizeable writer’s block I found myself fighting.

The Square itself is located in the heart of Beijing and, well, is basically a really big, empty, unremarkable plaza.  These days, it is the site for massive state-sanctioned parades and rallies, and according to local tourism information, it is the largest square of this kind in the world. This was the site in 1949 where Chairman Mao proclaimed the establishment of the People's Republic of China.  Of course, it is also the site of the 1989 Tiananmen Square Massacre (referred to in China as the June 4 Incident).  That incident is where anywhere between two hundred and three thousand (depending on the source) students, labor leaders and intellectuals were killed by the military of the “People’s Republic of China”.  The protestors were calling for democratic reforms and increased individual freedoms from their central government. 

I am still awed by the sacrifice and get chills recalling the coverage of army tanks rolling over protestors who were willing to lay down their lives for a chance for individual freedom.  It sounds so trite, like a sound bite from the election, but I felt it that day: I am remarkably fortunate to have been born and live in the United States. 

This feeling of good fortune became even more apparent to me during my two weeks in China.  I observed government tour guides whose demeanor and conversational topics changed dramatically once we left the office or government car.  Athlete briefings warning outright that every inch of the Olympic Village was under both visual and auditory surveillance.  State department suggestions of topics to be avoided—Darfur and Tibet come rushing to mind—and taxi cab drivers’ unabashed terror at the idea of approaching the Village perimeter guarded by machine-gun-toting military. 

Sometimes it is easy to forget that despite all the problems, as Americans we enjoy unraveled freedoms and opportunities.  Even people with disabilities, thanks to many visionary predecessors, enjoy opportunities only dreamed of in other cultures.  According to several Chinese government representatives, “the government has recently learned that citizens who are disabled, can be trained, and learn to support themselves, and no longer be a burden on the rest of society.”  The individual’s participation in the decision making process of what training is appropriate, is in a word, limited.  Think piano tuning for individuals who are blind, and you are beginning to grasp the idea.

Please do not get me wrong, I found the people of China welcoming, assiduously helpful, and accepting of my need to do things independently.  However, as a person with a disability, I would not want to live long-term in China.

This country has given me the opportunity to build a full life.  I own my own home, went to school and received a law degree, and currently enjoy a full-time career with actual medical benefits.  Over the years, many public and private programs and people have assisted me.

The Department of Vocational Rehabilitation supported and funded my decision to go to law school; I received SSDI during a re-training period; and people who cared when my own motivation seemed lacking repeatedly kicked me in the ass.  Briefly, these people, programs, and institutions had expectations for me, even when I could not find them in myself.  That is why I will be voting on November 4.  I have been so fortunate to receive all this assistance and I want to be sure it is there in the future for anyone else who wants or can benefit from such supports.

Sometimes voting really is all about the future and the direction of social and financial policy for the country…this year is one of those sometimes!

I want to be involved in the direction of the country.  I want to have a say about continuing to send ten billion dollars to Iraq every month.  I want a say in the future of stem cell research, Supreme Court appointments, the restructuring of the country’s health care system. 

I want to have a voice in who next leads this country, because I care about the Community Choice Act, education for all children, particularly those with disabilities, opportunity, independent living, and civil rights.

I want to see more Federal employment programs for people with disabilities, student loan forgiveness, asset building opportunities, and an elimination of work disincentives for people with disabilities.

With my asset building and disability colleagues, we know the key to the future is employment, benefits, and financial planning for people with disabilities. We want to support candidates who care enough to have positions on all these issues.

Of course, most recently, I have learned that I care about how 850 billion dollars will be spent over the next few days.  Just writing that sentence feels odd, almost surreal, but it is true.  The "Great Credit Crunch of 2008" will certainly go down in history as a penultimate event for the United States and international financial markets. What comes after, we can only imagine.

I recently had the opportunity to hear Robert Reich, former labor secretary under Bill Clinton and current professor at the University of California, Berkeley, discuss the current financial and credit market troubles.  He pointed out a favorite statistic of the asset building community: that one percent of the United States population currently receives about twenty percent of the annual income of the country.  Income inequality is nothing new, but over the last few years, it has increased dramatically.  Back in the 1970’s, that one percent of the population received eight percent of the income from the country.  Thus, the last 35 years or so has resulted in an unprecedented concentration of income and wealth in the hands of very few.  Reich points out that this is, in his opinion, not good for the long-term health of the nation’s economy.  “The thing about really rich people is that they mostly have everything they want and therefore don’t need to buy more things,” he said.  Thus, this one percent of the population is not necessarily spending that twenty percent of income and thus is not helping to drive the economy. 

An economy is based on providing both goods and services and selling those goods and services on the open market.  By concentrating the income into the hands of those who do not need to purchase additional goods or services, ultimately, an economy will fail.

At the other end of the income spectrum, is the middle class.  Over the last 35 years, this group has seen wages decrease in real terms.  Often this is attributable to the off-shoring of jobs to lower wage markets, and the advent of technology has eliminated many of these lower-skill jobs.  More people competing for fewer jobs results in lower wages.  In the 1980’s and 1990’s, the middle class responded by becoming a two-earner household just to survive.  As Reich said, “it’s not that all of a sudden there were all these jobs created to recruit women, it was an economic necessity to become a two-earner household.”  Once again, in the 2000’s, as wages fell and the cost of living increased, working families turned to home equity as a source of income.  Financial institutions made billions providing ridiculous loan products to consumers, and eventually, the house of cards collapsed. 

Simply put, working families cannot send anyone else to work, the home equity is gone, and they have no way to pay these loans.  This is precisely what happens when a majority of workers in an economy cannot afford to purchase the products and services they produce.

This will not be solved with a bailout; it is not a single-issue problem.  The problem is social, financial, employment, labor, educational, expectational, generational, and it is not going away. 

What is needed now is leadership.  Someone with a systemic approach which addresses all these issues and can inspire a fearful nation.

On November 4th, we get to decide who that person is.  AAPD suggests that the disability community represents over 37 million votes in 2008, enough to make a difference. 

Please choose to make a difference this year. 
Everything really is at stake this time.
Vote!