Small special interest groups have a very difficult time in this
Two-Headed Party currently holding the American voters captive.
But the right sort of action can at least salvage some of the gains
made by disabled people. Rather than sitting in front of a congress
person's office, I would contact those corporations who are funding
the elected official. Convince them that it is saving them money to
get these people in a position where they can help support the
economy, and they will become our friends for life...or at least until
the next election.
When our state legislature passed the Commission for the Blind bill,
we had spent 7 years "educating" them to the fact that training blind
people would cost government less in the long run. But each year the
bill was stuck in the Social Health Committee. Then we found two very
influential millionaires, one in Spokane(Eastern Washington), and one
with ties in Vancouver(Western Washington). Both of these men "owned"
several legislators. The Spokane man was losing his sight due to
Macular Degeneration. He was a timber czar, and told us that he had
two state senators and several house members in his pocket. He
assured us that Big Daddy Day, head of the Senate Social Health
Services committee, would bring the bill out of committee. The fellow
with ties in Vancouver owned the lion's share of a company that was
manufacturing synthetic rubies for use in lasers. He also happened to
have written a white paper on the economic value of separate agencies
for the blind! Although I believe he was living in another state at
the time, he controlled some key members in the legislature. He gave
them the nod, and the bill came popping out of committee, and the
Governor signed the final bill into law. 7 long, hard years of
beating our heads against a stone wall. Then, presto! Change o!
Democracy in action! All we needed was the support by the people who
really owned the government.
Since there are fewer and fewer "owners" of these United States of
America, it should be an easy thing to get their attention. Here in
my state(I say my state with tongue in cheek), we have the world's
richest man, along with Amazon and Star buck's. And Boeing still has
a fair sized factory in the area(joke). If we got those three or four
to agree that our blind services were good for America(Them), we would
be safe for the duration.
Carl Jarvis
On 12/1/17, Miriam Vieni <miriamvieni@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Strong campaign? Do the Republicans care about the "Blind Vote"? They don't
even care about the vote of a majority of American citizens. Well, perhaps
they'd care if everyone in each of their districts sat down in front of
their district offices carrying signs saying, "You're fired?". But most
likely, they'd just get the police and private mercenaries with attack dogs
to disperse the crowd.
Miriam
-----Original Message-----
From: blind-democracy-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:blind-democracy-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Carl Jarvis
Sent: Friday, December 01, 2017 10:33 AM
To: blind-democracy@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [blind-democracy] Re: book
Some of my fondest memories are of walking into the Queen Anne branch
library on Saturday afternoon. I loved the smell of the books! And so many
books to select from...even in the Children's Reading Room.
Later on I spent many an afternoon in the Seattle Public Library, wondering
what it would feel like to know everything contained in that sprawling
building.
I wonder how many such memories Donald Trump has. I wonder if he ever
checked a book out and took it home and read it cover to cover. There are
people who, although it is hard to believe, think that reading is a waste of
time. Such people are found at all social strata. Several years ago we,
Washington State Citizens, had to mount a real campaign to save our state
library. Always hard up for money, our Legislature decided state libraries
were a luxury we could do without. Wrong!
But our state legislature consists of similar people as does our congress.
Businessmen, doctors, lawyers, and a growing number of women. With Donald
Trump's Billionaire Club(the president's cabinet), there is probably not
much interest in preserving the Library of Congress. And when is the last
time Donald Trump said the word, "Blind"? Other than to say he was blind
sided. We had better be prepared to mount a strong campaign, defending our
library services.
If not, most surely they will be underfunded or cut.
Carl Jarvis
On 11/30/17, Miriam Vieni <miriamvieni@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
On BARD, I just found, The Dangerous Case of Donald J gtrump. That's
the book containing articles about his mental health, or lack thereof,
by psychiatrists and psychologists. I hope he doesn't convince
congress to defund NLS as a result.
Miriam
