From CAN's newsletter:
Cure Autism Now Celebrates the Senate HELP Committee Passage of the Combating Autism Act of 2006
On Wednesday, July 19, the 20 members of the Senate HELP Committee unanimously voted to send the Combating Autism Act of 2006 (S.843) to the full Senate for approval. This represents a tremendous victory for the entire autism community, including the many organizations that formed a coalition to advance this legislation. We anticipate the bill will pass the Senate by a "unanimous consent" vote prior to the summer recess, which begins August 4.
With the leadership of our original sponsor, Senator Rick Santorum (R-PA) and his staff, and the assembly and involvement of the autism community consensus group, the CAA of 2006 has emerged as a historic $1 billion single-disease authorization bill for autism that serves as an acknowledgment by the United States Senate that autism is a national public health crisis.
The Combating Autism Act of 2006 was originally drafted by Cure Autism Now's Government Relations representative and Chapter Leader Stuart Spielman, and much of the legislative strategy was planned and implemented by CAN's lobbying team. The CAA of 2006 began as a reauthorization of the autism section in the Children's Health Act of 2000, which was also introduced by CAN and became the first landmark piece of autism legislation.
Cure Autism Now would like to thank all members of the HELP Committee for their unprecedented commitment to fulfill the promise of meaningful research, timely intervention and an accelerated path to a cure for autism. In addition to our champion Senator Santorum, our gratitude goes to HELP Committee Chairman Michael Enzi (R-WY) and Ranking Member Edward Kennedy (D-MA), sponsor Christopher Dodd (D-CT), Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-TN) and their tireless staffs for their tremendous effort in crafting the Combating Autism Act of 2006 .
Once the bill passes the Senate, our attention will shift to the House of Representatives where we have 136 co-sponsors to date. Visit www. combatautism.org to find out if your Congressman is a co-sponsor. If not, please contact them while they are in district for the August recess and ask them to co-sponsor the Combating Autism Act of 2006 (H.R. 2421).
Cure Autism Now thanks the many autism organizations in the community that have actively participated in these efforts and we thank our families and friends who have reached out to their legislators to help us combat autism.
We have got to do something! Ideas?
You do not know how American politics work. We left behind that democracy thing long ago, in favour of lobbies and bull**** political stunts like this. Don't waste your time. People only listen when you are directly on their doorstep. Petitioning won't do anything. So this is what we do. Let the law pass. Watch Bush sign it, then flood all of the research centers in america with petitions. Fake names, hold protests, just prepare to wage a war and put these funds to better use. But the federal government is powerless to help us. Also, you can take out a certain amount of your taxes in order to protest. The IRS will throw an unholy fit and could very well throw you in jail, but it would make a point.
1 - I would advise that nobody tax evades - this is a rather stupid idea
2 - We need to take action NOW, not after it's already passed.
I didn't advise that people do it, I told them that it would be effective if they chose. Not to mention the fact that the American justice system is very slow. The hospital and research system relies on grants from people, and is thus more likely to listen.
Don't waste your time. People only listen when you are directly on their doorstep. Petitioning won't do anything. So this is what we do. Let the law pass. Watch Bush sign it, then flood all of the research centers in america with petitions.
If the bill does pass, this might be a good course of action, but I don't see why we shouldn't try to prevent the bill from passing in the first place.
Because you can plan now, while right now this won't work. I would place an extrodinary amount of money that the bill passes with over 2/3 of the Congress supporting it.
I actually think it's a good idea to try to direct the research once the money gets to the research stations. But, that is still a few steps away at this point, and there are strong possibilities that the money will arrive with precise instructions on how it should be used. We don't have a bill yet, so now is the time to try to shape the bill.
Sometimes voices are heard. It's a little too early to be cynical. Your experience may be all negative, but mine isn't. Yes, it is about how to play the game. I'm part of the NT world; trust me that I have some clue how to play it. What I don't have is the time to do it myself. But, there are others here who might have that time. I CAN try to help someone like that get heard. A few tips might go a long way.
Ok then Mr. Smith, you go along and try to make your difference. Once this whole thing fails, I get to laugh my *** off and we can go for the research centers.
Ok then Mr. Smith, you go along and try to make your difference. Once this whole thing fails, I get to laugh my a** off and we can go for the research centers.
This isn't my issue. It's yours. I think a lot less cynicism and a lot more effort would get you all a lot closer to the results you want. You can choose to throw jabs from outside of the process, or you can try to make an effort to get in it, and to learn how to be successful. It's a choice.
Learn how to be successful? Yeah, I'm sure you will all be very proud of your success after the billion goes to research and your efforts turn out to be fruitless. There are better fights to pick, ones that you can win. But a ragtag bunch of aspies isn't going to convince anyone to turn their vote.
I also think it is a good idea, if the bill passes, to contact research centers and organizations about ways the funds will be used. Research does not have to be a bad thing...what if funding was used to improve schools and education services, develop anti-bullying programs, improve teacher training, etc.? I realize that this may be wishful thinking, but it never hurts to try.
Ok then Mr. Smith, you go along and try to make your difference. Once this whole thing fails, I get to laugh my a** off and we can go for the research centers.
This isn't my issue. It's yours. I think a lot less cynicism and a lot more effort would get you all a lot closer to the results you want. You can choose to throw jabs from outside of the process, or you can try to make an effort to get in it, and to learn how to be successful. It's a choice.
Learn how to be successful? Yeah, I'm sure you will all be very proud of your success after the billion goes to research and your efforts turn out to be fruitless. There are better fights to pick, ones that you can win. But a ragtag bunch of aspies isn't going to convince anyone to turn their vote.
subatai, why are you here? I mean, you seem very anti-Aspie, almost to the point where I'd assume you're NT. Perhaps if you want to be negative about helping an important cause, perhaps you should find somewhere else to do it.
I am not NT, I simply realize how hopeless this is. This is an important cause, but it is an important cause with multiple parts. I don't see why we're attacking the hardest part to beat only because it's here right now. It seems impatient to me, when we can wait a little bit longer and go for an organization that is less corrupt and would listen to us.
I've noticed something interesting on the curebie websites recently -- they're now squabbling among themselves about whether to support the Combating Autism Act because mercury/anti-vaccine language was taken out of the current version. Some antivaxers are writing to their senators and asking them not to support it. Maybe the legislators will get annoyed enough so that neither version passes.
Well, it's a small hope anyway...
The result might just be the same as the "war on drugs" (the "just say no" campaign, how effective was that?), on the "war on child proverty", the "war against HIV" ....
A good plan of action is to educate people about autism and how people with autism feel about it themselves.
Entirely agree with the previous poster. I have always felt that having a website, a bunch of forums and a few local groups and calling that an 'organisation' was frankly stretching the definition of the word to be honest.
What we need is a physically existing *membership* organisation, where members pay dues and have voting rights etc., with an elected leadership, sub-committees, annual conferences and all the rest of it. Structurally I think the best model, certainly in Britain, is the Stop the War Coalition which is undoubtedly the most successful organisation around today in terms of ability to mobilise large numbers of people. To make it effective it will need, as I said, to seek out allies from other potentially interested campaign groups and political forces like the Greens etc. Most politicos who are sympathetic will be on the left, I suspect, with the possible exception of Libertarians (and no I'm not just saying that cos I'm on the left). Mind you there was apparently a debate on the Nazi Stormtrooper website about whether or not to support Aspie rights, but it'll be a cold day in hell before I consent to working with scum like that, speaking personally.
Gareth - you are of course correct. My point is *what kind of action*. It seems to me that setting up little local groups here and there is acting on a far too small scale. Something much larger needs to be attempted. If I succeed in moving to London I will see if I can kickstart something of that nature (it kind of ties in with my idea of a APD march) but I can't do anything while in Derry.
That's the problem with small local groups. I'm thinking of something like a city-wide organisation. Plus, the small number of autistics is precisely why we need to find potential numbers to get some real clout.
I consider my entire life to be a form of protest.