"... a duty to protect ..."

This morning Jeb Bush announced that:

"We in government have a duty to protect the weak, disabled and vulnerable," he said in a statement Monday. "I appreciate the efforts of state and federal lawmakers on both sides of the aisle who have taken this duty to heart."

Those of us who fret over the fate of the mentally ill and otherwise disabled on a daily basis stand in shock and awe of that sentence. It is a numbing slap in the face when you consider that it was only one month ago that this article ran in the NY Times:

"With little fanfare, the Bush administration is proposing to stop financing the construction of new housing for the mentally ill and physically handicapped as part of a 50 percent cut in its housing budget for people with disabilities."

Amazing. The article further states that:

"... the federal government would discontinue financing housing for people with spinal cord injuries or psychiatric illnesses who are not necessarily homeless but may live in nursing homes or psychiatric hospitals.

By relying exclusively on vouchers, the federal government would essentially be lumping these people with able-bodied Section 8 recipients in competing for some of the same apartments.

"What you have for disabled folks is you're getting a double whammy," said Jonathan Harwitz, director of public policy for the Corporation for Supportive Housing, which promotes housing for people with special needs. "You're looking at both the landlord making a decision, 'Do I even want to rely on Section 8?' and secondly, saying, 'Do I want a disabled person in here?' Because that's an additional issue."

I guess lawmakers only take their duty to vulnerable people seriously when it's politically expedient. When no one is looking they like to make the Terri Schaivos of the world compete with able-bodied welfare recipients (a.k.a Cadillac driving welfare queens, as Reagan preferred to call them) for housing funds.

And what would they want done with Terri Schiavo if she didn't have settlement money and willing family to care for her?