Tony Coelho Web Archives- Blog Articles
July 30, 2010 Report from the tenBroek
Symposium - - The following is an article by guest blogger Kathryn
Carroll on the tenBroek Symposium. Thanks to all involved, the third annual
tenBroek law symposium on April 15-16 at the Jernigan Institute in Baltimore
was a wonderful success. It brought together lawyers, activists and other
professionals from government agencies, disability rights organizations, law
clinics, universities, and law firms. With the first address of the
symposium, Tony Coelho, Chairman of the Board of the American Association of
People with Disabilities, set an enthusiastic tone for the rest of the
symposium. Mr. Coelho shared his personal experience as a person with
epilepsy.
<more> NALSWD Blog
July
27, 2010 AAPD Intern Blog: Internship Blog for Week Nine
- - By David Cardenas - - I met Tony Coelho; he is Chair of
AAPD's Board of Directors, Original Author of the ADA, Former Majority Whip,
and former
Senior Advisor to the
Democratic National Committee and Chairman of
Al Gore's Presidential Campaign. Wow!
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July 22, 2010 Former US Congressman Tony
Coelho Calls for YOUR support for US ratification of Disability Rights Treaty
- - A Message from the Honorable Tony Coelho on the Occasion of the ADA’s
20th Birthday. On this 20th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities
Act, we have much to be proud of as a community. A little more than twenty
years ago, we embarked on a historic journey in advancing civil rights for
Americans with disabilities. We came together with one voice, putting aside
our political and other differences, to work toward this cause, and we were
joined by our partners in Congress, who put aside their differences to do
the same. And this unity and bipartisan spirit both within our community and
in Congress led to our success. We could not fully imagine then the profound
impact our civil rights struggle and work to pass the ADA would have for
people with disabilities around the world. Today, inspired by the ADA, our
brothers and sisters in scores of countries have worked to pass their own
pioneering legislation to protect and promote their inherent human and civil
rights.
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Reunify Gally
April 26, 2010 Deborah Kendrick commentary: Many
have suffered over false belief that disability is payback - - I love
the Bible. But there are certain passages that always have made me squirm.
Something about the references to curing people - "the blind," "the lame" or
the folks "possessed by demons" always has made me want to disappear until
the reading was over. It's not that I don't believe in miracles, because I
do. Tony Coelho, former chairman of the President's Committee on Employment
of People with Disabilities, was dragged to exorcists as a child and later
denied ordination by the Jesuits because his epilepsy was deemed proof of
possession by the devil.
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March 31, 2010 Will Comparative Effectiveness
under Healthcare Reform Change Drug Development? - - Since the
healthcare legislation was passed, PhRMA has not issued a public statement
on the CER provisions in the new healthcare law, but an industry group, the
Partnership to Improve Patient Care (PICP), has come out in support of the
CER provisions in the new law. PICP was formed in November 2008 to address
CER and is comprised of healthcare, scientific, and trade associations,
which includes PhRMA and the Biotechnology Industry Organization. “The
Partnership to Improve Patient Care has been working for over a year in
support of patient-centered CER, and we’re very happy to see it included in
the final healthcare reform bill,” PIPC Chairman Tony Coelho said in a Mar.
23, 2010 statement. “Everybody is different, so it’s critical that CER
reflect these differences. This legislation will help ensure that CER is
used to help doctors and patients make the best treatment decisions possible
and not to set coverage guidelines.” He noted that the final bill is
consistent with the principles for patient-centered CER adopted and released
by PIPC in 2008. PIPC said it will work with other stakeholders to advance
patient-centered CER in the coming months.
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PharmTech Talk
Jan. 12, 2010 Personalized Medicine and Health
Care Reform: Looking Back, Looking Ahead - - By Tony Coelho - -
Will health care reform support personalized medicine? In my mind, that
depends on two important factors: 1) the extent to which health care reform
is truly patient-centered (does it make room for patient differences, room
for patient voices, and time for patient care?) and, 2) the extent to which
it is innovation-friendly. I’m focusing on the first topic in this post.
<more>
Age of Personalized Medicine
Dec. 22, 2009 Personalized Medicine and Health
Care Reform: Looking Back, Looking Ahead - - By Tony Coelho - -
Will health care reform support personalized medicine? In my mind, that
depends on two important factors: 1) the extent to which health care reform
is truly patient-centered (does it make room for patient differences, room
for patient voices, and time for patient care?) and, 2) the extent to which
it is innovation-friendly. I’m focusing on the first topic in this post.
<more>
Age of Personalized Medicine.com
Sept. 12, 209 Tony Coelho Lobbies for Drug
Industry Self Regulation - - By: Scarecrow - - The New York
Times has a revealing article about the health industry's behind the scenes
lobbying to undercut the same regulations they claim to support. For
example, drug manufacturers have hired former Democratic Congressman, Tony
Coelho to help obfuscate the issues and avoid independent evaluations of
drug effectiveness. One proposed reform in the House bill is to create an
independent medical advisory group, overseen by government, to study the
effectiveness of various drugs and treatments. Sounds like a perfectly
sensible thing to do, especially if (per Census Bureau) nearly 30 percent
(and growing) of the country gets its health care under plans primarily or
partly paid for by tax payer monies.
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The Seminal Blog
Sept. 12, 2009 High Rate of Head Injuries in
Iraq Soldiers Portends Potential Wave of Epilepsy - - Tony Coelho is
having déjà vu. The former congressman and author of the Americans with
Disabilities Act recalls a commencement address he gave a quarter-century
ago, in the wake of the Vietnam war, in which he warned of the potential for
seizure disorders in returning troops who had suffered head injuries and
called for more research on the link between traumatic brain injury (TBI)
and epilepsy. Today, as he watches the storm build amid reports of
alarmingly high TBI rates among soldiers returning from Iraq – and the
military’s apparent inability to care for them properly – Coelho is struck
by the parallels. “Here I am, 25 years later, talking about the same thing,”
says Coelho, who has epilepsy as a result of a head injury and is the
immediate past chair of the Epilepsy Foundation. “What have we learned?
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Special to EpilepsyUSA/epilepsyfoundation.org
May 7, 2009 Disability Champion Needs your
Support. Take Action: Support Seth Harris - - From Tony Coelho - - Seth
Harris Confirmation Hearing for Deputy Secretary of Labor May 7, 2009 10:00
am. JFA Member, President Obama has nominated Seth Harris to be the next
Deputy Secretary of the U.S. Department of Labor. His confirmation hearing
is scheduled to go before the Senate on Thursday May 7, 2009 at 10:00am. As
many of you know, Seth has been a strong advocate for people with
disabilities. He has championed multiple employment and labor initiatives
in and out of government to advance employment opportunities for people with
disabilities. He provided essential leadership to the Presidential Task
Force on the Employment of Adults with Disabilities, which I co chaired with
the Secretary of Labor.
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Justice for All Blog
April 3,
2009 Can Hiring One Employee with a Disability Make a Difference? - -
According to the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) when President
Barack Obama mentioned the Special Olympics while describing his lack of
skill at bowling during the March 19, 2009, episode of The Tonight Show, he
immediately realized his gaffe and apologized. But his apology resulted in a
challenge from Special Olympics: to consider hiring an athlete to work in
the White House. “It is said that a workforce should reflect the society it
serves,” says Nadine Vogel, president of Springboard Consulting and parent
of two special-needs children. “That should include people with
disabilities.” “The White House should be placing qualified people in the
government to do the job that needs to be done,” says Tony Coelho, the
former majority whip of the House of Representatives and a primary author
and sponsor of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). “But having a
single person at the White House is not very significant,” Coelho told SHRM
Online. “We in the disability community have been working since November to
get the new administration to appoint people with disabilities throughout
the government in all types of jobs, in different agencies of government and
at different levels.”
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Jared Koesten, Human Capital Management Consultant
Feb. 2, 2009 Two Prominent Members of the Disability Community will Serve as Special Advisors to the President - - At the Disability Pride and Power pre-Inaugural ball, it was announced that Kareem Dale would become a Special Advisor to President Obama on disability issues. We heard later that noted expert in Disability Studies Paul Steven Miller would be playing a role in helping the Obama Administration to ensure that people with disabilities will be well represented in positions within the Administration. Tony Coelho, former United States congressman from California, primary author and sponsor of the Americans with Disabilities Act, current chair of the Epilepsy Foundation's national board of directors and a lead organizer of the Ball is also playing an active role in advancing disability interests and hires within the Administration. <more> Justice for All Blog
Nov. 12, 2008 A Salute to Those Democrats Who
Kept the Flame Alive Over the Years for Obama - - By Clint Reilly -
- Barack Obama’s landslide was an awesome victory for all Americans and a
personal triumph for Obama. As he strode to the podium to declare victory,
it was also apparent that Obama had become the surrogate for the hopes and
dreams of millions of people who were finished with the callousness,
selfishness and bankruptcy of a failed governing philosophy. It was the last
battle in a long war that has raged for the past 30 years. During the
1980’s, I ran the campaigns of Central Valley Congressman Tony Coelho,
leader of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. During the years
when Tip O’Neil was House Speaker, Coelho was the chief strategist who kept
the Democratic Party alive in Washington. His canny management led many
Democrats to victory and kept the party competitive during Reagan’s reign of
terror on government.
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CaliforniaProgressreport.com
Oct. 27, 2008 Disability Advocates Respond to
Palin's Disability Plan - - As advocates for, and parents of, children
with disabilities, we appreciate the visibility that Governor Sarah Palin
has brought to our community. We understand that it will take strong
leadership to build a world free of unnecessary barriers and discrimination
for people with disabilities. However, falsely attacking Senator Barack
Obama's policies and unfairly suggesting that they will hurt families who
have children with disabilities is not leadership. It is nothing more than
an attempt to divide people and exploit a serious issue for political
purposes. Senator Obama has a comprehensive plan to support people with
disabilities and their families.
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People Pusher Blog
Aug, 22,
2008 Have conventions outlived their usefulness? - - “Not yet, but
they will in the future. All issues are basically decided before the
delegates get there. Technology is now able to permit the delegates to
transact any business that needs to be done without the expense of a
convention. The event is a PR plus for the candidates so until that can be
replaced it will stay.” Tony Coelho, Former Congressman and Former
Co-Chairman, Council on American Politics. Institute for Politics,
Democracy and the Internet
July 30, 2008 Watergate Babies and Babies
of Iraq - - The bigger the class of '08 the more likely that they will
force the leadership to do their bidding. Here's a little reminder about the
Watergate Babies (Class of 1974): "The [Watergate babies] set an example for
other classes by striking out as individuals and developing their own power
centers," said former House Majority Whip Tony Coelho of California
(1979-1989). "They became independent and they didn't become beholden to the
leadership."
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By Booman Tribune
June 24, 2008 Aristides de Sousa Mendes, full
name: Aristides de Sousa Mendes do Amaral e Abranches) was a Portuguese
diplomat who ignored and defied the orders of his own government for the
safety of war refugees fleeing from invading German military forces in the
early years of World War II. Between the 16 and 23 of June 1940, he
frantically issued Portuguese visas free of charge, to over 30,000 refugees
seeking to escape the Nazi terror, 12,000 of whom were Jews. As journalists
began to tell the story, it came to the attention of two members of the
California delegation of the United States House of Representatives,
Portuguese-American Rep. Tony Coelho and Rep. Henry Waxman, who had a family
member saved by Sousa Mendes' signature. These two men introduced a
resolution in Congress to recognize his humanitarian actions, a resolution
that was passed in 1987.
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Rick’s American Café blog
May 12, 2008 Why Not Both? - - “What he may
need now, he may need to select her as VP, and I never thought that before.
… The only way he can win in November is with Clinton’s base.” Former Rep.
Tony Coelho (D-Calif.)
<more>
Why
Not Both Blog
March 25, 2008
Ralph Nader: An Unreasonable Man
Washington Report on Middle East Affairs - Washington,
DC, USA
Since the 1980s, when California Congressman Tony Coelho, as chairman
of the House Democratic Campaign Committee, began fund-raising for Democrats
from ...
Dec. 29, 2007
Breaking up the consultancy racket
By Carpetbagger
Tony Coelho, who managed part of
Al Gore’s 2000 campaign, couldn’t help but notice that media
consultants like Shrum and Devine had “a real conflict” in that they were
“setting up the media buy, and they were getting a commission on the ...
The Carpetbagger Report - http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com
Dec. 29, 2007
How Consultants (like me) Harm Democracy
By William Klein
Tony Coelho, who managed part of Mr. Gore’s bid, said he had “a huge
fight” with Mr. Shrum and Mr. Devine shortly after the Democratic primary
season over how to divide the campaign’s tight cash reserve between
television ads and field ...
HeadlineUpdate - http://www.headlineupdate.com/
Oct. 18, 2007
the beginnings of a book
By andy padon
When Majority Whip Tony Coelho scooted away behind Wright, the media
mourned America's loss. The coverage of Judge Bork The Washington Post
(7/11/05) reported the Bork history this way: "When President Ronald Reagan
nominated Bork, ...
THERE IS NO SECOND PLACE - http://therealthing.blogs.com/there_is_no_second_place/
Sept. 3, 2007 Tony Coelho, Original Author of the ADA - - On a recent PBS show, former Congressman Tony Coelho was a panelist interviewed about his own disability: epilepsy, and the fact that he authored the original ADA passed seventeen years ago. His description of his epilepsy as a "condition of the human nature" no different than other variations such as deafness caught my attention immediately. Also what caught my attention was that the panel moderator cut him off whenever he tried to explain why it shouldn't be treated as a medical condition. He described being denied opportunities because of the epilepsy. He was denied training for the priesthood because Catholic canon law at the time forbade epileptics, among other groups, from being ordained. He was not allowed to enlist for service in the Vietnam War. He was deprived of his driver's license and his medical insurance once word got out that he had epilepsy, thought to be from a traffic accident when he was 15. <more> Dianrez blog