In The Politics of Autism, I discuss the civil rights of people with autism and other disabilities.
California gubernatorial candidate Larry Elder opposes the Americans with Disabilities Act.
Eric Hananoki at Media Matters for America:
In March 2010, Elder wrote of George W. Bush: “On the 10th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act, signed into law by his father, Bush bragged about the law's importance and effectiveness. That such an assault on private employers engenders praise says much about the GOP's acceptance of federal government's command and control.”
Later that year, Elder called for “a November 3 Contract with America” that “reduces government's size and scope so that we never again jeopardize our prosperity -- which threatens our national security by robbing Americans of the resources necessary to defend ourselves against our enemies.” As one of his proposals, Elder wrote that the government should “repeal laws that violate the principle of federalism, such as wage and hour laws; federal minimum wage; the Clean Air Act; the Americans with Disabilities Act; equal pay laws; the Davis-Bacon Act (mandating prevailing union wages for those working under federal contracts); and all federal anti-discrimination laws that apply to the private sector.”
Elder has repeated his anti-ADA stance on his radio program. On January 14, for example, he criticized George H. W. Bush for signing the ADA, which he said was a “horrible intrusion on private business, mandating that businesses do this and that and this to accommodate the handicapped, not that that's a bad thing, obviously, but government shouldn't be mandating this, for crying out loud.”
