In a speech on Monday in Golden, Colorado, Vice-Presidential candidate Sarah Palin noted that, along with energy policy and government reform, “special needs” would be one of the issues she would focus on, should she and Senator John McCain be elected. The September 17th, Education Week notes that Gov. Palin’s reference to “special needs” is followed by mention of curing “our most dreaded diseases.” Here’s what she said:
I’ve told Senator McCain a few things I’ve learned as a senator and as a mom. Ever since I took the chief executive’s job up north, I’ve pushed for more funding for …read more

Vice Presidential candidate Sarah Palin on the issues she intends to focus on should John McCain and her be elected in November, from Jonathan Martin’s blog on today’s Washington Examiner:
“John and I have worked out a plan, what I want to concentrate on and what he would like to kind of tap into me to help with,” Palin said at a rally just outside Denver this morning. “My mission is going to energy security and government reform. And another thing near and dear to my heart, it’s going to be helping families who have special needs and children with …read more

The September 13th St. Paul Pioneer Press notes this about Vice-Presidential candidate Sarah Palin’s “track record” on spending for special needs:
In the budget she signed into law earlier this year, Palin approved a dramatic raise in spending on children who have what Alaska officials call “intensive needs,” including children who need nurses full time or cannot breathe without ventilators.
When Palin took office, the state was spending $27,000 a year on each such child. The budget she signed this year raises funding to $49,000 per child. In three years, the amount will rise to $74,000, roughly equal to the $75,000 a …read more

Hillary Clinton mentioned autism in her speech at the Democratic National Convention and, last night, Bill Clinton did too (”I will never forget the parents of children with autism and other severe conditions who told me on the campaign trail that they couldn’t afford health care and couldn’t qualify their kids for Medicaid unless they quit work or got a divorce”). Will Obama; will McCain……..
More than sadly, the mother with cancer and two adopted autistic children mentioned by Hillary Clinton has died.

Just after the introductory section of her speech at the Democratic Convention (transcript), as her first example of her “35 years in the trenches, advocating for children, campaigning for universal health care, helping parents balance work and family, and fighting for women’s rights here at home and around the world,” Hillary Clinton said:
I will always remember the single mom who had adopted two kids with autism. She didn’t have any health insurance, and she discovered she had cancer. But she greeted me with her bald head, painted with my name on it, and asked me to fight for health care …read more