what Obama admn is doing is trying to greatly expand the ADA and make it harder to fire people.
Greatly expand seems like an overstatement to me. Here is what the Department of Justice has done to "expand" ADA:
"Today, the Department of Justice is publishing two new rules prohibiting disability-based discrimination," the President noted, "and beginning 18 months from now, all new buildings must be constructed in a way that's compliant with the new 2010 standards for the design of doors and windows and elevators and bathrooms -- buildings like stores and restaurants and schools and stadiums and hospitals and hotels and theaters."
Please note that it is the Department of Justice who has adopted these two new rules and udated the ADA standards for new construction and not President Obama himself. He's just the fellow who gets to annouce this to the public.
Here is a comprehensive list of ADA initiatives and proposed changes:
Other Administration Initiatives
President Obama also noted other initiatives to advance the ADA and equal opportunity for people with disabilities, including:
•Additional DOJ notices to improve access to websites, movie theaters, 911 emergency services, and equipment and furniture
•A new executive order, which President Obama signed at the ADA celebration, to establish the Federal government as a model employer of individuals with disabilities
•Expansion of broadband internet access for people with disabilities
•Creation of three new disability offices at the State Department, the Department of Transportation, and Federal Emergency Management Agency
•The U.S. signing of the U.N. Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and pursuing its ratification by Congress
•Efforts to improve independent living by launching the "Year of Community Living" and enforcement of the Olmstead decision which declared involuntary institutional isolation unlawful
•And initiatives to improve access to affordable housing, community supports, and health care.
