> http://www.cnn.com/allpolitics/stories/1998/11/02/disabled/
>
> Disabled protest disrupts GOP news conference
>
> WASHINGTON (AllPolitics, November 2) -- A group of disabled people blockaded
> the Republican Party's headquarters with wheelchairs Monday, with some
> chaining themselves to railings, to publicize their complaints about how
> Medicaid money is spent.
>
> The protest scuttled a GOP news conference intended to counter Democratic
> charges of voter intimidation.
>
> The activist group "ADAPT" organized blockades of both the Republican and
> Democratic National Party headquarters by protesters who demanded meetings
> with ranking lawmakers of both parties.
>
> ADAPT co-founder Michael Auberger said the GOP's chief counsel had agreed to
> meet with representatives from the disabled community about how to change the
> payout of Medicaid so it does not discourage in-home assisted care.
>
> To press their demands, the group filled the Republican National Committee's
> lobby with wheelchairs, and blocked entrances to the building. They said they
> planned to stay in place several hours. Some used chains and handcuffs to lock
> themselves to railings.
>
> Earlier, Auberger told CNN the group is concerned that Medicaid presently
> favors institutional and nursing home care.
>
> One demonstrator, Michigan teenager Melinda Haus, said in an interview from
> her wheelchair people are often inappropriately placed "just because there
> isn't any care provided for them. At very young ages, they're stuck in a
> nursing home, which is absolutely ridiculous."
>
> About 150 demonstrators rolled from a hotel to a subway entrance designed for
> the handicapped. But at three wheelchairs per trip, the elevator was taking
> more than an hour to get the group to trains headed for Capitol Hill.
>
> Another group left the hotel in about a dozen vans equipped for the
> handicapped.
>
> Unable to hold their news conference, Republicans were forced to use a a
> satellite hookup to defend the use of video cameras at polling places as part
> of a demographic study. Democrats allege the practice has racial overtones.
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------------