The other day Bush met with the young autistic 'basketball star', 'J-Mac' in another one of his bogus photo-ops where he even had some of his handlers release some hilarious story of how Bush 'wept' when he first saw the video of J-Mac in that last basketball game. And of course, Bush while in front of the cameras told the nation how J-Mac was such an inspiration but what he didn't tell the nation was how he's cut funding for those with autism every chance he's gotten. It was all just more hypocrisy an outright lies from the phony bastard.
Beyond The Photo-Op: Bush Budget Leaves Autistic Children Behind "Jason McElwain aka "J-Mac" - the autistic high-school basketball player - gained national attention when he scored 20 points for his varsity team with a flurry of 3-pointers. While President Bush has publicly acknowledged his admiration for the young star, his FY07 budget shows an indifference towards autistic children: - In his proposed budget for next year, Bush has cut all funding for the National Children’s Study, a project that planned to investigate the causes of autism, asthma, and other serious illnesses. - The President’s budget will eliminate Medicaid reimbursements for schoolchildren with disabilities, denying them "access to medical services they need to fully participate in school and learn to their greatest abilities." - The number of children diagnosed with autism and served by schools under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) increased by more than 500 percent in the last decade, according to the Government Accountability Office (GAO). The President’s FY07 budget, however, will fund IDEA at $6.3 billion below the amount Congress recommended".Think Progress
