Trump voter fighting cerebral palsy fears life would be "destroyed" by massive Trumpcare cuts

[Miles Archer]

Trump voter fighting cerebral palsy fears life would be ‘destroyed’ by massive Trumpcare cuts

The Washington Post’s Catherine Rampell reports that 36-year-old Trump voter Bradley Ledgerwood is worried about proposed cuts to two programs that have helped him survive ever since he was diagnosed with cerebral palsy at the age of just two years old: Medicaid and legal aid.

Medicaid, whose future spending would face an $800 billion cut under the GOP’s health care bill, delivered funding to help his mother quit her job so she could take care of him full time. And the federally-funded Legal Aid of Arkansas helped Ledgerwood pay for a successful legal appeal when the Arkansas Department of Human Services abruptly cut his allotted care-giving hours in half.’

While the Medicaid cuts in the GOP health bill have been well documented, Rampell also notes that Trump’s proposed budget would completely eliminate federal funding for the Arkansas Legal Aid program.

Without the help of both programs, Ledgerwood tells Rampell, he would have wound up in a nursing home.

“That would destroy my life,” he said.

http://www.rawstory.com/2017/07/that-would-destroy-my-life-trump-voter-battling-ms-fears-massive-trumpcare-and-gop-budget-cuts/

[dsc]

1. I have negative the square root of zero sympathy for him

He was perfectly willing to see everyone else's life ruined.

[loyalsister]

10. Then you have written the rest of us off as well

Thanks

[WinkyDink]

15. Are you a Trump voter?

[Bettie]

29. If you didn't vote for the guy who got fewer votes

then, I'm betting most everyone has sympathy for you and others who will lose in this whole debacle.

For the guy referenced in the OP? He chose his fate, eyes wide open.

[loyalsister]

38. It's not about ME is about US

All of us, who are in the boat that you dobn't care sinks if this guy is on it.

[Orrex]

43. So... We can't criticize Trump for his obvious impairments, organic or otherwise...

And we can't criticize those who voted for him.


That's quite a winning strategy you've proposed.

[loyalsister]

45. My "obvious imapairmet" has been mistaken for something other than what it is

You have no evidence and are simply spreading your hatred of him so far and wide that it contributes to the hate his supporters are spreading with policies they hope will hurt me rather than Trump voters.

[Orrex]

65. Yes, I hope that his supporters suffer the full consequences of supporting him

And I won't apologize for it, no matter who scolds me for it.


With respect, you are spreading your (understandable) resentment over the treatment you've received and incorrectly applying it to anyone who makes a statement that you don't like.

[loyalsister]

71. Yeah

I've heard all about that angry crip stereotype. Confirmation of liberal bigotry is always a disappointment, however.

[Orrex]

75. I would call it empowerment

I am respecting their choices and respecting their right to live with those choices.

[lunasun]

76. +1

[tazkcmo]

60. And why should I care

about the well being of the idiot that drilled holes in our boat? That makes no sense. Only because he realizes those holes are going to sink HIS boat does he suddenly give a crap.

[loyalsister]

62. Because you are allegedly a compassionate person?

If you're willing to take dlight in the damage done to one voter out of spite while cheerfully watching people you claim to care about die just because he is among us you are most certainly not.

[Doodley]

64. Well said. We are all in this together. As Titanic went down, I doubt they were hoping

the captain would die.

[tazkcmo]

78. Hogwash.

Number one, I take no joy seeing harm come to others. Second, I'm talented enough to have compassion for the innocent while having a burning hot hatred for the guilty. Third, I never claimed to be a saint so fuck those Shit Gibbon voters.

[Orrex]

80. This

Every single person who voted for Trump is an idiot, and I would be very happy to let every single one of those idiots enjoy the full consequences of voting for their top idiot.

At the same time, I am angry at every one of those idiots because of the direct and extensive harm their idiot vote inflicts upon innocent people who will suffer Trump's policies through no fault of their own.


It is an insult to insist that those two views cannot be held simultaneously.

[Bettie]

74. You're really working to put words in other people's mouths

I do care if the safety net is ripped away from those who need it.

I simply don't have any particular sympathy for this guy and those who, like him, CHOSE to have that safety net shredded. Who WANTED it shredded, but for everyone else, not themselves.

I also have little sympathy for the guy who jumps off a building and breaks bones than I do for the other guy who happened to be walking by and got landed on by the first guy. See, guy one made a choice, guy two got harmed by guy one's actions through no fault of his own.

[Downtown Hound]

30. Not having sympathy for those that voted for this disaster is not the same thing as

not having sympathy for innocent people hurt by this.

[loyalsister]

37. If you don't care if the policy hurts someone

You show no concern over whether or not it hurts anyone.

[SharonClark]

40. Where did the writer say he opposed the policy that helps people like you??

[loyalsister]

46. If he doesn't care if one person gets hurt

there is no way to credibly argue in favor of ensuring only people he likes don't get hurt. It's kind of like trying argue in favor of a violent invasion of a country and against killing civilians.

[Downtown Hound]

73. So, in theory, I couldn't be opposed to the mass slaughter of Jews in Nazi Germany

because I didn't care that the one Jewish man who supported Hitler got caught up in the dragnet and thought he got what he deserved and told him that he didn't care about anyone else until it affected him?

[dsc]

51. I am not saying that we shouldn't fight the changes that Trump and the GOP wants

but I am saying that if we fail then this man should be way down on the list of those whom we should try to help out.

[Downtown Hound]

72. Flaming pile of bullshit. n/t

[kimbutgar]

12. Ditto

[BlueCaliDem]

53. He actually believed candidate Trump LIES. As did 8M former Obama voters...

[dsc]

54. actually no he has directly said that if his benefits don't get cut he would vote for him again

it is just everyone else he couldn't care less about.

[BlueCaliDem]

58. If only GOP voters were exempt from Democratic programs & forced to live under GOP programs,

I would bet you, dollars to donuts, we'd see the demise of the Republican Party in ONE election cycle.

But because they know they can benefit from Democratic programs while voting "their conservative conscience", they'll continue to elect morons who are PAID (handsomely!) to destroy this fragile thing we call American democracy and what little social safety net we have.

Next step in their anti-American idiotic plan: blame Democrats when that happens. It won't be hard since Green/Socialist/Communist Parties froth at the mouth - just like Republicans - in attacking the Democratic Party. Those fringe Parties give the GOP the credibility and legitimacy they need in order to continue to lie, cheat, and attack Democrats and keep us out of power.

[DetlefK]

2. Why is this even a story?

Trump is a documented liar. The GOP wants to kill social expenses.

And now this guy is all shocked that Trump lied when he said he wants to protect Medicaid and that the GOP wants to kill Medicaid.

BREAKING NEWS: Dog bites man.

[Bluepinky]

3. And he's still a Trump supporter!

I guess Trump's public mockery of a disabled person wasn't enough to change Bradley Ledgerwood's support for Trump.
He says Trump may lose his support if he loses his lawyer and services.
Another Trumpian who doesn't give two shits about other people but only cares if he is personally affected.

[smirkymonkey]

63. Still a Trump supporter?

These people just blow my mind. He majorly fucks them over and they STILL stick by him. I'm sorry, I have no pity for them. They can burn in hell for all I care.

[Bluepinky]

66. At the end of the article, it says he's still supportive of Trump's presidency,

although he may feel differently if he loses his services and lawyer. Seems he doesn't care if other people lose their services.

[smirkymonkey]

67. Typical republican.

It only matters if THEY are harmed. To hell with everyone else. These people make me sick. I hate to say it, but I almost hope they do lose their services. It would serve them right.

[Bluepinky]

68. I have to admit I'm with you on that one.

[bhusar]

4. That's the problem

Despite losing her Medicaid she still supports Trump. The key line in this article. That's the problem with most of his supporters. They will go along with it and eventually blame it on the Dems.

[Miles Archer]

6. That's become my standard two cents' worth commentary on all of these stories

WHEREVER we are at in 2018 on ObamaCare, Trump will blame Obama.

If he has failed to "repeal and replace," he will blame Obama and the Dems for his own failure to keep a key "campaign promise."

If he actually gets away with it, he'll blame Obama as the body count rises.

It's all Obama's fault, no matter what happens, and the sad fact is that Trump's 35% already has that dialed in. He will NOT need to do a "hard sell" on that.

[Freethinker65]

7. +1000 and their vote condemned all those non-Trump voters to same fate

Too bad we, as a country, cannot just take the coverage away from Trump voters, leaving the non-Trump voters with the coverage they want and need?

[jberryhill]

5. Too bad

[NightWatcher]

8. We told you. You refused to listen. I'm saving my pity for people like me who saw it coming

and voted properly.

[Caliman73]

9. The quote below is what irritates me most.

Despite all this, Ledgerwood still supports Trump’s presidency, but tells Rampbell that “if I lose my lawyer and my services, I may feel a little differently.”


The simple selfishness of the average Trump supporter is astounding. While many of the policies that Trump's administration will not negatively affect me or my family that strongly, my concern is for people who need that extra help to get by, to get some security during difficult times, to simply live. I think about people in my extended family, people I know and work with, but I also think about people I don't know, who I will never meet. I think about how a society that takes care of each other looks versus one where the primary idea is to take care of number 1.

After knowing what policy proposals supported by Trump will do and have done to him, this guy STILL supports him. Not until after his life is almost literally destroyed "MAY" this man feel "A LITTLE" differently.

[Coventina]

34. But if OTHER people LOSE THEIRS, he says, "Fuck them!"

So I will say to Legerwood, FUCK YOU!!!!

Sorry, we're both ranting at the same guy......

Just goes to show...being disabled doesn't mean you are any more enlightened than able-bodied cretins.

[Caliman73]

39. I understand the sentiment.

Having challenges that are part of your identity, that often make things more difficult for you to access the same things in ways that people without those challenges can (I.E. Gender, sexual orientation, skin color, etc...) is often thought of as an inroad to a more sensitive understanding of others. Like you said, I does not mean that you can extrapolate from your own experience.

Often times people are indoctrinated to hate themselves for being themselves and to view other people like themselves as inherently bad. We see it all the time with Black and Latino conservatives and women who are conservative as well. They see themselves as "outside" the flawed identity, even while acknowledging that the identity is a target of unfair criticism.

It certainly does not make you more enlightened. A selfish jerk is a selfish jerk.

[Eliot Rosewater]

42. Yes, that is EXACTLY what he is saying.

[elias7]

11. To Trump voter: You've got to learn to vote in accordance with your interests

If you want a social safety net, don't vote Republican
If you want workplace equity and fairness, don't vote Republican
If you want social justice, don't vote Republican
If you want a clean, safe environment, don't vote Republican
If you believe in the golden rule, don't vote Republican

Remember,
regulations are what protects the little guy from the big guys,
unions protect the little guys from the big guys,
taxes protect the little guys from the big guys

Stop drinking the koolaid, stop seeing political parties as sport teams to be rooted for or against, learn to recognize when your news source is editorializing and catering to your phobias, learn to think for yourself.

[kimbutgar]

13. Nice comment but unfortunately his brain washed gullible cult members are unable to be reasoned with

[bdjhawk]

17. THIS

"...., don't vote Republican" is exactly what the Dem message should be!! Clear and concise (yes, I understand some of the RW zealots will never open their minds) but we need to start speaking in simple sound bites to point out what makes Dems different from Repugs.

[WinkyDink]

14. I stopped after "Trump voter." Sorry.

[dalton99a]

16. "Ledgerwood still supports Trump and remains confident that his president

and his party will have his back"

Well, good luck with that.

[Hoyt]

18. Yep. If cuts don't happen, it is only because Democrats and a handful of GOPers say "NO" to

the House and Senate proposals.

[dalton99a]

19. He will go back to singing Trump's praises when Democrats save his bacon

[BumRushDaShow]

23. And that's the sad part

He'll never understand or accept that the people who cared enough to fight to save him and others like him were not the dreck he voted for who didn't give a shit about him.

[Cha]

70. This is the idiocy we're dealing with.. he doesn't

give a shit about other people and barely about himself.

[oberliner]

20. "Bradley Ledgerwood, 36, is a proud Republican and an enthusiastic fan of President Trump."

Just FYI.

[Doreen]

21. You get what you voted for.

[oberliner]

22. He filed a lawsuit in 2016

A federal lawsuit today says the Arkansas Department of Human Services has arbitrarily cut Medicaid services for severely disabled people, which could force them into nursing homes.

The suit, brought by Legal Aid of Arkansas, is on behalf of Bradley Ledgerwood, 34, of Cash and Ethel Jacobs, 90, of West Helena. It says reductions in their services amount to violations of several federal laws and the Constitution.

https://www.arktimes.com/ArkansasBlog/archives/2016/05/03/still-more-harm-to-the-needy-alleged-in-lawsuit

[sinkingfeeling]

49. I remember reading about this.

[hatrack]

24. Dumbass Fears Voting As A Dumbass For A Dumbass Might Fuck Up His Dumbass Reality

[Borchkins]

56. yep!

[LonePirate]

25. This voter is receiving exactly what he wanted by his candidate fulfilling a campaign promise.

He has no reason to be upset. Instead, he should be elated. Then again, this voter is an obvious dumbass.

[SoCalNative]

26. I'm sorry

They made their beds. Now they're just going to have to die in them.

[NCDem777]

27. If you want disability friendly things

you have to vote for disability friendly candidates

[Bettie]

28. I have no sympathy for him

he got what he voted for. It isn't as if any of this was a secret or should be a surprise.

I'll save my sympathy for those who are losing their services along with him, even though they voted for the candidate who got the most votes.

[LanternWaste]

31. His own debilitating condition couldn't convince him to vote other than he did

If his own debilitating condition couldn't convince him to vote other than he did, I doubt mere outreach could either.

Thus, I'm led to believe that outreach is, in far too many cases, nothing more than a waste of time, and a waste of admonition from anyone calling on us to do so.

[Coventina]

32. So sorry, you voted for "survival of the fittest" and you ain't it.

(Neither am I, but I was smart enough to vote for the party that cares).

[Foamfollower]

33. No sympathy

The moron voted in favor of losing his health care.

[pstokely]

77. he probably thought tRump was talking about "those" people in some blue state large city

not good christians like him who don't abuse the system

[RhodeIslandOne]

35. That would destroy my life, he said.

I thought minorities gays and immigrants were destroying your life, buddy? which is why you still worship cheeto.

This guy can fuck off.

[onecaliberal]

36. Cry me a river. Zero fucks to give. Suffer the fate you wish for millions.

I just cannot muster sympathy for these people. Every word that comes out of the maggots mouth is a lie. Everyone with a brain knows that.

[SharonClark]

41. How would he pay for a nursing home?

[MiddleClass]

48. Obviously, obviously the bird brain doesn't realize Trumpcare would take that option away

And we wonder why Republicans have boiled down talking points to EZ simplistic taglines

like Winston Churchill said: the best criticism of democracy is a five-minute conversation with the average voter

[MiddleClass]

44. The heart of a conservative, nothing is wrong, unless I am affected

If I'm not personally affected. The problem doesn't exist.

Senator Portman was anti-gay-rights until his son informed him he was gay.

These idiots vote to destroy their lives and then bellyache about what their chosen One is doing.

In America, you have the constitutional right to be willfully uninformed and still vote in the election,

and look for sympathy for how much you are going to get screwed by that candidate.

And then they will blame Democrats for not stopping them.

[dsc]

79. actually Portman still is against ENDA

to the best of my knowledge. The only issue he did move on is marriage.

[sinkingfeeling]

47. Who would pay for a nursing home for him, without Medicaid?

[maxrandb]

50. Mr. Peckerwood...errr, I mean Ledgerwood, to echo the words of "your" supreme leader

"Go Fuck Yourself"

Seriously! Oh, is that to harsh to say to someone with cerebral palsy? Well, fuck that noise too!

My words won't throw you out on the street, or cause you mother to work a street-corner, BUT...your fucking vote for that sack of shit certainly will harm people who WILL be thrown out in the street.

So again, as your lord and master has said several time...Go FUCK Yourself!

Maybe your "able-bodied" mom needs to get a couple of jobs so that you can quit being a fucking "taker"

Sorry, Mr. Ledgerwood, but the ReTrumplicans haven't figured out how to just cut-off the brown people and let "you" keep "your" social safety net.

They're working on it, but they just haven't figured it out yet.

[Blue_Tires]

52. Deal with it... They knew damn well what they were voting for

[dembotoz]

55. nursing home if he was lucky...those cost money too

[Codeine]

57. Imbeciles gonna imbecile. nt

[tazkcmo]

59. Fuck this ass.

Zero sympathy for a an idiot that voted for this mental midget. If my attitude pisses some off, tough toenails. This asshole's vote, along with the other assholes that voted for him, reflected that they care not one bit about anybody else but themselves so I'm more than happy to reciprocate.

[Thrill]

61. Really? So he just missed the whole time Trump was running on getting rid of

ACA?

[Cha]

69. I imagine there could be millions of these stories.