As a person with two disabilities, I am keenly interested in the laws and benefits Disabled Americans can count on.

The prospect of George Bush appointing any more Federal Judges or Supreme Court Justices should scare anyone with a disability or family members and friends of those who are disabled. The Americans With Disabilities Act has constantly been weakened and is still under attack. When a person applies for Social Security Disability benefits, it has been my experience that the state agency, funded by and bound by the federal government rules, routinely does not do its job gathering information on an applicant. This causes the process to be a lot more cumbersome and longer than it has to be.

I recently asked my state agency (Disability Determination Services) in an appeal three times (in one appeal) to get records from one of my doctors. They didn't. Now that means that another 60 days to over 6 months to get to an Administrative Law Judge hearing. Most applications with a sufficiently complete record of the disability and the treatment of them are either approved at the ALJ level or remanded back to the state for more information gathering. Meanwhile, I am waiting to find out if I can have these benefits to be able to buy the prescription medicines and see the doctors that I see every month.

Howard Dean is a doctor; he understands disability. He is a compassionate man who has given his life and taken an oath to help others who are sick. I am positive that he can and will straighten out the mess at the SSA and not appoint judges who will undo all the hard won benefits and provisions of the ADA.

For more information, please write me about my personal experience with Social Security.

Mark Brooks