Today, the editors of the Chronicle point out that nearly 0.5 percent of Americans are blind, and declare that it’s time to change the currency for them:
When it comes right down to it, there is no way to sugarcoat the Bush administration’s objection to revamping the nation’s paper currency to make it distinguishable to the visually impaired. It’s contrary to federal law banning discrimination against the disabled in government programs. And it’s downright mean.
“Downright mean?” That’s the kind of carefully reasoned debate that brings me back to the Chronicle day after day. So what if we’d have to retool every vending machine, change machine, bill-counting device and currency plant in the nation? We don’t want to be mean!
Justice Department lawyers countered that blind people simply should use portable money reading devices to make purchases, or they should use credit cards. But the government has no plans to provide these machines, which cost around $350. Nor does it have a plan to deal with people who are not eligible for credit cards, including children and some of the large percentage of visually impaired Americans who are unemployed because of their disability.
As for those blind people who already have money-reading devices that won’t work with the new bills? Tough cookies, says the Chron. I have a plan for people who are not eligible for credit cards: debit cards.
Seeing-eye dog training: $4,000. White cane: $80. Dark glasses: $50. Refusing to cede your autonomy to the federal government while sticking it to the editors of the Houston Chronicle: Priceless.
It’s also interesting to note that the editors declare that a $350 device for a microscopic minority of people is an undue hardship, but a $300 to $3,000 increase in a car’s price is “largely painless.”
Filed Under Uncategorized · · · · 
Print This Post
··
Comments
19 Responses to “Chron demands Braille bucks for blind”Search
Our Sponsors
Poll
Loading ...
I think the comical should be REQUIRED to print their paper everyday in brail and make it available, for the same price, to all blind people in the Houston area. Not doing this is just plain mean.
No No, not just in braille, but n large print too! lets see how much advertising space they have left after doing THAT!.
“people who are not eligible for credit cards, including children”
Who in the heck would let their blind underage child wander around anyway? Only a liberal grasping at straws?
Here’s some coinage that noone would mistake..
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rai_stones
The comicle should also have to print their rag in spanish, vietnamese, russian, german, italian etc. ALL FOR FREE.
Why didn’t the advocates for the blind bring this up BEFORE the mint made the final decision to change the bills? I don’t know, maybe they did.
The bottom line is we cannot cater to every disability, it’s logistically and financially impossible. That doesn’t mean we don’t care.
Everyone, disabled or not, is discriminated against in some way, shape or form. Suck it up like the rest of us have to.
You wonder why I shake my head™
Shakey: you’re MEAN!!
#6 faster
Not mean, just practical and realistic.
Where are the boundaries for these types of things? Businesses and government cannot support catering to every problem people have.
Shakey, the Chronicle gets to set the boundaries, duuuh! And, according to them, by not agreeing you are “downright mean”.
Yes, they need to change the US Bill.
They need to get a decent engraver.
The old bills could be read (denomination) clearly and were beautiful. The new bills cannot be read and look like a third world psychedelic nightmare.
We are being set up for the Amero.
Watch and see!
China dumping dollar, OPEC dumping dollar, blind people need new money right after we changed it.
The time is ripe for a currency change and it wont have anything to do with the blind.
All I know is I want one of them big rocks they use for money on the South Pacific!
Why only now has this been brought up? Why didn’t they think about this when the bills were first being printed? What have blind people doing about handling this situation until now? I am not insensitive to handicaps, however, it is not feasible to accommodate everyone. Let’s be realistic.
What is the Crummyicle’s answer to bills with braille that will become tattered, torn or wore out? We all have seen currency that will soon be taken out of circulation by the banks. “PC” rears its ugly head again.
Since Republicans got into power there are more blind people in the US. Bush and Rummy go about at night putting people’s eyes out…
What have the blind done for the last 100 or so years?
Bring on the Amero.
Get it?
#14
There are more blind people. Its called ignorant bliss! Willful blindness.
They did take mostly blind people into account. That is what the big block number on the backside lower right corner is for.
It is there for the visually impaired.
Where is my large print crummicle??
Unless the Crummyicle is printed in Braille, how are the blind going to know that they tried to help. Well, at least, they FEEL good!!!!
DanielJames: I agree with both statements.
This has been in the works for a while. (and believe is predicted in the Bible, but not totally sure.) Are we sure it’s blind people that are stating this? Interesting~ And no, I am not going to put on a tin foil hat. Mark our words!
18 st
I like my hat. ‘cept when I chew on it it makes my teeth all shocky…