CNN’s Political Ticker blog examines Sarah Palin’s assertion that the Obama tax plan would have “serious and harmful consequences” for special needs trusts.

Their conclusion: The charge is

… misleading. Obama’s plan would increase taxes on individuals making more than $200,000 and families making $250,000, and it would include the income on interest in special needs trusts. But Obama does not have a plan to raise taxes on special needs trusts in general.

Earlier posts here and here.

From ABC News:

The Obama campaign rejected Sarah Palin’s claim about special needs trusts as false and misleading, saying that only families who make more than $250,000 a year would face higher taxes under the Obama administration.

“It’s not true that the Obama tax plan singles out, or penalizes, or in any way is designed to negatively affect families who have children with disabilities,” said Obama deputy economic advisor Brian Deese. “It’s just absolutely untrue.”

Independent estate planners contacted by ABC News also challenged Palin’s claim. They said that only extremely large trusts would have to pay increased taxes under the Obama proposal.

“The vast majority of special needs trusts don’t produce very much income, and whatever income they do produce, they have to use for the beneficiary,” said Harry Margolis, a Boston attorney and founder of the Academy of Special Needs Planners.

With video.

From the Wall Street Journal:

In her speech yesterday, Sarah Palin said Barack Obama’s tax plan would raise taxes on special needs trusts. These trusts are legal arrangements which allow parents to put aside assets for their adult disabled children without jeopardizing their children’s eligibility for government benefits.

Andy Imparato, president of the American Association of People with Disabilities, a nonpartisan nonprofit, says he has not heard any complaints from constituents about how the Obama tax plan would affect them.

“It’s my understanding that he’d raise taxes on anyone making more than $250,000. That doesn’t seem to single out parents of disabled children,” he says.

See also: Six things to know about a special needs trust — AP/Forbes

Guest commentary:

What Kind of Advocacy

Do Americans with Disabilities Really Need?

By Paul K. Longmore

Ever since Sarah Palin’s acceptance speech, the “needs” of children with disabilities have gotten a lot of press. Palin pledged to be a “friend and advocate” for those children. News stories have reported the excitement of parents and other people in the disability rights constituency that disability issues are finally getting some attention. Some of them have decided to support the election of Palin and John McCain. But do the Republican candidates offer the kind of advocacy Americans with disabilities really need? I don’t believe they do, and I want to explain why I am voting for Barack Obama and Joe Biden instead.

(more…)

Editor’s note: Coverage of the disability angle in relation to the candidacy of GOP vice presidential hopeful Sarah Palin continues to mount.

Rather than present each item as a separate post, we’re grouping them here. Please click on the headline above to get the full version, or on ‘read the rest of this entry’ below, and check back to our home page throughout the day for further developments.

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Palin’s pitch to parents of disabled raises some doubts; Support is pledged, but GOP ticket seeks spending cuts — Wall Street Journal

Disability rights activists wondered whether Palin’s pledge of advocacy would be undercut by the Republican ticket’s pledge to reduce government spending, although many said they hoped Trig Palin’s appearance at the convention would lead to greater public acceptance of Down syndrome.

Republican strategists predicted Palin would unify people with disabilities behind their party.

Many parents fear that Down syndrome is on the leading edge of a eugenics movement to eliminate children with abnormalities. Others are wary of being labeled as social conservatives if they choose to have a child knowing it will have a cognitive disability.

Those concerns are likely to move into the mainstream now, along with questions about what either party is likely to do for children with disabilities.

Among items on the legislative agenda of disability activists are: special education funding, outreach programs for parents who have just received a diagnosis of Down syndrome; housing and employment programs, greater access to Medicaid benefits, “best-practices” clinics, a national registry of people with Down syndrome and tax-free savings accounts for their long-term care.

Life expectancy is approaching that of healthy children, raising questions about who is to care for them.

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Fusing politics and motherhood in a new way — New York Times

Struggling to accept the diagnosis of Down syndrome and fearful of public criticism of a governor’s pregnancy, Sarah Palin concealed the news of her condition from everyone until her third trimester. But by the time of her baby shower a month after her son’s birth, she had come to regard baby Trig as a blessing from God. “Who of us in this room has the perfect child?” a friend remembers her saying.

(more…)

From USA Today:

Groups representing people with Down syndrome say Sarah Palin could help boost efforts to help people with disabilities live more independently.

Among the priorities they cited were additional funding for physical therapy after birth, long-term financial incentives to help people with Down syndrome pay housing and medical bills into adulthood, and strengthening the No Child Left Behind law.

They also called for lifting the $2,000 cap on assets for Medicaid eligibility requirements, because the cap encourages people with disabilities to make less money in order to qualify for federal benefits.

Madeleine Will, vice president of public policy for the National Down Syndrome Society, said advocates also want Congress to make changes such as:

• Requiring doctors to provide more detailed information about Down syndrome to parents who receive prenatal and postnatal diagnoses, including life expectancy data and contacts of local support groups. The idea has support from lawmakers on both sides of the abortion issue.

• Allowing families to save money in tax-exempt accounts that can be used to pay for expenses associated with education, medical treatment and employment training.

Martha Blue-Banning of the Beach Center on Disability at the University of Kansas presents two very helpful articles this month. She offers both a personal vision for parents who are seeking to assist their adult children in becoming independent, and a toolkit for developing assets and avoiding a life of poverty.

Writing in the Down Syndrome News, Dr. Blue-Banning describes her family’s journey helping son Ryan become a small business owner. Ryan, a young adult with Down syndrome, runs a successful vending machine business that was set up with the help of his family, a network of community supporters, and a small business grant from the Kansas Developmental Disabilities Council. It was not always easy — one day, thirty cases of soda exploded in an overheated van — but, writes Dr. Blue-Banning, “It’s working — and so is Ryan.”

Writing in Exceptional Parent magazine, Dr. Blue-Banning and lead author Megan O’Neil outline the tools that families can use to protect the assets of people with disabilities. The title says it all: “Avoid the poverty trap.”

Fear of losing federal benefits can be a major deterrent to working or saving. This built-in work and savings disincentive results in many individuals with disabilities living in poverty. So, are poverty and disability inevitable? With current asset development strategies, the answer is a resounding “NO.”

Among the tools they explain are

• Individual Development Account (IDA);
• Plan for Achieving Self-Support (PASS); and
• Special needs trust.

They describe the process of financial planning as “not easy, but worth it,” and urge families to consult experienced attorneys or benefits planners. Links to resources are provided.