McCaskill's move against anonymous holds already bearing fruit

[KamaAina]

http://www.disabilityscoop.com/2010/06/22/neeman-confirmation/9133/

In December President Barack Obama nominated eight new members to the National Council on Disability, which makes recommendations to the president and Congress on disability issues. Early this year, all of the nominations were confirmed except that of Ne’eman, who has autism and is the founder of the Autistic Self-Advocacy Network....

Speculation swirled about the reason for the hold, with some suggesting that Ne’eman’s sometimes divisive views on autism could have been behind the delay. In particular, Ne’eman’s belief that autism should not be cured, but instead should be accepted and accommodated has drawn ire from parents of some individuals who are more adversely affected by the disorder.

As secretively as the hold was placed, however, it was lifted Tuesday morning when Senators voted unanimously to confirm the post along with at least 63 other nominations..

The confirmations come after news earlier this week that Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., secured the votes to change the Senate rules to bar holds from being placed anonymously.

I suspect the culprit here may have been Arlen Specter (D-Humiliated In Own Primary); several board members of Autism Speaks, a wealthy and powerful group known to favor the "cure" approach over Ari's (and my own) self-advocacy, are listed as Specter donors, none of whom live in PA.