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Where did it all go wrong?

Journal by turgid

So I was drinking beer and eating curry. Where did it all go wrong? Life's great mysteries!

Where did it all go wrong? | Log In/Create an Account | Top | 39 comments | Search Discussion
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The Fine Print: The following comments are owned by whoever posted them. We are not responsible for them in any way.

  • (Score: 2, Flamebait) by Runaway1956 on Saturday November 13 2021, @06:15AM (8 children)

    by Runaway1956 (2926) Subscriber Badge on Saturday November 13 2021, @06:15AM (#1195868) Homepage Journal

    1963 President John F. Kennedy signs the Community Mental Health Act. This pushes the responsibility of mentally ill patients from the state toward the federal government. JFK wanted to create a network of community mental health centers where mentally ill people could live in the community while receiving care. JFK could have been inspired to act because his younger sister, Rosemary, was mentally disabled, received a lobotomy and spent her life hidden away.

    Less than a month after signing the new legislation, JFK is assassinated. The community mental health centers never receive stable funding, and even 15 years later less than half the promised centers are built.

    1965 The U.S. Congress establishes Medicaid and Medicare. Mentally disabled people living in the community are eligible for benefits but those in psychiatric hospitals are excluded. By encouraging patients to be discharged, state legislators could shift the cost of care for mentally ill patients to the federal government.

    1967 Ronald Reagan is elected governor of California. At this point, the number of patients in state hospitals had fallen to 22,000, and the Reagan administration uses the decline as a reason to make cuts to the Department of Mental Hygiene. They cut 2,600 jobs and 10 percent of the budget despite reports showing that hospitals were already below recommended staffing levels.

    1967 Reagan signs the Lanterman-Petris-Short Act and ends the practice of institutionalizing patients against their will, or for indefinite amounts of time. This law is regarded by some as a “patient’s bill of rights”. Sadly, the care outside state hospitals was inadequate. The year after the law goes into effect, a study shows the number of mentally ill people entering San Mateo's criminal justice system doubles.

    1969 Reagan reverses earlier budget cuts. He increases spending on the Department of Mental Hygiene by a record $28 million.

    1973 The number of patients in California State mental hospitals falls to 7,000.

    1980 President Jimmy Carter signs the Mental Health Systems Act to improve on Kennedy’s dream.

    1981 President Reagan repeals Carter’s legislation with the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act. This pushes the responsibility of mentally ill patients back to the states. The legislation creates block grants for the states, but federal spending on mental illness declines.

    2004 The U.S. Department of Justice estimates that 10 percent of state prisoners have symptoms that meet criteria for a psychotic disorder.

    2015 In the San Francisco Homeless Count, 55 percent of people experiencing chronic homelessness report they have emotional or psychiatric conditions.

    You can't put that all at Nixon's door, no matter how you try. It started with a Dem administration, and was followed up by bleeding heart liberals who, rather than fix a broken system, just burned it down.

    https://www.kqed.org/news/11209729/did-the-emptying-of-mental-hospitals-contribute-to-homelessness-here [kqed.org]

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    Abortion is the number one killed of children in the United States.
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  • (Score: 5, Informative) by canopic jug on Saturday November 13 2021, @07:09AM (7 children)

    by canopic jug (3949) on Saturday November 13 2021, @07:09AM (#1195877) Journal

    No, of course it's not Nixon. As stated, it's clearly due to the Reagan administration. See also your own quote above and note the fallout from the 1981 misdeeds.

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    Money is not free speech. Elections should not be auctions.

    • (Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Saturday November 13 2021, @08:49AM (6 children)

      by Runaway1956 (2926) Subscriber Badge on Saturday November 13 2021, @08:49AM (#1195882) Homepage Journal

      Sorry, somehow typed Nixon, when I meant Raygun. But, yeah, like I pointed out, it started with the Kennedy administration.

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      Abortion is the number one killed of children in the United States.

      • (Score: 2, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday November 13 2021, @05:43PM (5 children)

        by Anonymous Coward on Saturday November 13 2021, @05:43PM (#1195949)

        Jesus Fucking Christ, you are so tribally motivated to blame liberals for every misdeed you voted for.

        • (Score: 1, Flamebait) by Runaway1956 on Saturday November 13 2021, @06:11PM (4 children)

          by Runaway1956 (2926) Subscriber Badge on Saturday November 13 2021, @06:11PM (#1195961) Homepage Journal

          So, which part of that first item did you fail to understand?

          1963 President John F. Kennedy signs the Community Mental Health Act. This pushes the responsibility of mentally ill patients from the state toward the federal government. JFK wanted to create a network of community mental health centers where mentally ill people could live in the community while receiving care. JFK could have been inspired to act because his younger sister, Rosemary, was mentally disabled, received a lobotomy and spent her life hidden away.

          Less than a month after signing the new legislation, JFK is assassinated. The community mental health centers never receive stable funding, and even 15 years later less than half the promised centers are built.

          Democrats haven't changed much in the last 60 years. They vote federal intervention into every aspect of life, then fail to fund it, then blame it on Republicans when their dream world turns into a latrine.

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          Abortion is the number one killed of children in the United States.

          • (Score: 3, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday November 13 2021, @10:34PM (3 children)

            by Anonymous Coward on Saturday November 13 2021, @10:34PM (#1195986)

            AC was right, you are a partisan hack. I fully understand your point while you fail to understand anything beyond the GOP narrative. Thank god Rush Limbaugh is dead, but damage has been done.

            Can conservatives break free of the fascist shackles they so wear so proudly while proclaiming they are the only real freedom lovers? Doesn't look good after 1/6, seems you're all committed to creating a theocratic state to erase all progress of the 20th century.

            • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday November 14 2021, @04:31PM (2 children)

              by Anonymous Coward on Sunday November 14 2021, @04:31PM (#1196109)

              Thank God Joe's brain is dead, but the damage is still being done.
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              Fuck Kommie Harris!

              • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday November 14 2021, @09:04PM (1 child)

                by Anonymous Coward on Sunday November 14 2021, @09:04PM (#1196180)

                Lol, we understand that to! Fuck Joe Biden :D Fuck Trump, fuck McConnell, fuck Pelosi, fuck all the corrupt bastards. Sadly you tribal idiots are incapable of even faking your pretend centrism.

                • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday November 15 2021, @02:19AM

                  by Anonymous Coward on Monday November 15 2021, @02:19AM (#1196238)

                  If "centerism" means to meet you halfway each time (and it always does), then fuck you, too.