SENATE BILL: ...Mental Health Reform Act of 2013 (Failed)

[Fmr. Pres. Duke]

I volunteer to have myself committed. Maybe I won't have to take this exam in the morning.

[Fmr. Pres. Duke]

Finding information on health institutions is driving me crazy. Maybe then we will be able to properly reform our system.

[Fmr. Pres. Duke]

Sorry. I am out of town for the next week for my sister's college graduation so I wasn't checking this daily. I'll post what I have when I can, but you've got a lot of what I already looked at. Sorry for being unavailable with law school and now this event.

I just could not find anything concrete on this topic, and most I talked to didn't know anything about their respective country's system. Science Daily was the main source I used along with some others where they discussed reforms needed and problems with our system.

[Fmr. Pres. Duke]

http://www.whptv.com/news/local/story/Campaign-launched-to-reduce-mental-health-stigma/0Qbvb5qTBkymreWxjvs-0A.cspx

Irony have my laptop with me but I'll keep posting things as I get them. Yankee posted a lot of what I had found already.

[Fmr. Pres. Duke]

I think the first thing we need to ask, given the volume of information we have presented, is whether we need to make this a mega bill or a series of small bills.

Good news is, I will be home tomorrow and back with my laptop. Trying to read all of these things on an iPad has proved to be a problem.

[Fmr. Pres. Duke]

It all depends how much we trust regions to get this done. I tend to think they can handle it, as long as the money we do appropriate has strings attached, and they can't go spend it on something else, like Imperial coats in the case of the IDS.

[Fmr. Pres. Duke]

Should we create an organization to decide that? I am in the camp that thinks this should be centrally controlled so its quality can be assured in every region. Mental health is important, as we all know, and I don't want 1 region to have better facilities or doctors than another, and that could happen if we give regions too much control over the situation.

[Fmr. Pres. Duke]

http://www.treatmentadvocacycenter.org/home-page/71/81

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2012/12/17/seven-facts-about-americas-mental-health-care-system/

Thanks to yankee, here are two more relevant links. I'll wade through them later, but I'm posting them here before I go to work.

[Fmr. Pres. Duke]

Some data from the above articles:

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[Fmr. Pres. Duke]

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[Fmr. Pres. Duke]

I wish AIM worked at my office.

[Fmr. Pres. Duke]

The fact that no one has gone crazy trying to read this bill indicates, to me at least, that most of the senators here will not need to join Yankee and I in the crazy house. Kind of, well, disappointing...

[Fmr. Pres. Duke]

Light at the end of the tunnel!

[Fmr. Pres. Duke]

Disappointing, but unfortunately not surprising.

[Fmr. Pres. Duke]

I really do encourage you all to support this bill. Is it perfect? No, but it is needed. The cost is huge, but we have not really updated our infrastructure in 70 years. Comparing this to the education bill is simply dishonest. These are two totally different matters entirely and cannot be handled in the same manner. One size does not fit all. This bill is huge, but it is not confusing and gets to the point on the many things that need addressing.

Mental illness is the leading cause of many things I think we all wish to reduce, not to mention is also leads to national tragedies.

I do wish the concerns were voiced while Yankee and I were working behind the scenes to research this bill, but that is neither here nor there, and I am not going to cry over the process. I simply would hate to see this voted down after months of work for the vague reasons given for the veto.

So, even though I am not a senator, irrelevant, and not even an office holder anymore, I urge both of you to vote to override this veto. If you do have any concerns you privately want to discuss, contact me.

[Fmr. Pres. Duke]

Lets just let this die in peace. The whole process surrounding its failing is just tremendously disappointing, but unfortunately not at all surprising given our current political landscape. I cannot blame polnut too much because he was not in the senate, but the rest, well, whatever. I know the senate will not take up this bill again, so I hope the rest of you all will not make false promises to do so. It is a big issue, and frankly I have no faith in the senate as a whole these days, which is sad.

If I'm wrong, then I will be pleasantly surprised for once.