Editor,

The nerve of a former Fox News Host who was an avid supporter of Brexit under David Cameron to show up in California a few years ago and now claim that the state has lost its way.

Recommended for you

(6) comments

CA Is Burning

D. Clark - We should all use your ignorance to prove out uninformed and ideologically the democrat party and democrats have become. So if you keep regurgitating your lies, your fellow sheople will believe. it.

Ronald Regan did not close even one mental institution.

So who closed the hospitals?

"The patients in the hospitals did by exercising their new freedoms under a landmark California law enacted 50 years ago that created a “Mental Health Patient’s Bill Of Rights” that became the model for many other states in this country. You could say mental health patients after the law was passed, voted with their feet: They left their rooms and walked out the hospital’s front doors, never to return.

Two legislative forces actually determined the fate of mental health care in this state. You might call them acts with unintended consequences. Here’s the history.

In 1967, the Lanterman–Petris–Short Act (LPS Act) a so-called “bill of rights” for those with mental health problems passed the Democratic-controlled Assembly 77-1. The Senate approved it by similar margins. Then-Gov. Reagan signed it into law." https://theava.com/archives/226539

"In the 1960s, Reagan opposed Medicare for two principal reasons: participation was mandatory, and because Medicare spent scarce taxpayer funds to subsidize coverage for wealthy people — even millionaires — who didn’t need the help. But Reagan explicitly supported the role of government in subsidizing care for every American who could not otherwise afford it."

Jmarty

D. Clark states that the damage done to California “is in fact the result of conservative policies beginning with Reagan who closed mental institutions”. He said this to criticize Steve Hilton’s statement “that California has lost its’ way.” I am not sure to which conservative policy D. Clark refers as there has not been one implemented in this state in decades.

As for Governor Reagan and the closing of mental institutions, nothing could be further from the truth. In the 1970s, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) filed and litigated several landmark cases on behalf of people with mental illness, including those in institutions and those facing involuntary confinement. One of these cases ultimately was decided by the US Supreme Court in 1975, O’Connor V. Donaldson. MR. Reagan just so happened to be Governor. The decision held that a state cannot constitutionally confine a nondangerous individual who can live safely in freedom. This ruling transformed the legal status of people with mental health disabilities and accelerated the deinstitutionalization movement. History shows clearly the 1975 US Supreme Court was NOT conservative. The inevitable result of this and other decisions can be seen in SF’s Tenderloin District. Ronald Reagan or any conservative policy did not close mental institutions. If you want to blame the closing of mental institutions on anyone or thing, look to the ACLU and the 1975 Supreme Court

MichKosk

Thanks for the laugh, "D". I'm a 3rd generation Californian, my grandfather helped build the Bay Bridge, can I opine? California has not had any conservative presence in the state government for 2 1/2 decades now. Crime, homelessness, our broken public education system, our high taxes for little in return- what can you say has gotten better since then?

And please stop spreading the ridiculous myth that Reagan "closed the mental institutions". The 1967 Lanterman Petris Short Act was a BI-PARTISAN bill sponsored and supported by both Republicans and Democrats in the state legislature and signed by then Governor Reagan, which required due process for involuntary mental health commitments and ended indefinite holds (among other things.) Please, though, if you wish to reopen mental institutions and return to 1960's involuntary commitment policies, petition our Democrat super-majority to pass a bill doing just that! They have had decades to do so, very strange they have not made this change and prefer to blame someone who was governor 60 years ago.

Terence Y

Hey D. Clark, where have you been this past decade and a half? We’ve seen what the disastrous policies implemented by Democrat governors have done to California. I find it extraordinary that otherwise rational people believe that anything will change for the better if Democrats remain in charge. Voters get the government they deserve. Meanwhile, I hope the election isn’t stolen from Steve Hilton and Hilton will make even more massive cuts to welfare programs supporting criminals and terrorists who’ve invaded California.

CA Is Burning

Sadly Terrence, the democrats are still voting and the government is still accepting ballots with a D on them. The State of CA will keep counting until democrats are ahead in every contest. . Spencer Pratt has already been overtaken.

edkahl

California is on the brink of bankruptcy. But unlike the Feds, CA can't print money and other states aren't going to vote to bail CA out with Federal money. Our one party politics are destroying California.

Welcome to the discussion.

Keep the discussion civilized. Absolutely NO personal attacks or insults directed toward writers, nor others who make comments.
Keep it clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd, racist or sexually-oriented language.
Don't threaten. Threats of harming another person will not be tolerated.
Be truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone or anything.
Be proactive. Use the 'Report' link on each comment to let us know of abusive posts.
PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK.
Anyone violating these rules will be issued a warning. After the warning, comment privileges can be revoked.

Thank you for visiting the Daily Journal.

Please purchase a Premium Subscription to continue reading. To continue, please log in, or sign up for a new account.

We offer one free story view per month. If you register for an account, you will get two additional story views. After those three total views, we ask that you support us with a subscription.

A subscription to our digital content is so much more than just access to our valuable content. It means you’re helping to support a local community institution that has, from its very start, supported the betterment of our society. Thank you very much!

Want to join the discussion?

Only subscribers can view and post comments on articles.

Already a subscriber? Login Here