Good morning, everyone, on this tuesday, december 18, 2012, as senators say goodbye to their longtime colleague yesterday, they will be welcoming a new senator from the state of south carolina. And tim scott has been tapped to replace jim demint. And the papers reporting progress being made about the socalled fiscal cliff talk. First, we return to the tragedy to discuss Mental Health issue in this country. What should be the role of the federal and State Government if any in Mental Health . Also send us a tweet, twitter. Com cspanwj or facebook. Com cspan or send us an email. Let me begin with the hill newspaper this morning and this headline. Mass murders spark wide debate on violence. Congressional debate in newtown, connecticut has gone far beyond gun control to include a focus on Mental Health programs and pervasive violence in popular culture. Lawmakers calls for an examination of those issues echo president obama who want a comprehensive approach for violence prevention that would end tougher gun laws and take on a culture of violence that many fear is ken coaching too much on american life. Goes on to say lieberman is a local appropriate. The connecticut will jay do the governments have a role in this . It goes on to say as a population, people with Mental Illnesses are less violent than the general generation add taggert the biggest red flags for violence are being of sub stance abuser, having a history of aggression, but generalizing it is considered far too early to draw any conclusions. People wait months for an outpatient appointment host on to the internet, a mothers blog has spelled out the obstacle to finding help for michael, her troubled 24yearold son and this blog posting coming criticism from others this morning. Read a little bit more from as that blog posting that has gone viral and has had millions of views, over two million views. Don in tallahassee, florida, democratic caller. Your call is first. What do you think of the role of Mental Health . Caller i believe that the government has to play a role and getting back to chapter 17, which meant if someone murders somebody, he said execute them, send them to me, a rapist and a murder should be executed on tv and this too, will stop. This will continue on because we put them in prison, feed them for years. So if the government gets back to what he said, let them kill someone and show it on youtube. Execute them. Send them to me because a murder and rapist cannot have salvation. Host all right. Dre, compton, california, republican, california. Good morning. Guest i think like your record should cause the federal government to step in whether you like it or not. If youre getting in trouble, if you have a record of anger, if you have a record of social vines, i think thats when the violence, i think thats when the government should step in. If youre not in jail and you need help and the federal government, if youre going to be Walking Around as a free citizen on the streets of our country and you have a record of violence or anger or mental problems and no one else seems to help you, then the federal government should i believe that 100 because youll have a track record of incidents. Host ok. Caller which is what you saw on the tape right there. Look at steve winn, a gentleman defamed him and said that he was going to kill this person. Steve winn was going to kill this person. Now steve francis, please, drugs kill people. Host all right. Dre, this is the washington journal. She writes host carol in minneapolis, minnesota. Whats the role of the federal government or the state of minnesota . Caller well, i feel that the state and the federal government need to have a hand in whats going on with Mental Health because i see people every day in the streets of minneapolis walking the streets of minneapolis and theyre mentally ill. Theyre talking to themselves about things and nobodys listening and nobodys seeing these things, but i for one, am, and until something is done, then the unmanageable unimaginable will happen and that was the unimaginable that happened the other day. Host ok. Ray, rockwood, tennessee, independent caller. Go ahead, ray. Caller i have got a question that nobody has ever said on tv i would like to have an answer. I want to know if this boy had been on red lynn ritalin when he was in school because nobody has ever asked the question or answered the question. Host with a are you getting at . He was 20 years old when this happened. Are you suggesting that he was on ritalin and once he became an adult, no longer had access to that . Caller no, the ritalin is making these little boys go up to being assault with a mental problem. Host all right. Here is sarahs piece in the Washington Post. Host lori, phoenix, arizona, democratic caller. Youre up next. What is the role of the federal and State Governments in Mental Health . Caller hello . Hi, lori, youre on the air. Caller hi, im sorry. I want to say that i know that they have dropped funds for Mental Health in arizona. I run a group home and this one lady that lived here. She was on her medication, so i thought. And then she didnt take her medications and three different times in a week, i told them. They took her away and she was at a Mental Hospital. And she called me at the Mental Hospital no see if she could come home and two out of the three times she went ballistic and i told the nurses no, i dont want her to come back to the facility and each time within the hour, they delivered her back to the house. And one morning at 3 55 in the morning, i get a slam on the door, kicked in the front door and its swat as well as the crisis team and they asked me if there was a lady named here and i said yes, she was one of the people that lived here and they asked is everybody all right . I said sure. What are you talking about . She said she called the crisis line and said she was going to slash everyones throat. We looked and we had no more butchers knife no, more chefs knives and they were all in her room. And finally, we had to have an Order Protection to get her out of the house. But the facility where she was taken, each and every time taken away by a crisis team, by a police officer, whatever, they let her come home. They let her come back. Host was it 72 hours later . Caller well, shes considered seriously mentally ill but its like day and night when shes on her medication and when shes not. But she has like terrific side effects, like mental problems, like homicidele and stuff like this. But once shes medicated, shes all right. I think we need to take that quick little look for that person who does not know that person and the people at home who do know what theyre like and make it into a week to see how they act, how they behave. If they go if they go off or if they have like mental breakdown or dreams that become realities which is probably what happened in awe roar ya and god help us, in newtown. Host ok, lori. Here is a tweet from one of viewers. I want to get you some other headlines and get you updated on the socalled fiscal cliff and the talks that are happen hearing in washington. Chicago tribune excuse me, this is about gun laws heres the Washington Post this morning with their headline concerning fiscal cliff inside the New York Times, this is what they write where they stand in their progress right now. And there is a disagreement about stimulus funding and whether or not that is included in some overall deal. We will talk more about this from a democrat from pennsylvania coming up here on the washington journal later on the program. But i want to stick to our topic here this morning. Role of federal State Governments and Mental Health. Well go to an independent caller from pennsylvania. Caller, whats your name . Caller hello . Host hi. Whats your name, caller . Caller yes. The role of the government in Mental Health, i believe, should be stepped up and i think its directly related to the Health Care Industry in particular. The obama care or whatever type of Health Program is needed because as someone said earlier, most people do not have enough financial weather withtoll be able to assist people that they know maybe in their family or in their neighbors or the communities to help them. And im amazed how when we hear about an event like this, people are amazed that so much vines and if you get the historical reality of this country. The country was founded on vines. I mean, were talking about brutal savage vines. And the country has been maintained on vines. We hear about what goes on in iraq, for example. We go there. America goes there and hundreds of children have been killed, if not thousands. But we dont see that reality until it happens here. It becomes more pressing. I think someone needs to look at a study needs to be done on the whole psychology of the american of the American People that are prerp traited as vines around the world. Its not new. Caller to me, the most irresponsible comment came on tv yesterday by a u. S. Senator Dianne Feinstein who is rushing to resurrect a bill on gun control. The most responsible set of comments came from the n. R. A. Which said at the beginning when the events begin unfolding on tv lets wait for all the facts to come in. Im calling as a former v. A. Homeless outreach worker in rest l. A. One third of americas homeless are military veterans. Every one of them could be off the street with Mental Health problems and so forth if the v. A. Would process the claims that have been four and a half years delayed. We sue the v. A. In the ninth u. S. Circuit court of appeals in may of last year. The government under obama and holder appealed that win before the three justices panel in may of last year to the full court which set aside our victory and veterans are now back to square one with no Mental Health issues from a v. A. Under a former fourstar army general who refuses to process our benefits claim. Host ok. Here is paul on twitter. My question is how will balm care obama care address the shortage in our country . The New York Times, front page this morning, signaling openness to limits. Senator joe mansion of west virginia, an advocate of gun rights who drew attention by firing a rifle into a piece of legislation said and this is the u. S. A. Today washington section so as our caller referenced Dianne Feinstein looking to introduce in the 113th congress in january that assault weapons ban reinstituted it. The Washington Post said this morning and then u. S. A. Today front teenage calls for change, n. R. A. , mum. Facebook page which registered 1. 7 million like was taken off this morning. The influence of the four million Member Organization makes it a major player in any political and legal push since the shooting so thats the front page of the u. S. A. Today if youre interested more in that. And also this morning, here is inside the Washington Post. Obama begins effort to reduce gun violence. Heres a snapshot of state gun laws across the country. Well take a closer look as we continue to get your thoughts. Bill, meredith, new hampshire, republican caller. Go ahead, bill. Caller hi, greta. Host good morning. Caller lets remember that justification is the lowest form of reasoning and this would be an ideal opportunity for the powers that be to take the wrong course in a problem that we face. As i said, justification. If you tear that word apart is the lowest form of reasoning. You can always find a reason to do the wrong thing in a moment of panic. Youve got to take the wrong host so bill, tie this to our discussion here, Mental Health. Caller yes. Ok. Lets get back to the media that presents violence on television as a form of entertainment with all the police shows, the cop shows. Violence is the main ingredient of the plots and for the people who have weak constitutional weak constitutions, it is an avenue that presents itself almost irresistible to that frame of mind that would bring forth violence in a person when theyre put in a corner in the fight or flight instinct comes out. Do they fight or do they run . And thats easier for them in some cases to do what happened in these horrible instances with these massacres. Youve got to take the big the wrong view and stick with our foundation and of not how wrong firearms but perhaps strengthen the law that host all right, bill, well leave it there. The Honolulu Star advertiser courtesy of the museum. This is their headline this morning. Hawaii mourns an American Hero daniel k. Inouye. He changed our island forever. He passed away at Walter Reed Medical Center in bethesda at the age of 88. These are the changes that happen immediately with the passing of senator inouye. In the pro tem is now senator patrick lelie. Leahy. He is expected to preside over the president in the adVice President. And he is the third in line behind the Vice President and the house speaker. Also senator leahy is now in line to head up the Appropriations Committee and senator frank lawsuiten berg will be the only veteran of world war ii serving in the senate in 2013. Back to our question for all of you this morning about role of federal State Governments in Mental Health. We will keep talking about this for about 30 minutes. By the way, we have covered senator inouye here on this network for many years and, including oral history interviews with the senator, two of them, one in march 3, 2008, and another one on june 30, 1988. If youre interested in watching those, go to our website at cspan. Org and go to our video library. Monica, youre up next. Caller good morning. So happy to be able to comment on this really important issue. I have a mentally elson that i have struggled with all sorts of things, trying to get him some treatment and trying to make sure Something Like this that is happening in connecticut doesnt happen here. And its so frustrating. And when you find them, the waiting list is months long, and it is. Its frustrating, its terrifying. I havent slept much the last few days because i just keep thinking it could happen here and how can i deal with that . Host monica, do you have Health Insurance . Caller i have some through my husbands employer. It doesnt cover my son. He has medicaid and the resources are almost nonexistent. Host what do you mean by that . The state doesnt provide much . Caller no. There arent many providers and when you can find them, the weight lists are months long to get in to see anybody. Host what does medicaid cover for Mental Health . Caller well, you can see a psychiatrist if you can find one. Thats taking new patients and you can get some limited the first time we qualified, we had six visits. And this was when my son was 11 years old and at that time, he was already violent. He already had a police record. We were terrified. Host terrified of him . Caller yeah. We were terrified what he might do to himself to others, to us. It was frightening. Now, luckily, he seems to as hes gotten older grown out of some of this, but he still has issues. And i worry about him. I worry about all of us because if we dont address this Mental Health issue, things like this are going to continue to go on. Im glad that youre talking about this instead of knee jerking to gun control because while that would be helpful, some form of gun control might be helpful. I think the Bigger Picture is the Mental Health piece and if we dont address that, were all in trouble. Host what should be done on the federal level, do you think . Caller theres got to be some more funding. Theres got to be something done to make the services more available, easier to access and but theres nothing there and then that gets tighter all the time as the resources become less available from the state and federal government, the net around all of us just tightens and its so scary. Host monica, you might be interested in this piece from sarah cliff from the Washington Post where she talks about 10 facts in the Mental Health system in the country. It goes on to say that the biggest budget cuts were made to the infacility. Vermont closed its only staterun hospital in the wake of hurricane irene. Hanukkah, can you relate to that . Caller yeah, we went to community Mental Health sometimes in the middle of the night trying to get my some assistance. We tried to get him committed to the only facility in the area which is like hours away. And they didnt want to commit him. Host why not . Caller because all you have to do at that point is to say oh, no, im not going to hurt anybody. And they dont listen to the parents. They dont listen to the caregivers. All they have to do is say no, i am not a danger to myself or others. And they say go home. Host did you read the blog posting entitled i am adam lanzas mother . Caller i looked for it this morning on the web. I got a little bit of it. I wasnt able to access the entire thing, boy, could i relate. Its one of the reasons why i turn on the tv and im talking to you now. Its frightening. Parents have got it so hard right now and i feel sorry for everyone in c