Is the state of mental health care delivery in US tied to the social darwinism of Neo-Conservative doctrine?

Do they really care if the "defective" live, die or get the help the need? Homeless veterans abound as testimony to these policies of "mainstreaming" which became a euphemism for closing hospitals and throwing the patients into the streets where they wind up in Jail, under the bridge or in the morgues! Yay
Seems Nazism was kind in just gassing them

as one with a degree in psychology and knowledge of the history of mental health care delivery I can say that the first 3 answers reflect the lack of knowledge about the system. The 80's saw the wholesale closing of institutions which though not perfect beat the crap out of bridges, morgues and jails
Reagan and governors like Engler in Michigan saw the mainstreaming approach of psychological care as an opportunity to close hospitals that could not make money and were thus considered expendable as we sought to make government more like a business!!! which is an utterly insane idea on a political theory level.

Flaming liberal that I am, I cannot sit back and let the "Neo-Conservative" be blamed for the closing of mental hospitals in the '70s and '80s. That was the result of a string of federal cases decided by a then liberal leaning Supreme Court.

Actual history just doesn't support your theory.

booo. live and let live!!!!
then live let live and help improve life!!!
science is science- you can study as much as you want and ask ?s as much as you want but if you go out there and help some one you will make them feel better and yourself feel better.
Hey just in time for the holidays.

Pres. Carter allowed them out of the facilities because he didn't want to force anyone against their will to be confined.

I know that this is not the answer you want, but throwing the mentally ill out of hospitals was not the idea of conservatives. This was the result of some horror stories about bad conditions in asylums and lobbying by advocates for the mentally ill in the 1970's. It became harder to commit the mentally ill to asylums. Some had nowhere else to go, so they went on the streets.

I think they real question is ... am I my brothers keeper?.. some will answer yes, some will answer no, but the truth is that yes, we to an extent, are out brothers keepers.. those that serve us and protect us and dedicate their lives to a cause that benefits everyone should be protected and provided for. That group includes veterans.. Veterans did not start out as grown men.. they started out as boys who had to do manly things.. many of them lost out on the things that they should have been able to enjoy when they were young.. instead.. they sacrificed their youth to serve others.. they should be cared for.. as for those who dropped out and did nothing.. in my book, they don't deserve respect or help.. if they don't want to help themselves, then they don't deserve a handout.. a bum is a bum.. but a veteran is someone to be respected and valued..

They all go hand in hand. The left hand always washes the other! All the while their are more bloody than before!