JD (Jizz in the Divan) Vance went down to Georgia to do some political stumping. During his stumping and stammering, he hit upon the topic of homelessness. It quickly became apparent that, as usual, he didn't know what the hell he was talking about:

And I don't know for the life of me what happened in this country where we decided that the compassionate thing was to let somebody fester on the streets instead of be...instead of get the treatment that they need. It's very simple to me.

And I don't know why we accepted as parents and as grandparents and as people who just want to walk down the street in comfort why we accepted that it was reasonable to have crazy people yelling at our kids. You should not have to cross the street in downtown Atlanta to avoid a crazy person yelling at your family. Those are your streets paid for with your tax dollars and you ought to be able to use them like any other citizen in this country.

It's pretty obvious that Vance connotes homelessness to be mental illness. Just because unemployment is skyrocketing as fast as inflation doesn't mean a thing.

But I digress. Vance wanted to know what happened that people with mental health concerns were no longer in hospitals and treatment centers. I can answer that, since I was just entering the field at the time.

You see, about 40 years ago, we had another president who was suffering from dementia and did what others told him to do. That man's name was Ronald Reagan. Well, Reagan did what his rich friends in Big Insurance told him to do and deregulated mental health care rules. All of a sudden, instead of people getting months of care and aftercare, insurance companies were allowed to treat mental health treatment like a physical care issue.

So whether you had knee surgery or depression, you got three days of care and you were out the door. If you had diverticulitis or schizophrenia, you got one week of treatment and it was good luck, buddy.

Mental health hospitals closed left and right, until only a few remained. Most mental health services for the uninsured were provided by public services. But then a group of people called Republicans started cutting that funding, forcing people to go without treatment because they were uninsured and couldn't afford it. That started a nasty cycle of people getting arrested, going to prisons that did not provide mental health care, and then being released on the streets without any follow-up services.

In other words, Mr. Vance, next time you look into a mirror, put your eyeliner down and you'll see one part of a much bigger problem.

And one more suggestion, why don't you try and start to act like a human being for a change?

People don't appreciate a crazy man standing there screaming at them.

H/T Aaron Rupar for the video