Here’s a .pdf of the twenty-three executive orders and actions that the president initiated just after noon today. The second item allows mental health professionals to report patients who they think are a risk to the community. I worry about that. It’s one of the main ways we might have avoided the massacres in Tucson, Aurora, and Newtown, but it also will create a powerful incentive for people steeped in our gun culture to avoid seeking routine psychiatric or psychological care. It’s kind of a Catch-22, frankly. You might catch someone who is mentally ill before they can kill a bunch of people. But you also might create a situation where a LOT of mentally ill people go without treatment.
I am not clever enough to know how to get around this conundrum, but I fear that the net effect of that particular executive order will be negative.
Use this thread to discuss the president’s speech and his proposals.
Update [2013-1-16 13:16:39 by BooMan]: Here is the full set of proposals (.pdf).
