I don't think it's to do with people 'losing their minds'. The weird thing about bills like this, or really anything effecting privacy/IT security, is that no matter how bad it is the general public have no idea it's happening. The number of people I've spoken to who know nothing about Snowden/PRISM etc despite it being front page news for months shocks me.
That basically means that it's up to a small group of people who are informed (like ourselves) to do what we can to stop this stuff. If we sit back and do nothing they won't have any problem implementing these laws.
For a long time, people who are concerned about online security and privacy have been derided as paranoid, tinfoil-hat-wearing kooks.
Not only that, but it seems to me that there's been far less coverage of these issues in mainstream media than in the tech press, and most mainstream coverage seems to take the governments' side. People who get most or all of their news from TV likely won't hear anything about all this; if they do, their eyes will glaze over as they don't have a clue how encryption works, or why it's important. Or, it will just vanish in the news cycle and they never think about it again.
Edit: It also seems to me that most people just aren't going to care unless it directly affects them, at which time it's already far too late.
If this is implemented, it's going to be fun the day that someone from the government gets hacked and compromised via the very same security weaknesses they ordered.
That basically means that it's up to a small group of people who are informed (like ourselves) to do what we can to stop this stuff. If we sit back and do nothing they won't have any problem implementing these laws.