Pie.....Remember this is ET. Please don't force me to hit the complain button. In the future, please refrain from confusing our fellow members by resorting to the facts. Thanks.
Taxes and Congressional terms are addressed in the Constitution, so they CAN be reformed (and should be). Health care as a "right", just is not in there. So like the Amendment banning slavery, or women's suffrage, health care is going to need its own amendment before it becomes a right. The Constitution may be 250 years old, but it is open ended and that makes it applicable to modern issues. Regardless, it is the highest law in this land.
Address the issue. There were no lies in what PiggyBank said. Why would you be rolling eyes and bringing up Fox News?
Just because something wasn't included in a 250 year old document, does that mean it isn't a "right"? You are looking strictly at a document. I am referring to a philosophical ideology. If it takes a new line or two on a piece of paper to help the narrow minded in our society to unlock their minds, then I'd be all for it. Don't get me wrong. I appreciate the intent of the Constitution. But, Piggy, if you haven't noticed, it is 2010. Some things have changed since those guys put a few things on paper. You must be an employee in some beauracracy. You are just unable to support/understand/promote new ideas/changes without some piece of paper telling you it's okay. And, in case you haven't noticed, the Constitution ain't working. The people have been raped by the politicians. Relax Piggy. We're not communists. Some things are just self-evident, whether it was included in a document or not. Things like the IRS, term limits, mandatory balanced budgets, healthcare, crime and punishment, etc. Healthcare is a right, not a privilege.
This is not a debate about what should be in the Constitution. This is about you showing us what already is in it that backs up your statement that healthcare is a "right." Again, this isn't about me or what I think. This is about you backing up your assertions with facts.
What utter bullshit. Most of the problem is due to the AMA artificially constraining the number of specialists in a given field in order to protect income levels so that they can support their liability insurance as much as their lifestyle. However, there will always be specialists in every medical discipline that are quite easy to access because you have to bring the coin with you to pay for them -- they refuse most health insurance. They can because they are that good. Universal healthcare will not fix either of those problems.
J--- Hmmmmm.....Perhaps I should have asked for your permission before I expanded the debate and posted my thoughts. Not!. Very slowly and very carefully read the first two lines of my post on page 13, dated 3-7-2010 @ 1201 p.m. I know you just want to argue, but this should clear up why I say that healthcare is a "right". (Hint: See if you can spy the words "philosophical ideology". I never said it was in the Constitution.) (Don't get excited......carry on.....) In fact, if you can get through the first two lines, try to remain calm enough to read and understand the complete post. Then, if you are really feeling brave, read all my posts in this particular thread. Then, maybe you can begin to understand my position more clearly. Good luck. Try to calm down. Have a nice day.
So long as you have the freedom to choose a lifestyle that can range anywhere from the very healthy to the very unhealthy other people should have the freedom to decide how much or how little you pay for your healthcare. And, even exclude you from it if your choices are extremely poor. If you refuse to accept that premise then, yes, you certainly are a communist.
Look, you can argue all you want but, the fact remains that in this country a "right" is not a "philosophical ideology," it is a legal construct that is defined in the Constitution. And, while the Constitution does not give you the "right" to redefine what a "right" is it does give you the right to whine about it ad nauseam.