This is a letter to the editor of the Wilson Times from my hometown Wilson, NC that I had published on October 2 (the day after the launch of healthcare.gov - the hullabaloo about which I believe is a nonstarter and non-story).
It is in response to the letter published on September 19, which I have also published here.
Thursday, September 19, 2013 9:36 PM
No right to health care in Constitution
I almost choked on my dinner this evening while I read the latest socialist ramblings of Deborah Baro. Health care is now a basic human right. Without it, Americans’ ability to pursue life, liberty and happiness is diminished. Apparently, without health care, people can’t improve their station in life. According to Ms. Baro’s letter, only the wealthy can afford health care. Needless to say, these statements are absurd. I’ve read the Constitution many times. There is no right to health care. It is typical for radial leftists like Ms. Baro to find new rights in a document that is over 250 years old.
Just because certain people think they are entitled to certain things doesn’t make it so. I think all kids are entitled to a good home with two parents. I think we are entitled to be represented by legislators who vote according to their constituents’ wishes. My wishes aren’t anything guaranteed by our Constitution. Neither are Ms. Baro’s. I was told a long time ago that nothing in life is guaranteed. If you want something, you work hard in school, get a good education and find a good paying job. I was raised to believe that you earned your own way and didn’t expect someone to hand it to you. Here is where we hit the crux of the problem with the liberal left. They want the middle class to work hard and pay their taxes. Then they want to take the tax money and support those who are unwilling to make their own way in life. They not only take our taxes to pay for Obamacare, Obama phones, SNAP, WIC and the like, but borrow trillions of dollars on top of it to keep their dependency economy running. Personally, I’m tired of hearing what people in this country are entitled to have.
I think you’re entitled to get off your butt, find a job and make a positive contribution to society. I don’t think you’re entitled to mooch off the government when you’re perfectly capable of doing otherwise. We need to end government dependency, not increase it. We need to eliminate wasteful government welfare programs. We don’t need to add health care for the masses to the bills the government has to pay. No one in this country is denied health care service, anyway. If you go to the hospital seeking care, you are given care whether or not you have insurance. The idea that people can’t live without health insurance is ridiculous. There are thousands upon thousands of people who don’t have or want health care insurance. They don’t think the benefits outweigh the costs. What about their right to not have insurance? Did Ms. Baro ever think the mandatory edict that everyone purchase health care insurance would diminish the pursuit of happiness of some Americans? Let me answer that one for you with a quick no. The left doesn’t care how their entitlements affect the vast majority of Americans. They will allow millions of Americans to suffer just to save a few. They are like the doctor who treats a patient’s paper cut while he is dying of a heart attack. They fix small problems and allow the major problems to continue.
Ms. Baro’s attack of the tea party is also straight from the liberal handbook. You call everyone who disagrees with you stupid, uninformed, racist, sexist, and any other name you can think of at the time. She says tea party members like bullet-type information with no explanations. Nothing could be further from the truth. All the letters written in response to Ms. Baro’s and Mr. Smith’s letters are full of information, explanations and research. That’s why Ms. Baro and her followers dislike the tea party so much. We have pages upon pages of facts to back up our arguments. She has none. She has made up facts, left leaning polls and name calling on her side. Take, for instance, her assertion that two thirds of Americans want Obamacare left alone. It came from a poll from MSNBC. In case anyone doesn’t know, MSNBC is the mouthpiece for the radical left. I have researched the popularity of Obamacare and, shockingly, it is in stark contrast to the single poll Ms. Baro cites. Real Clear Politics charts many polls on certain subjects and puts out an average poll based on their findings. Real Clear Politics poll says 52 percent oppose Obamacare while 38 percent favor it. Every poll used by Real Clear Politics has the majority of Americans opposed to Obamacare by at least 10 percentage points. NBC, FOX, Rasmussen, CNN and even USA Today all had recent polls that showed the unpopularity of this law. CNN, a liberal news organization, had the unfavorable rating of Obamacare at 57 percent! Yet, somehow, Ms. Baro states that two thirds of Americans want Obamacare left alone. It makes me question Ms. Baro’s research methods. I found my information with one search that took me a total of five minutes. I’m sure Ms. Baro found the same results I did. Why would she not include these polls in her letter? Could it be because these polls run contrary to her point? As the old saying goes, don’t let the facts get in the way of a good story. It should be the motto of the Obama administration.
Danny Ellis
Sims
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This is my response:
I’m sure Mr. Danny Ellis of Sims has long written off a strong response to his letter to the editor published on September 19.
Since it was about the Affordable Care Act and its “constitutionality,” I figure the topic is still germane, considering the opening of the enrollment on October 1 and the efforts of the GOP members of Congress to effectively shut down the federal government based on their similar complaints about the Affordable Care Act.
I was first told of your letter, Mr. Ellis, by my independent-minded fiancée on the day it was published. She was upset with your tone and language and I later read why. The arrogance and vindictiveness of your language abounds. You rant about “entitlements” and then say generally “I think you’re entitled to get off your butt, find a job and make a positive contribution to society.” How dare you talk to Ms. Baro or, really, ANY of us with that tone? You don’t even speak with accuracy.
The U.S. Constitution is only 226 years old (from the date of its adoption by the Constitutional Convention), not over 250 years old, as you claimed. I would imagine someone who has “read the Constitution many times” should know that. You did/do not, however.
You also do not know (maybe realize?) that “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness” is a phrase in the Declaration of Independence, not the U.S. Constitution…a full two major documents before the Constitution (don’t forget the failed “states’ rights” document called the Articles of Confederation).
At this point, you probably have some “What difference does it make?” reaction.
Let me explain to you the extremely important difference. The founding fathers (yes, we “liberals” can do that too!) actively did not put that language in the Constitution because it was not a values/emotions document. It was a corrective measure for the failed Articles of Confederation.
That means that the founding fathers made a mistake as a body and they corrected it. The result has now stood for 224 plus years, with amendments, and has the respect of patriots like you and me.
I ask you to put your fork down for this one, Mr. Ellis. I don’t want you to choke on your meal.
Now, you claim that there is NO RIGHT to health care in the Constitution. Let’s review and analyze the preamble to the United States Constitution:
We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.
So, this is the mission statement of the document. This explains WHY the founding fathers scrapped the Articles and came back to draft this. Did you catch that one word in the preamble...”Welfare.” That’s right the right-wing, Tea Party taboo word. Did you notice the way it was written? It was capitalized, just like Justice, Tranquility, Blessings of Liberty, Posterity and Union. That means they thought Welfare was a big deal. That means they thought welfare important enough to not leave it out of the Constitution.
So, what? Well, welfare has varying definitions, so I won’t quote one version here. For all of us who know the English language, we should know that welfare means the general well-being, health, happiness and fortunes of any individual or group (in this case, citizens of the United States of America).
That means HEALTH CARE is a right the founding fathers believed was important before the insurance industry monolith existed. That means they had no concept of what health insurance could be. They did think that the health, well-being and fortunes of the citizens crucial to the survival of this republic. That means the Affordable Care Act “jives” with their vision. Three branches of government agree…as required by the U.S. Constitution.
So, the Affordable Care Act is a LAW, something the GOP-controlled U.S. House doesn’t know anything about because they haven’t gotten any law passed since gaining power in January 2011. Ineptitude in action!
Now, I’m going to get personal. Mr. Ellis, you told me to get off my butt, find a job and make a positive contribution to society.
I really take offense to that statement not just for myself, but for the countless folks that you just insulted with that language. Personally, I am an underemployed substitute teacher who has stacks of rejections from state and federal government and other agencies, despite my vast qualifications. Speaking to my self-esteem, I believe any organization would be quite lucky to pay me to help them with their mission. As far as my positive contribution to society, I defer to others who know me to speak to that.
I haven’t had health insurance since May of 2006. I had Blue Cross/Blue Shield of NC at the time. My wife left me, took the mail key and made me miss some important mail from BCBSNC. They dropped my coverage without calling me and then told me I had to pay more than $800 to get back on. My loving father wrote the check and BCBSNC rejected the check they told me I had to send them.
Those are the games that the ACA sought to eliminate and those are the games that the ACA has often eliminated. Because of the ACA, health insurance companies are required to spend 80% of their income on medical care. I’m ok with that change. Aren’t you? If you’re not, what’s wrong with you?
You can keep having your nonchalant, vindictive and selfish views about your community. That’s a First Amendment right. I’ll fight to defend that right for you. What I won’t let you do is accomplish what the “Suicide Caucus” Tea Party members of Congress sought to accomplish by allowing the federal government to be shut down Monday night. The ACA is LAW. Move on…
You have no clue, Mr. Ellis and I frankly feel sorry for you. Your myopic view of the world is (I’m confident) “informed” by commercial “talking points” news agencies and like-minded folks that don’t challenge any of your comments or views. That means you are surrounded by “yes men/women.”
I’m challenged daily by friends and strangers alike and I have looked at your side. To quote a thoroughly brilliant friend of mine, “I could agree with you, but then I’d be wrong.”
Asa Gregory
Wilson, NC