Rights vs. Entitlements

A Right does not require the time, money, property or effort of other people. Entitlements do. Stop and think; Life, Liberty, the Pursuit of Happiness, Free Speech, Freedom of Religion, Freedom of Assembly, Freedom from Unreasonable Search & Seizure, the Right to Bear Arms; all Rights referenced in the Constitution and Bill of Rights and none require input from other people. On the other hand; Medicare, Social Security, Universal Health Care, Food Stamps, Unemployment Insurance, Federal Minimum Wage, Housing Subsidies, Transportation Subsidies, Education Subsidies; all require something (mostly tax money) from other people; and all Entitlements.

In the current debate it is disingenuous to call for a Right to Health Care. Universal Federal Health Care/Insurance cannot be a right; it requires time, money and effort of other people. It is just another entitlement. And it is an entitlement which the U.S. Constitution does not empower or authorize the federal government to provide. (Frankly, most other federal entitlements actually are not authorized by the Constitution either) Thus, it could only be provided by the States or the Federal Government following passage of an empowering Constitutional Amendment.