privilege

Wisconsin Senator Ron Johnson visited New Berlin West high school last week, where one of the students asked him, “Senator Johnson, I understand there’s a big movement right now to try to repeal and replaced the Affordable Care Act. Do you personally consider health care as more of a privilege or a right?”

Johnson answered, “I think it’s probably more of a privilege. Do you consider food a right? Do you consider clothing a right? Do you consider shelter a right? What we have as rights is life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness … Past that point, everything is a limited resource that we have to use our opportunities given to us so we can afford those things. … Senator Rand Paul said, The minute you consider health care a right, well, who’s going to satisfy that right? And those people that have the skill to satisfy that right, what does that make them if they’re forced to provide you with that rightful product or service? I think it’s obviously a privilege to have food and shelter. And what we need to do as public officials is try and have our economy healthy so that we have as much prosperity as possible so that we can actually increase the resources available for as high quality and as highly accessible health care as we can possibly can.”

This is why I can’t stand politicians. The Affordable Care Act is a law to secure the right of health care for all Americans. Guess which other rights were secured by the government through laws written by legislators?

“What we have as rights is life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.” And Jefferson went on to say, in the very next sentence, “to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among men.” So without a government to secure those rights, they’re no more than talking points.

Whether or not Johnson “personally” considers health care a privilege, the Affordable Care Act is a law, and until it’s changed or abolished, health care is a right, not a privilege.

Guess which other rights could be changed or abolished by the government?