>Hi Tracy.
>
>>However, it is not a right
>
>Excuse me for continuing to ask this, but why not? What makes health care different than police service, fire service, and education? We pay for those things with our taxes. What makes health care so different?
>
>Doug

They are not 'rights' guaranteed in the constitution either and the power to create one is left to the states. Education is not even mentioned in the constitution. Look up SAN ANTONIO SCHOOL DISTRICT v. RODRIGUEZ, 411 U.S. 1 (1973) where the Supreme ruled that children are not guaranteed a right to an education either implicitly or explicitly. That is done at the state level and the only 'rights' that come into play is that state legislation must not go against federal such as 'equal protection' etc. It must be available to all if it is available. Fire service is not provided at the federal level. Nor is police service except those services for the federal government. They are provided at the state and local level.

It is pretty evident by polling that most Americans want a public healthcare option. Given that, in order for it to be provided by federal taxes, it should be voted on by the people or an amendment declaring the 'right' run through the legislature and ratified by the states.

Some states already have a public healthcare option of some type. I don't know what is in each state's constitution so I can't speak to that or if it was voted in by the people of that state. In our state and local elections we often have voting on bonds for education and other things.

(Sorry for all the typos I had to fix this morning :o)

My personal opinion: Get public education (including higher education) and healthcare into the Bill of Rights through the legislative process. I think both belong there. The alternative route is to put it to the people in a vote. It is clear that 66% of Americans want a public healthcare option (49% of Republicans and 85% of Democrats). The question is not whether or not there will be a universal healthcare program, the question is how it will come to be and what it will encompass. All the noise is based on some fact, a lot of fiction, and the media focusing on the stuff that makes good news.

Federal taxes already supplement the states' costs for healthcare, transportation, local police and fire, etc. Most people don't mind or question that use of their tax dollars. They've had those services for so long they believe it is a 'right' and want those services so they are willing to pay for them. Although there are many uses of our tax dollars that people don't know about and if they did, would question based on their own individual beliefs as well as how their tax dollars should be used.