As President Obama tries to rally Congress on reform, do you think health care is a right or a privilege?

The federal government thinks it's a right to steal our hard-earned money and give it to others. Anything they do is motivated by money and power. If you call them, they hang up on you and if your write to them, you get a form letter. Things have gotten out of hand. They keep saying we need a healthcare system like England's and Canada's yet I hear a horror story daily about their systems.

Where is this "individual responsibility" Obama preached to our kids?

Health care is a human right.

...What, give up my cell phone, my cable TV with all the movie and sport channels, my new 42" TV, my cash for clunkers for that new hybrid suv that I just went $30,000 in debt for and you want me to pay for my own health insurance? How barbaric can these conservatives be? If I have to pay for my own health insurance how am I going to take the kids to Disney World this year let alone the annual winter cruise my wife and I take to get away from all the financial pressures back home. Do you Republicans have no heart? How mean spirited can you be?

The president has to come out tonight and give just about the same speech to the adults. Otherwise, it will show his "say what you need to each individual group." They are to stupid to know what I said yesterday. Preach "goals" to adults and tell them you can't use get rich quick scams to provide and income. That you are not entitled to other peoples hard earned dollars! How can he tell American's you have a "right" to health care, but kids have to show responsibility? Call your elected officials, get out and vote! Don't sit home thinking you don't count, cause you do count. Each one of us counts in the big scheme of things. I hear your passion, your fire about how you want change. It starts with each and every single one of us. America needs your support. Drive elderly, or others that need assistance getting to the election stations. Don't let anyone turn a voter away. People, stand up for your beliefs, don't just call a talk show and complain. We have the numbers if we stand together. I hear you on show after show talking about how fed up you are, do something, anything, America needs you. I do, I work polls, ask others to drive someone who needs a ride, and call my elected officials. Boy do I call them. Together, standing as one, we can make a difference.

God-given inalienable rights are free, and are not exercised at the expense of others. Rights, by definition, do not infringe on the rights of others. For example, your right to bear arms does not require that I buy you a firearm, and your right to life does not require that I buy you food or shelter.

"Rights" granted by government are not free, or there would be no reason for government to impose them. "Rights" granted by government can also be taken away by government at any time. If you think that you have the right to your Social Security payment under current law, think again! The Supreme Court has ruled that your payments are at the discretion of Congress, that you have no ownership of these benefits, and that they can be reduced or discontinued at any time.

Your rights end where your neighbor's pocketbook begins, despite any redefinition of the English language to rationalize government theft of your neighbor's money to buy a vote from you. No one has any obligation to buy you health care any more than they have an obligation to buy you a car.

Sue, you and the other far left wingers are part of whats wrong with this country. Please, show me where in our Constitution does it show the "right to bare health care"? Health care is a obiously not a right. I am puzzled as to why the democrats are in such a hurry to spend another trillion or two dollars they don't have. Let's see, our newborn children are now responsible for more than $50k of this spending so, lets now make it $100k. Why not make it $500k and spend more? Why stop with health care? What's next?

Why not allow the government take over everthing? That way we won't have to think for ourselves. The proper non racist thing to do is to accept every detail that Obama wants to do. Absolutely all of it. An additonal 14% of our gross domestic product needs to be government controlled. After all, the government does such a good job with Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security, Postal Service, etc. Welcome to the new USSA.

Let's face it folks, this president can not be trusted. I for one do not beleive anything he says, I do not trust him or his communist advisors. All he has done is try to cram down our throats socialist programs, and circumvent the approval process by declaring advisers "czars". This is one sneaky individual. Unless congress gets a backbone(which I doubt they will) this country is on a slippery slope towards communism.

We have unalienable rights, among them Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. The use of the term "among" indicates that our Founding Fathers accepted that there are other rights which they, at that time, did not understand. Civil Right, for example, are not listed, but we clearly accept now that every citizen has them. Similarly, as the United States continues its progresses toward a modern society and joins the rest of the world in how humans are treated, we will find ourselves accepting that health care is a right. President Obama understands that this is a process that will take time. Starting this process will be his lasting legacy.

No Sue, health care is not a human right. Health care is an individuals responsibility. I am a diabetic with high blood pressure. It is my responsibility to watch my diet, exercise and take my medication. My medication alone costs hundreds of dollars a month. It is not your responsibility to pay for my medication, my special foods or my treadmill. Of course since you believe I have a right to all these things, drop me an email, I will gladly take your money to purchase my medications and pay for my quarterly doctor visits. Not because I feel that I have a right to them, but because I know that it will make you feel good to know that you are contributing to someones right to health care. And Sue, I sure do want to make you feel good, 'cause that would be my contribution to your health care.

The Supreme Court ruled that prisoners have a right to health care under the Eight Amendment to United States Constitution. I expect that all Americans will be granted that right soon.

Strage that he told the kids to be self reliant and tonight he'll tell congress to make us reliant on government.

This is all about controlling the population, nothing more. if it was about healthcare, we'd be talking about better healthcare for everyone, instead, we're talking about cutting spending on healthcare. Which, means rationing.

I don't remember reading anything about health car in the US Constitution.

I guess that the dems also think that they have a right to a big fat government paycheck funded by taking other folk's money.

Typical "Do as I say do, not as you see me do" liberal crap.

Did not understand civil rights? Why did they come to this country? Religious freedom. Under the control of a government who was not here. Civil rights. They may not have coined that term way back then, but they understood rights. They asked Americans to take control of their life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, not ask the government. Read it again, I M DEM. You can't put liberal ideas into the mix. It is what it is, good, bad or in between, it is all we have. You take that from us and we have nothing.

I.M.Dem, yes those are the greatest rights that an individual can have. From those rights spring forth all the others. But those three rights, life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness do not require another to pay for them. Rights end as soon as you take an other's right away in order to grant some to someone else.

On your point about Civil rights, you are greatly mistaken. Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness is civil rights. It was the fact that we denied those rights to others that we passed the civil rights bills. In other words we had to have government regulation in order to provide the basic rights that were granted under our own constitution. We did not, nor do need civil rights legislation if we just abide by those three principles.

By the way, what happened to the poll yesterday. I could not access it at all after about 9 AM?

Please show me anything that says healthcare is a RIGHT. And who do you think gives you that RIGHT? You people are nuts! I guess you think its a RIGHT to lay up in government housing watching a 52" plasma tv, have umpteen babies with a different daddy, and have ME pay for rent, food, clothing, and utilities. Well, the Constitution gives me the RIGHT to say NO!

Kathy, a prisoner has lost there right to pursue health care on their own. They cannot just check out of prison to go to the dentist. So yeah they must have health care provided. That is about as silly an argument as you have ever come up with.

As a Christian I am my brother's keeper. That includes making sure he is healthy.

Oh, Liz...honey, you are sooooo far off the mark with that statement! I admire your compassion, but I don't think "keep him healthy" was exactly what our Lord meant.

When all else fails, bring out the Bible. I am also a Christian, it doesn't mean that I have a right to rob and steal from someone to give to others.

Liz, that is such a snafu statement. The government (and you) have NO RIGHT to infringe on society in such a way. You are NOT your "brothers keeper," and that is such a lame escuse for socialism. Also you cannot be a socialist AND a christian at the same time-thats an oximoran.

No one is stopping you Liz, from contributing to someone else's health care. But what right do you have to force me to contribute?

I have a right to get real fat, smoke stuff and drink all the beer. Someone else has an obligation to pay for my health care and the doctors are my slaves. I want to get paid a lot more for my work and everything that I want should cost a whole lot less (or free). Really, I should not have to work at all. I have my rights. I WANT! GIVE!

Oh Sue are you so weak that mommy government must provide for you? I will reread the bill of rights i must have have missed the health care part for all you children who cant take care of themselves.

RC for President!!!

Quick, before he drinks all the beer.

the more that you give away something for free,the less that someone will try to get anything by working.the supreme court ruled that as long as the people are in custody we have to give them healthcare because thay are our responsibility at that time.i work in a jail medical facility and if you want to see a preview of how much this "right" is going to cost then use the freedom of information act to get copies of the amount of money that is spent on a bunch of lying,thieving,junkie murderers every year.i don't think that we should have to pay for people that don't take care of themselves.

It can only be a Right. By definition if you must take from one to give to another it is not a Right. A right is something that the government cannot give you, only grant you the access to. Life, liberty, happiness. How can the government GIVE you any of these. Do not confuse Access to Healthcare with Payment for services received.

Fifty years after realizing that humans have rights, we are still struggling with the concept of Civil Rights. Major shifts like these take time, but in the end we do the right thing. Fifty years from now we will look back and wonder why we ever had this debate.

You are so right I. M. DEM. I am soooo glad that you will not get your socialized healthcare, because I and Americans like me will not allow it. You cannot be argued with, you think you are so educated, but your arguments are so offbase. (they don't make sense). Civil Rights? HAAAA!

I.M.Dem - his lasting "legacy" will be the fact that every person he's appointed or suggested for a position in his administration is either a complete terrorist whackjob, a tax evading nimrod, a racistist, a bigot, a criminal or some combination thereof. THAT is is lasting legacy. Judge people by the company they keep. Its clear that Obama is in with a shifty crowd.

As far as RIGHTS go. I have a right to EAT. I want my government to feed me, every day, without question. I want to go to Harris Teeter and buy their overpriced food and send YOU, IM DEM, the bill. Maybe you can forward the bill over to Mr. Obama because, from what I hear, he's printing money left and right.

I am SURE my government can provide me food. And dont tell me there are food stamps. Even this laid off, outsourced, under-employed person cant qualify for food stamps. But I make sure I pay my health care bill. My parents didnt raise an ass. You have RESPONSIBILITIES before you can even utter the work RIGHTS. "Privileges" come last and are to be cherished when given. LIKE DRIVING. Most dolts around here think driving is a RIGHT.

50 years from now we'll look back and thank GOD that Obama was impeached and thrown out of office for being a fraud without a U.S. birth certificate and that everything he's done thus far was reversed and annulled. That is all the CHANGE we can HOPE for.

What Jim said!...I won't be around to see it, but my grandkids can say, "Sure wish grandma was here to see the day we took our country back!"

I'm with RC and LOAFER... I need a free cell phone to compliment my right to free speach. ;-)

I like the person who said free food. Aside from breathing, the next thing that we all need to do is eat. So let the government feed us. I think my family would save 6 times more than what it pays out in health care, each year, if we didnt have to pay for food. Here's a deal for you Obama: pay for my family's food and I will pay for our own health care with the savings and be able to go on vacation plus buy a new computer, each year, and still have money left over. Now, no one will starve and no one can say they cant afford health care because you wont be forced to pay the outrageous prices of food at the grocer - which is going up each month by the way, and yet I hear not one person complaining about it. Pay for my food, I'll pay for my own health care. Deal? Good.

I have the right to pursue health care. I have no right to expect it to be handed to me.

Fortunately, all of you doubters are wrong. History has proven time and again that mankind strives to become better, and liberal thoughts have always outlasted those who wish to suppress the people. It takes time, years maybe, or even generations. But, eventually, we prevail, because we are right. The greatest feature of free societies is that each person is given the same vote. Consequently, what the majority wants will ultimately become reality. Demographic changes alone will therefore suffice to move us in the right direction. Once enough Americans are retired, educated, single mothers or minorities, we will have enough leverage to move the country to adopt a universal health care program. The question is not if, but when. The battles of today are mere indications of this direction. I fully expect that we will not get everything now. Our President will have to cut deals in order to form a majority. But, be assured, we will start reform, and we will get progress. Even Republicans are in favor of increased competition, selling insurance across states, and health co-ops. These are areas of common ground from where we can start. Malpractice reform is another, and everything will be on the table. Everything is negotiable. Listen to the speech, and watch things unfold this fall. Your confidence is cute, but I am putting my money on Obama.

HAHAHAHA!! don't you get it I Am Dem- the people will not let that happen one way or another-we conservatives have the REAL power.

Spoken like a true communist, I.M.Dem. Stalin must be proud of his little boy, all grown up now. Individualism be damned, tyranny by the majority will soon be the law of the land.

Call it what you want, but it is the way our system works: The majority rules. I am perfectly comfortable that our system has sufficient safeguards in place to prevent majority rule from becoming a tyranny. President Obama won the election with a huge mandate. Americans gave Democrats the majority in the Senate and increased Democratic representation in the House. Do you really have any questions about what Americans want? I think the results last November were pretty clear. As to REAL power, I am not sure what that means. I'm feeling pretty powerful right now.

It is NOT majority rule because this is NOT a democracy-it is a republic. It is impossible for socialism to win. In order for you and yours to win you will have to shut us up, take our guns away, then take our pitchforks away, you will have to eliminate our communication, you will have to limit our movemnents-because this is tyranny-and WE THE PEOPLE will not have it!!!

Loafer, I will let you respond to the majority claim by Will. No majority, no tyranny, right? As to the socialism claim, Will, you and I agree. Socialism will not win. Neither I nor President Obama wants socialism. So you have nothing to fear, can keep your guns and pitchforks, and exercise your right accorded by the First Amendment. Gotta run - the President is speaking.

I Am Dem, You obviously have no idea what socialism is. Also the founders never gave the federal government the authority to even potentially take over 1/6 of the economy. There is no better label for this other than tyranny or more accuratly HIGH TREASON.