The Declaration of Independence declares life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness to be inalienable rights.

In 1943, FDR proposed a 'Second Bill of Rights' that included freedoms inclusive of adequate medical care and the opportunity to achieve and enjoy good health. Five years later, the United Nations' Universal...

By now, the United States Supreme Court is being flooded with briefs from the parties and their supporters in the cases that will decide whether the Patient Protection and Affordability Care Act (ACA) ("Obamacare") will remain the law of the land or not. Oral arguments exceeding five hours over...

Quite recently, the government filed its brief before the U.S. Supreme Court addressing the individual mandate; it has become the centerpiece of the cases addressing the constitutionality of the health care act (Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, or "ACA"). Oral arguments in unprecedented fashion (as well as on...

March 26-28 will be historic days for our United States Supreme Court for it is then that it will hear about 5.5 hours of oral arguments on four issues that focus on whether the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA, or as some prefer to say, "Obamacare")...

Since before the 2008 Democratic convention, I have written that health care should be a right for all Americans. Mind you, not in a legal or constitutional sense, but in a kind of human rights or moralistic way, like all industrialized countries view it except for us. I was not...

All the hoopla and media coverage regarding Obama's jobs speech before a joint session of Congress on September 8 shadowed two federal appeals court decisions rendered the same day, Commonwealth of Virginia v. Sebelius, and Liberty University v. Geithner. The 4th U.S. Circuit of Appeals sitting in Richmond,...

Very recently, the pages of The Huffington Post -- as was true within every media outlet and what rolled off of the lips of every major political pundit -- were awash with commentary and analysis on the 11th U.S. Court of Appeals in Atlanta striking down as unconstitutional the individual...

Admittedly, it is a very thoroughly analyzed and exhaustively researched 291 page opinion (including dissent). The 11th Circuit federal court of appeals decided on August 12, 2011 to preserve "Obamacare" (Affordable Care Act, or "ACA") while finding the mandate in it to have every American purchase health care insurance...

It has been headline news that the 11th Circuit federal appeals court in Atlanta ruled that the mandate in Obama's Affordable Care Act ("ACA") -- Obamacare -- was unconstitutional, while reversing the lower federal court's decision that the entire act should be tossed because without the mandate...

I had my fill of the political pundits last evening (the 22d), announcing as "Breaking News" House Leader Boehner walking out of talks with President Obama over raising the debt ceiling and cutting the federal deficit, and now taking his "ball" to those in the Senate -- maybe someone...

In ticking down down to the fail-safe date of Aug. 2, House Majority Leader John Boehner described in recent days the negotiations surrounding raising the debt ceiling, notably including changes to Medicare and Medicaid, as Jell-O. Actually, Speaker Boehner, you got it wrong. The word "Jell-O" is a noun; Webster's...

Juxtaposing the present negotiations on the debt ceiling with health care as a right displays a fecundity of thought that may well assist in the presently ongoing divide between slashing entitlements and raising revenues. Here's how.

About three years ago now, I published that health care should be a right...

I have refrained from filing a web log ("blog") in recent weeks on my favorite topic, health care being a right for all Americans, that I first wrote about in 2008 a month before the Democratic National Convention. I wanted to merely take in the landscape of current political events...

An overwhelming amount has now been written in the pages of HuffPost about Paul Ryan's (R-Wis.) proposed budget plan, so any additional words here cannot add to that which has been read so far. But what has not been addressed, but should also be placed in the mix for...

Earlier this week, United States District Judge Roger Vinson of the Northern District of Florida (Pensacola) ruled the mandate to require all Americans to purchase health insurance in the Affordable Care Act ("ACA"), a.k.a. "Obamacare", unconstitutional as it does not constitute activity (or inactivity for those not wanting to purchase...

A year ago, I wrote about the need for health care reform from a lovely and inviting place minutes from the Pacific Ocean in the northwest corner of Costa Rica, called Recreo. A year has passed, I am again back at Recreo and I am still writing about health care,...

The House is to take up this week repealing health reform enacted into law last March. What irks most of those who seek repeal, besides the (supposed) issue of cost, is the mandate requiring all Americans to purchase insurance. A majority of voters also do not like any government telling...

Mark Twain stated in the June 2, 1897 issue of the New York Journal American after a journalist was sent to inquire about his health, thinking he was near death's door, "The report of my death is an exaggeration" (the quote is popularly said to be, "The rumors of...

Though Chicago's race for mayor is attracting quite a draw for a variety of reasons, including the presence of former White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel, the race this time around for mayor of Highland Park -- that tony suburb north of the city in Lake County -- will...

In the President's hastily-arranged news conference the other day to explain (really, defend) the deal he made with the other side of the aisle on the Bush-era tax cuts, he stated, as if with anger and an air of chastisement in his voice, "This is the public option debate all...