Headed for ruin | The Salt Lake Tribune

This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2013, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

President Obama's comment that health insurance is a "right" demonstrates how uninformed he is on the role of proper governance.

The definition of a true right is one that, when exercised, does not violate the right of another. For example, if someone else has to pay for or provide service for me to exercise my right, it is not a right.

Therefore, housing, education, a job, a minimum wage, medical care, and, yes, health insurance, are not rights. Those are things that must be earned.

It's pretty simple to see that a government trying to provide all these things to all people will shortly go broke. Forced confiscation (i.e. taxes) from some to provide unearned entitlements to others is a formula for disaster. If we don't keep our current misguided administration in check our republic may be headed for fiscal ruin.

James C Green

Heber City