Paul Ryan: ACA Law Should Be Repealed Because Only God Can Grant Rights (VIDEO)
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During an ABC This Week interview today (seen below), Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI) told host George Stephanopoulos: “We [Republicans] disagree with the notion that our rights come from government, that the government can now grant us and define our rights. Those are ours, they come from nature and God, according to the Declaration of Independence — a huge difference in philosophy.”
Really Mr. Ryan? Let’s take a look at what the Declaration of Independence has to say about our rights:
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.–That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, –That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.
So while our Rights are endowed by our Creator, the government is tasked with securing these rights. Additionally, they are to do this in a way “most likely to effect their [our] Safety and Happiness.” Is not having affordable healthcare for all people, people who are created equal in the site of God, most likely to accomplish that end? What can secure our safety and happiness more than being protected in the knowledge that we are not one illness or injury away from financial devastation? According to a study in an article that will published this August in The American Journal of Medicine more than 60% of bankruptcies are the result of medical bills. Safety and Security are directly linked to affordable healthcare. Bankruptcies are not happy events for anyone, or for the economy. Fear of being counted among the statistics of 1.5 million mostly middle-class, educated Americans who become financially devastated as a result of overwhelming medical expenses is unquestionably an impediment to the pursuit of happiness.
Rep. Ryan has conveniently left one Constitutional document out of his argument; The Bill of Rights, which constitutes the first 10 Amendments of the Constitution, addresses the rights of the people which are to be secured by the government. The word “Right” is used over 3000 times within the Articles of Constitution and amendments. Why is it so hard for Ryan, who is the House Budget Committee Chair, to get his mind around the philosophical idea that affordable healthcare is a Right that should be secured by the government. He states, “We’re going to repeal the entire law and then we’re going to advance patient-centered reforms that address these kinds of issues.” Ryan further stated that “If you take a look at some of the comprehensive plans that some of us have authored, it does address these things [responding to the interviewer’s questions about keeping some of the provisions already in place in ACA].
I checked Rep. Ryan’s online site and could find no such “plan”. The Republican’s Budget Alternative does propose decreasing corporate tax rates, suspending capital gains taxes through 2010 and increasing the defense budget by 5 Billion dollars, but there is no mention of anything to provide healthcare provisions.
Rep. Ryan’s argument that government cannot grant us and define our rights is ludicrous. The government granted us the Right to Bear Arms, the Right to a Speedy Trial, the Right to Vote despite race or gender. The Right to affordable healthcare is not a philosophical argument. Perhaps Rep. Ryan believes that God could just heal everybody, and those He does not heal don’t deserve healing. I suspect that the real philosophy that Ryan supports is the one that protects corporations instead of establishing and ensuring the Right to Life and safety to the people. The greatest threat to our country today is not the Taliban; its pious fools like this who hostage the reins to our Rights.
Quoting BoysManDog:
Ah, but don't you see? The left wants the government to be our religion. They want us to rely on it for everything. Christians (I am Catholic) don't want the government to put religion into anything. I want the
government to get OUT of everything, including religion.Quoting p1r4t3cr0pc1rcl:
It's not just a political side, many people regardless of party want to do away with the idea. Because people use it to make rules and laws when no religion, should be used in any form of government.
Quoting BoysManDog:
Nothing the government touches is run efficiently or well. We can see this every day in the ridiculous red tape, lengthy processes, and needless bureacracy that it takes to get anything accomplished through, with, or by the government. Given this knowledge, I find it unfathomable how anyone would entrust the government with his very life. We were endowed with this life by our Creator, and the left wants us to hand it over to the government to look after as dictated by a 2,700 page now tax. THIS is stupidity to me.
Quoting krysstizzle:
Rights from man does not come in only those two forms. Why would you default to those two? Social groups and bonds, with agreed upon rules, can form without chaos reigning.
Much of your argument is assuming that morality derives solely from the belief in god. I don't believe that's true.
For clarification, what did we try initially that failed?
Quoting cammibear:
If rights don't come from God, then they come from man. Rights from man come in two forms. Anarchy or totalitarianism. If everybody lives how they please, we will end up with total chaos (remember we tried this initially, and we are WAY more diverse now, no?). Chaos will ultimately mean government steps in and tells us what we can and cannot do. That's not freedom. If government gives us our rights, then government can take those rights away. I don't want my freedom and liberty in the hands of potentially evil men.
Ultimately, if our rights are given by God, then man has no right to take them away. Not in the form of government; not in the form of church. The problem has come with people having different ideas what those god-given rights are. There has to be a balance of freedom and licentiousness, and law and responsibility. Unfortunately, it's why it was correctly stated that our government will only sustain with responsible or religious people.
Quoting krysstizzle:But saying rights come from god still puts someone in charge of those rights, and it's not God, it's the church, which is as real an entity as the government. I prefer to think that my rights are just inherent facts of life, that I have every right to do whatever in the world I could possibly dream of doing. I choose to not do certain things (give up those rights) as a social compact; it's part of being human and living in a society. If I disagree with what rights the government thinks I should give up, I can work to change that.
Quoting cammibear:
No, actually it doesn't matter if you believe in God or not. You still benefit from the ideology that rights come from God, and not from the government. If government gives you rights, then government can take those rights away. Slippery slope if you value freedom and liberty.
Quoting mikiemom:Ah of course and I guess those that don't believe in his particular God have not rights. Who the fuck elects these morons to office. Since government doesn't define our rights, I guess we don't need one and this moron is now one of the millions of unemployed americans. IDIOT>
Quoting PamR:
Quote:
To the left, government is god.
What a dumb thing to say. I guess to the right, money is god.
Quoting krysstizzle:
Rights from man does not come in only those two forms. Why would you default to those two? Social groups and bonds, with agreed upon rules, can form without chaos reigning.
Much of your argument is assuming that morality derives solely from the belief in god. I don't believe that's true.
For clarification, what did we try initially that failed?
Quoting cammibear:
If rights don't come from God, then they come from man. Rights from man come in two forms. Anarchy or totalitarianism. If everybody lives how they please, we will end up with total chaos (remember we tried this initially, and we are WAY more diverse now, no?). Chaos will ultimately mean government steps in and tells us what we can and cannot do. That's not freedom. If government gives us our rights, then government can take those rights away. I don't want my freedom and liberty in the hands of potentially evil men.
Ultimately, if our rights are given by God, then man has no right to take them away. Not in the form of government; not in the form of church. The problem has come with people having different ideas what those god-given rights are. There has to be a balance of freedom and licentiousness, and law and responsibility. Unfortunately, it's why it was correctly stated that our government will only sustain with responsible or religious people.
Quoting krysstizzle:But saying rights come from god still puts someone in charge of those rights, and it's not God, it's the church, which is as real an entity as the government. I prefer to think that my rights are just inherent facts of life, that I have every right to do whatever in the world I could possibly dream of doing. I choose to not do certain things (give up those rights) as a social compact; it's part of being human and living in a society. If I disagree with what rights the government thinks I should give up, I can work to change that.
Quoting cammibear:
No, actually it doesn't matter if you believe in God or not. You still benefit from the ideology that rights come from God, and not from the government. If government gives you rights, then government can take those rights away. Slippery slope if you value freedom and liberty.
Quoting mikiemom:Ah of course and I guess those that don't believe in his particular God have not rights. Who the fuck elects these morons to office. Since government doesn't define our rights, I guess we don't need one and this moron is now one of the millions of unemployed americans. IDIOT>
You do know that she's not gonna answer this... 
" The jaws of power are always open to devour, and her arm is always stretched out, if possible, to destroy the freedom of thinking, speaking and writing" - John Adams
;)
Quoting Grainia:
Quoting ashleyrenee24:Yes, only
ZeusOdin can grant rights.Fixed that for ya. LOL!
Quoting ashleyrenee24:Quoting Grainia:Quoting ashleyrenee24:Yes, only
ZeusOdin can grant rights.Fixed that for ya. LOL!
;)
Quite right.
Everyone knows that Odin's spear, Gungnir, was so sacred than an oath inscribed upon its tip in runes could not be broken, even by Odin, lest it trigger Ragnarök.
Now that's a source of rights you can have confidence in - if the god who grants you the right then goes back on His word, the god dies!
It is only a gift if you accept it.
Quoting joyfree:So which one is it, CG?
Quoting candlegal:"For I say, through the grace given unto me.God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith" (Romans 12:3). The grace of faith.
Quoting SlightlyPerfect:What is the source of this "gift"?
Quoting candlegal:It is okay Roma, I understand. Not everyone is given the Gift of Faith to believe in God.
Is Yoga a religion?
- p1r4t3cr0pc1rcl
on Jul. 3, 2012 at 1:11 PM