NY Times 10.30 U.S. Has Right to Require Insurance, K Seelye

Dr. Phillips response to White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs,

Dear Mr. Gibbs,

Constitutionally the government does not have this right of mandate. This administration and its propensity for requirements without due diligence and discussion is not representative of the thoughts of our founding fathers, the Bill of Rights, the democratic ideals enshrined by this nation at the time of its founding and reinforced by the American people. We Americans value our freedom, paid for by the incredible sacrifices of the men and women of our armed forces. We must be as dedicated as our soldiers and the early patriots who had to decide on a daily basis the importance of freedom's gift-liberty.

A young thirty three year old patriot, Thomas Jefferson, penned the following words "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 abolish it"

I find agreement in the Constitution for the underpinning of President Ronald Reagan's words articulated in a major address on America's Economic Bill of Rights on July 3, 1987."Freedom is not created by government, nor is it a gift from those in political power. It is, in fact, secured, more than anything else, by those limitations I mentioned that are placed on those in government. It is the absence of the government censor in our newspapers and broadcast stations and universities. It is the lack of fear by those who gather in religious services. It is the absence of official abuse of those who speak up against the policies of their government...Jefferson, in his first inaugural, spoke for his countrymen when he said, 'A wise and frugal government, which shall restrain men from injuring one another, which shall leave them otherwise free to regulate their own pursuits of industry and improvement, shall not take from the mouth of labor the bread it has earned, This, he said, is the sum of good government...In America, it is the Government that works for the people and not the other way around."

Remember my fellow citizens, freedom's gift to all of us - liberty.