This time of year we usually have a holiday which casually goes by the name "July Fourth," or a variation thereof. The official holiday this year is today, July 3, which means that's important to remember that officially what we observe--when we're not thinking of cookouts, trips to the beach and what not--is Independence Day.

It's appropriate, then, to review the Declaration of Independence, in which the John Hancock and his counterparts from the various colonies review their grievances against King George III and lay out a political philosophy:

It states, in part (emphasis added):

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,

In other words, government protects a person's right to act in freedom, not to deliver any particular good or service, such as health care.

One of my favorite passages, speaking of King George III, sounds apt for today: "He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harass our people, and eat out their substance."

Sounds like today.