Undocumented workers, Organ Transplants, and Public Charity

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An odd group of topics, but bear with me: In Chicago, Loyola did a free kidney transplant for an "undocumented worker"--I'm being polite, the Chicago Tribune called him an illegal alien. www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/ct-met-illegal-immigrant-kidneytransplant/20121209,0,3537821.story (sorry guys, still can't link, you know). Granted, he got his new kidney from his mom. But he had apparently been on dialysis for years (wonder who paid) and he is raising money to pay the 10,000+ a year for anti rejection drugs. He wondered why he was treated differently--health care should be a human right. His medications will apparently be paid by the Simon Bolivar foundation (look him up, he was a real peach). My best friend needs a kidney, has for years--and I match. BUT--the state of Massachusetts won't take my kidney, even if I sign a pile of forms saying I won't go on the transplant list if something happens to my spare--and the transplant costs would be covered, but drug costs wouldn't be fully covered forever anyway--only 5-7 years. She almost died last year. My God daughter is only 16. That's beside the point. It turns out that two other illegals, brothers who need livers, are now on the list for organs--no clue as to how those will be paid for. How does public Charity fit in here? Lets ask Grover Cleveland: I feel obliged to withhold my approval of the plan to indulge in benevolent and charitable sentiment through the appropriation of public funds...I find no warrant for such an appropriation in the Constitution. This was his Veto of the Texas Seed bill, by the way--to give seed to Texas farmers. It was Cleveland's assertion that existing government programs and private charities should bail out the farmers, not more government money. I wonder how Cleveland would feel about bailouts for businesses? Davy Crockett had this to say: We must not permit our respect for the dead, or our sympathy for the living, to lead us into an act of injustice to the balance of the living. I will not attempt to prove that Congress has no power to appropriate this money as an act of charity. Every member upon this floor knows it. We have the right as individuals to give away as much of our own money as we please in charity; but as members of Congress, we have no right to appropriate a dollar of the public money. In this case, Congress wanted to appropriate funds for the widow of a Naval officer. It should be noted that our POTUS didn't even have a pension until Harry Truman was granted one--because he was broke. Not technically charity, because he earned it. The transplant case above is in a grey area for several reasons--while Loyola did this very expensive double surgery for free--Loyola does get federal money. Also, they will find some way to pass on the cost, undoubtedly--probably several ways. So now I am wondering--how many of the entitlement programs that our administration is championing would be considered "charity"? We are endowed, according to the declaration, with certain inalienable rights: Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness. The right to Life does NOT, in my opinion mean the right to a healthy, or perfect, or fair life--it merely means no one can come along and kill you just because (legally anyway). Once you're alive, what you make of your life, and how you live it are your choice. Liberty--freedom. Pure and simple. Pursuit of Happiness--we can try to find things, and do things, that are enjoyable and fruitful from our point of view. I don't see health care on that list. should it be there? While we are adding things, how about the right to shelter? The right to food? The right to an education? To a Living Wage? Well, let's see here--right to food--SNAP/Food stamps. Right to Shelter--HUD/Section 8. Right to health care--Obamacare. Right to education--National Student loans (1 trillion dollars worth are going into default, by the way). Living Wage--The Communists tried it--but just because it didn't work for them doesn't mean we won't try it. Where does entitlement end and charity begin? Or, are we really "entitled" to Anything, other than the big three mentioned?