Campaign design team
By Vincent Cordova · Candidate for U.S. President 2028
In a democracy, power flows upward—not downward. It begins with the people, not politicians. We are not bystanders in our own government. We are the keyholders. This country was formed under the principle that the will of the people shapes its future. That will is not a suggestion. It is the foundation of law, policy, and legitimacy. And when elected officials forget that—when they look their constituents in the eye and tell them they are not “entitled” to something as essential as healthcare—they are not just wrong. They are betraying the very premise of our constitutional order.
This week, Rep. Mike Flood stood before the people who entrusted him with power and told them that they are not entitled to free healthcare. Let that sink in. A public official, whose salary, benefits, and government-funded healthcare are paid by you, told the same people footing the bill that they are not entitled to what he receives freely. This isn’t just an offensive statement. It is a glaring display of how far removed some of our so-called representatives have become from their role as servants of the people.
When I heard him say those words, I immediately thought about the billions of dollars in U.S. aid sent to Israel each year—a nation that does provide universal healthcare to its citizens. Our money funds their hospitals, their national insurance systems, and their public health infrastructure. So let me ask a very simple question: If we can afford healthcare for another nation, why are we told we’re not entitled to it ourselves?
Let’s be clear—we are not asking for charity. We are demanding a return on our investment. We pay taxes. We fund the system. We carry the weight of this country on our backs, and yet we are told, with a straight face, that we are not entitled to the basic protections our money ensures for others. That’s not just offensive—it’s unconstitutional.
The 9th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution exists specifically to protect the rights of the people that are not expressly written into the text. It is a recognition that our rights are not limited to the ones itemized in the Bill of Rights. It is a direct safeguard against the kind of dismissive governance that tells citizens they have no claim to healthcare, housing, or dignity unless Congress deems it so. The 9th Amendment is our legal shield. It is our constitutional right to declare that health, life, and well-being are ours by virtue of being human, and no elected official has the authority to deny that.
The truth is, when the people collectively decide that healthcare is a right, it becomes one. This is not a matter of political opinion—it is a constitutional mechanism. The government draws its legitimacy from our consent. And when that consent is withdrawn—when the people unify and demand change—the law must reflect that demand or risk collapse under the weight of its own illegitimacy.
Rep. Flood’s statement is not just out of touch—it is an act of suppression. It sends a message that the people are to be ruled, not represented. That we are to accept austerity while our government exports generosity. That we should tighten our belts while Congress signs blank checks for foreign powers. Let me be clear: that is not representation. That is dereliction.
If any representative tells the people they are not entitled to something that they themselves benefit from, they are not fit to hold office. If they tell you healthcare is too expensive while voting to send billions in aid overseas, they are not working for you. They are working for a system of privatization and profit that sees your suffering as a business model. And we should say it plainly—that system must end.
We are not powerless. In fact, we hold the ultimate power. The Constitution does not belong to Congress. It does not belong to the Supreme Court. It belongs to us. The people. And when we choose to exercise it—when we decide, together, that healthcare is not optional, that housing is not a luxury, that dignity is not negotiable—then that decision becomes the law of the land. Not through permission, but through assertion.
This is the premise of United for Accountability—a mass constitutional and legal initiative grounded in the 9th Amendment. It is a movement that recognizes that our government has lost its way and that it is up to us, the people, to remind them of who they serve. When we say we are entitled to healthcare, we are not making a request—we are invoking our rights.
We must speak in one voice. Loudly. Repeatedly. Legally. Constitutionally. We must declare the harm that has been done to us through congressional neglect, economic betrayal, and systemic abuse. And we must pursue justice—not just in courtrooms, but in the hearts of the people who know that this country has promised something more than survival.
So I say this to Rep. Flood, and to every elected official who dares tell the American people what they are not entitled to:
You don’t get to decide that. We do.
We are not voiceless. We are not powerless. We are not passive observers in this nation’s future. We are the keyholders. And if we say the locks must be changed—then so be it. This country does not belong to lobbyists. It does not belong to pharmaceutical giants. It does not belong to the donors who write your campaign checks. It belongs to us. And we are coming to take it back.
If you’re reading this and you agree—then take action:
We are not just fighting for policy—we are fighting for principle. For dignity. For life. And that is something we are all entitled to.
Even if Rep. Flood was referring specifically to individuals who “refuse to work,” his entire premise is flawed, because it assumes that healthcare is a reward for economic productivity, not a fundamental human right.
The U.S. Constitution — especially the 9th Amendment — affirms that the people retain rights not enumerated in the document. That includes the right to health, to dignity, and to collective decisions about how we care for one another.
And if we the people collectively decide that healthcare is a right, then no elected official has the authority to override that will. In fact, to do so is to violate their oath of office and the foundational logic of representative democracy.
A healthy population is a free population.
Sick, indebted, or untreated people are not free. They're trapped in cycles of dependence, exploitation, and early death — while the wealthy benefit from systems that deny care to the many to enrich the few.
A prosperous nation is a healthy nation.
No thriving economy has ever been built on the backs of sick, uninsured citizens. Every child left untreated, every adult bankrupted by a hospital visit, is a failure of governance.
We are not asking — we are deciding.
The moment a majority of Americans decide they want universal healthcare, the conversation ends. The Constitution supports our ability to enact it — and any representative who opposes it is standing in the way of democracy, not defending it.
Flood’s comment is part of a broader ideological attack:
It attempts to frame public healthcare as a "handout," rather than what it truly is — an investment in national resilience, economic stability, and public liberty.
But let’s be honest:
We already fund healthcare — just not for ourselves. We fund it for Congress, for Israel, for corporate bailouts, for wars, and for private contractors who profit from public illness.
If America is truly the land of the free, then access to healthcare should not be determined by job status, income bracket, or ideology. It should be determined by our will — the will of the people.
“A nation cannot be free if its people are denied the right to be well.”
— Vincent Cordova