Blog #102 – FDR’s 2nd Bill of Rights
As part of his State of the Union address on January 11, 1944, President Roosevelt presented the nation with a 2nd Bill of Rights – economic rights that the government would have to guarantee for all Americans once the laws were passed. Take a look at the following video:
He listed 8 things that would bring economic security to our nation and hopefully, by extension, to the rest of the world. At the point that he gave this address in history, America was NOT planning on a Cold War with the Soviet Union or stockpiling tens of thousands of nuclear missiles or spending billions on a military budget every year. None of the 46 years of futility vs. the Soviet Union was set in stone, nor the explosion and entrenchment of the military-industrial complex in our national economy like it is today.
However, America was coming out of the war w/ its biggest national debt in its history (having borrowed $200 billion from the American people in war bonds – $170 billion held by U.S. taxpayers – and from American banks + $100 billion in income taxes). Congressmen were wary of spending huge amounts of money on peace time programs, especially for FDR, because his New Deal programs had had such a mixed track record of success and failure.
The reason I bring this issue up is b/c I think that the country has spent the next 73 years (and may continue) to try to achieve his goals. As we progress through the school year, we’ll return to these eight core principles and examine how we have failed and / or succeeded.
Your questions to answer:
1. Out of the 8 new rights listed above, which of them do you believe have been addressed in some way or another since 1944? Try to pick at least 2 and explain our country has tried to address them (if you choose #6, please try to do some research and not repeat misinformation that you might have heard on talk shows, i.e., it’s going to save billions, death panels, it forces everyone to buy insurance, etc.)
2. Which of these 8 rights should be the one that is immediately addressed or fixed by our Congress and President? Why?
3. Which one of these seems the least likely to be enforceable / possible to make an economic right (please don’t pick the farming right – it doesn’t affect too many people)? Why?
350 words minimum total for all three answers. Due Monday, October 16th by class.
Here’s Glenn Beck’s take on FDR’s 2nd Bill of Rights. Here.
Further reading:
To read a book review entitled: “FDR’s 2nd Bill of Rights: A New New Deal” click here.
A response to this book from Forbes magazine who say that only one Bill of Rights is quite enough. click here.
Here’s an analysis of how the 2nd Bill is going so far: Click here.
An article about how the 2nd BoR violates the Constitution, click here.
Hanna Lupovitch
Mr. Wickersham
APUSH
13 October 2017
1. First, #8, the right to a good education has been addressed since the year 1944. For instance, the National Defense Education Act was created in 1958. This was instated because the Soviet Union, who had just launched Sputnik, were winning the so called “space race.” This act was instituted to that through the education of more math, science, etc., we would be able to achieve more in space, before the Soviet Union. This just shows how much education can do, and how the United States recognizes that. Another right that has been addressed since 1944 is #6, the right to adequate medical care and the opportunity to achieve and enjoy good health. The way that this right has been recognized occurred recently. Through ObamaCare, or The Affordable Care Act, Obama made it possible for people who would have had to buy health care individually, which is much more expensive, cost less. He did this through the government. The government would buy health care from insurance companies for many people, thus making it a little bit cheaper. Even though there were many flaws in this plan, such as people complaining about higher taxes, it was as close as America has ever come to a perfect health care system.
2. The right that I feel should be immediately addressed by our current congress and president is easily #5, the right of every family to a decent home. This is my opinion because there is just so many homeless people in this country. Many of these people are war veterans! This is so unjustified that it makes me mad just thinking about it. These people risk their lives for America, and in return, they can end up homeless? In addition, many homeless people revert to drugs and alcohol. This demonstrates that people with no homes are so desperate, that they are willing to ruin their bodies for less pain. This obviously needs to be addressed right away.
3. One of these rights that seems the least likely to be enforced is #2, the right to earn enough to provide adequate food and clothing and recreation. I make this claim because there can be a difference of opinion here. For example, how does one define adequate food? These specificities are the reason that this will now be addressed soon, for people can just put it off.
1. In 1944, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt created a new Bill of Rights. 8 main principles were stated, and many of those have been implemented since. For example, since his presidency, his second point of “The right to earn enough to provide adequate food and clothing and recreation,” can be deftly compared to modern welfare. Welfare is a check given by the government to people who live near or below the poverty line. In 1935, Roosevelt was the one who installed this via the Social Security act. But since 1935, and also 1944, the rate at which welfare was dispensed increased. This trend continued until 1977, and then began falling. President Bill Clinton in 1996 turned welfare into a state issue. He ensured that each state meet a certain criteria to be adequately using welfare. Another of FDR’s issues he was requested to solve was education. Take, for example, literacy. According to the National Center for Education Statistics, illiterates fourteen years old and older in 1940 took up 2% of the population. In 1979, however, the US illiteracy rate was just 0.6% of the population, and the illiteracy rate has hovered there since then. That’s a good start, and I hope we can improve upon that number until it reaches 0.
2. If I could tell the President which of these issues I would tell him to solve, it would be FDR’s 5th rule, stating “the right of every family to have a decent home.” Since then, the Home industry has taken a drastic turn. With the introduction of massive suburbs like Levittown, more homes were available for cheaper costs. This meant many of the soldiers coming back from WWII were able to find houses. That’s fine and good, but as of 2017, there are approximately 610,000 people in the United States with no home. That’s a sad statistic. Delving into the demographics of this travesty, 11% are victims of domestic violence who have run away, and up to 35% don’t even have a shelter. Going back to veterans, 10% of homeless have served, and 1.4 million veterans are at risk of homelessness. Is this how we treat heroes who have served our country? I would argue to our president that this is most definitely not the case.
3. Perhaps, in creating these rules, FDR was a little too idealistic. For example, his vow to make “The right of every businessman, large and small, to trade in an atmosphere of freedom from unfair competition and domination by monopolies at home or abroad” is simply impossible. Many companies have huge monopolies. Take clothing for instance. You’ll buy clothes from Neiman Marcus, but I fail to come up with a single example of a clothing store that isn’t a big brand and localized in this state. I think that, with the right luck, you may thrive as a businessman, but this right will by no means ever be universally implemented. In short, the economics of making everyone a fair-chanced businessman are simply impossible.
Nia Kepes
Out of the eight new rights established by FDR, I think that the right to a good education, the right to adequate medical care, and the right to a job have been addressed in some way since. Two examples include the right to education and the right to have a job. Since the second bill of rights have come out funding education and trying to educate the country has been very important. More and more people every year are getting into colleges and fewer students are dropping out of high school. Especially at the beginning of the space race in 1957, there was a boom in education in America. The government and people wanted to out-educate the Soviets so that we had smarter scientists and could catch up to and beat them in the race for space. Another example includes the right to have a job which has always been on the minds of Americans. According to the balance, “The real unemployment rate fell to 8.3 percent. That includes those who are underemployed.The number of discouraged workers is 421,000. That’s less than the 532,000 in January”. Although we still have many unemployed workers we have been working on ensuring jobs and raising minimum wages across the country.
The right that should be immediately addressed is the right to a good education. Education is one of the most important factors in life today. Good education leads to a good job, a good job leads to making enough money, making enough money leads to being able to add back into the economy, and at the end of the day the economy leads back into the people of America. Without a good education or with no education it is tough to make it in today’s fast-paced and constantly changing world. One of the key reasons that we see so many suffering families today is because they struggle to break the constant loop of education and unemployment. The only way to break this loop is to assist and give care to students that don’t have food on the table when they go home, don’t have enough money to pay for college, and have family and mental struggles. There are just a few main reasons why the right to a good education should be addressed immediately.
The right that seems the least likely enforceable is the right to a decent home for every family or number five. This bill seems least likely to be enforced because it is broad and general. The right to a decent home for every family can be twisted and stretched out to mean many things. It is almost inconceivable for every family to have a stable and decent home with the number of homeless people and the constant expansion of the population.
The government has addressed the right for adequate medical care and the right to earn enough to provide. The Affordable Healthcare Act was put into place in 2010. It was a the first step forward to adequate medical care. The act established rules for healthcare providers, including not allowing different rates to be charged because of gender or medical history and not allowing healthcare to be refused because of medical history. The right to earn enough to provide has been addressed every time the minimum wage has been raised. The point of the minimum wage is to be a living wage, and raising to the new standards of living and inflation is very important as time goes on. Soon we will see if it will be addressed again, because of the fight for fifteen.
The right to a good education should be looked at immediately by congress and our president. Public schools are not all created equally. Birmingham Public Schools is an example of an incredible school district. It is considered to be one of, if not the, best school district in the state of Michigan. However, only a matter of miles away there is a school district lacking what they need to really educate their students. Detroit Public Schools has well known for not being the best. There is significant improvement that needs to be made. Getting what they need is totally possible, it just requires that congress or the president steps in and starts reform to push Detroit and other districts like it to where they need to be. It is tragic that there are schools that cannot provide a good education for their students and something needs to happen about it.
The right of business to trade without unfair competition and domination by monopolies at home or abroad least easy to enforce. Outlawing monopolies is quite simple, however that does not stop unfair competition in domination. Currently more companies are consolidating, creating less competition, and giving rise to the next best thing for a company besides a monopoly, an oligopoly. When a single industry is dominated by very few and very large companies, small businesses have almost nowhere to turn. Domination by these companies has a very similar effect as a monopoly, but can not be touched by a monopoly ban. The question then becomes how much competition is enough so that small business can thrive? No one really knows. Industries dominated by oligopolies have varying numbers of large companies dominating them, there are three major airlines and there are six major media outlets. Because of that protecting small businesses from unfair competition becomes extraordinarily difficult.
1. I think that the United States has tried to address many of the issues in Roosevelt’s Second Bill of Rights. Among the ones we have tried to address are “the right to adequate medical care and the opportunity to achieve and enjoy good health” and “the right to a good education.” As for the right to good medical care, the United States has attempted to address this issue with many laws, such as Medicare, Medicaid, and the Affordable Care Act. Medicare, established in 1966, provides health insurance to Americans who are 65 or more years old. In order to get health insurance through Medicare, Americans had to have worked and paid into the Medicare system through its payroll tax. Medicaid, which was established one year after Medicare, provides free health insurance to millions of low-income and disabled people. Finally, the Affordable Care Act expanded eligibility and federal funding for these programs.
As for the right to a good education, federal, state, and local laws have been passed to protect students against discrimination in education based on any factors. Additionally, the Constitution requires that all kids must be given an equal educational opportunity regardless or race, religion, sex, social class, ethnic background, and citizenship.
There is still lots of work to be done in both of these areas. Even with Medicare, Medicaid, and the Affordable Care Act, millions of Americans are still uninsured. In the area of education, schools in poorer areas of the country are less able to provide a good education to their students compared to richer areas.
2. The right to a good education is the right that should be immediately fixed by the current government. Without education, the country can not advance forward in any respect. America cannot remain the most technologically advanced nation in the world if its children are not being educated to the highest potential. As for the equality of education, school districts with poorer residents often cannot provide the same standard of education as school districts with richer residents. If America wants to provide equal education to all of its residents, it has to resolve this issue. Education is vitally important to the advancement of this country, and without it America will not be a world leader in the future.
3. “The right of every businessman, large and small, to trade in an atmosphere of freedom from unfair competition and domination by monopolies at home and abroad” would be the right that is least likely to be possible to made a right. Many politicians receive large donations from big companies, and thus are less inclined to break them up to reduce monopolies. There would be a lot of resistance from these large companies (that have large influences too) to such a right, as it would force the government to break the companies up. Another aspect of this that would be hard to enforce is the “abroad” part. The United States doesn’t have any actual jurisdiction over foreign companies, and therefore could not ensure that competition abroad would be fair.
1. Although all points addressed by Franklin D. Roosevelt regarding the 2nd Bill of Rights have been worked on since his presidency, some have implemented more than others. Three that seem to be more noticeable in society today are 1) The right to a useful and remunerative job in the industries or shops or farms or mines of the nation, 2) The right to adequate protection from the economic fears of old age, sickness, accident, and unemployment, and 3) The right to a good education. Throughout American history, each president has been determined to increase the number of jobs available and taken in the United States. US leaders want their citizens to be employed and able to take care of their families. For example, President Obama instituted the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, which created jobs in sectors such as public works, successfully reducing the unemployment rate (thebalance.com). The Welfare System, implemented by FDR during the Great Depression, has continued to provide protection for unemployed Americans, or those unable to support their families. Also, the FDIC now insures up to $250,000 in banks, creating a safety barrier for account holders if another financial crisis were to strike the United States again. With the ruling of the Brown v. Board of Education case in 1954, schools across the United States became integrated, which led to a much safer and more equal learning environment for students. Also, beginning in the 1990s, the “Standards & Accountability Movements” began, leading to the development of the Common Core standards in place today, which has created a greater coherence in education curriculum, and has developed a set of standards that all schools acros the country must meet.
2. The one right included within FDR’s 2nd Bill of Rights that should be immediately addressed today is “The right to adequate medical care and the opportunity to achieve and enjoy good health”. Currently, the US healthcare system revolves around competition among healthcare providers, which is a healthy component of creating a successful and healthy business. However, it doesn’t ensure that every American is insured, mostly because the rates are too expensive for some citizens to afford. According to the AFL-CIO, a primary reason for accessing healthcare is the high cost. Those uninsured typically don’t visit the doctor when they feel sick, and don’t get recommended treatments or vaccinations. These situations, along with endangering the person, could endanger the lives of many Americans, as an epidemic could spread. National healthcare would relieve the United States of these issues, and would overall create a much healthier, more stable society.
3. The right given in FDR’s 2nd Bill of Rights that would be the least likely to be enforced today would be “The right to earn enough to provide adequate food and clothing and recreation”. Although roadblocks, such as the minimum wage, ensure that every employed American makes enough money to support their family, the minimum wage is often not enough to provide for a whole family. Another roadblock in enforcing this right is the ability of the employer to determine the employee’s wage. Through this method of payment, the government has very little control over how much workers are being paid, unless they work for the government. Also, the government has no control over what a person’s wage is used for – who knows? Someone could have an extreme gambling problem and use all of their money i the casino, leaving their family with nothing.
1) Since 1944, the United States has addressed a few of the eight rights in the Second Bill of Rights. They have worked towards the right of every American being able to earn enough to support themselves, the right of economic protection during sickness, unemployment, old age, and disability, and the right to a good education.
Congress has attempted to try to give every American the right to have enough money to support themselves. Since 1944, they have raised the minimum wage multiple times. In 1968, they raised it to $1.15. In 2010, it was raised to $7.25. From 1968 to 2010, it was raised fourteen times, or a total of $6.10.
Not only did they increase the minimum wage, they tried to educate every American so they can get a good job. In Brown v. Board of Education in 1954, the Supreme Court decided that having racially segregated schools violated the Equal Protection Clause in the 14th amendment. Even though the decision was not successful in desegregating the schools immediately, it would lead to the civil rights movement and eventually, the schools would become desegregated. By giving all Americans the right to go to the same schools, the government is making it possible for them to get the best possible education that they can.
The U.S. has also tried to make it so every American does not need to fear that they won’t have health care if they get sick, become disabled, or grow too old to work. In 1965, the Lyndon B. Johnson administration implemented the Medicare and Medicaid programs. The medicare program was designed to provide health care for people who were sixty-five or older and the disabled, while the Medicaid program was designed for poor people who couldn’t afford health insurance. These programs helped remove some of the fears of not being able to have health insurance at times you needed it most.
2) Although the minimum wage has been raised multiple times since 1944, it needs to be much higher. It has not been raised since 2010, and it is only $7.25. Currently, there is a push by lower-skilled workers such as fast food employees to raise the minimum wage to a “liveable wage” of $15 by 2024. The current minimum wage of $7.25 is worth ten percent less than it was in 2010 due to inflation. This extremely low wage is not nearly enough to support one person, and many workers have to rely on government benefits to survive. If they raise the minimum wage, people will be able to supply themselves with adequate food, clothing, and recreation.
3) It is the least likely that every American can have the right to a decent home. Because the economy is transforming to an information-based economy, people in need of jobs may not have the skillset required to get these jobs, which would allow them to afford decent housing. In the past, there were many more jobs which only required physical labor, and you could make a decent living. The government could attempt to help educate people to acquire these skills, but it is then the person’s decision to choose whether or not they want to get that education.
Sources:
http://www.cms.gov
http://www.pbs.org
http://www.dol.gov
http://www.epi.org
1.In FDR’s second bill of rights, many of them have been addressed in some way since 1944. The ones that have been addressed the most are ones about how every American has the right to have medical care and a good education. Many of the presidents after 1944 have tried or have addressed the issue of medical care and education. For example, President Barack Obama passed the affordable care act or Obama care on March 23, 2010, which made healthcare affordable for Americans. Although the public was split on this for many reasons, the issue of healthcare was addressed. After 1944 the idea that every American has the right to a good education has been addressed often. For example the Every Student Succeeds Act which was passed in 2015, replaced its predecessor, the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB), and modified but did not eliminate the actions relating to the standardized tests given to students. These two rights that FDR stated were addressed in other ways, but those other ways weren’t as relevant or as big as the ESSA and Obama Care.
2. The one these 8 rights that every American has the right to an adequate wage and decent living. Right now, there are a good amount of Americans that don’t get good wages and don’t have a decent living. I believe it is up to the USFG to make a minimum wage higher so that more Americans can live decently and get enough money to live adequately. According to CNBC, 49 percent of Americans after the great recession are still living paycheck to paycheck. So, it is up to the federal government to fix this issue and provide all Americans this right.
3. I feel like the right that is least likely to be enforceable is that every American family has the right to the decent home. It’s hard to enforce a law or act that every single American family has the right to a decent home. There are those American families that are lucky and those that are not so lucky and it is difficult to enforce a law that would make or give every family a decent home. You can’t make everyone get a decent home no matter how much you want to, there is always going to be that flaw.
Isabelle Borr
Mr. Wickersham
AP US History
13 October 2017
Blog #2
1. Out of the 8 new bill of rights, the ones that have been addressed is “The right to earn enough to provide adequate food and clothing and recreation” and “The right to a good education”. The first right of having adequate necessities to live a comfortable has been addressed over the decades and even now with the issue of minimum wage. When the United States created the minimum wage in 1938 it was 25 cents. In 2017, 79 years later it is 7.25 that is only a 7-dollar increase. In the fair labor standards act, they did not put in an automatic increase when inflation occurs. So if you look at the numbers, like in business insider did, today’s workers are getting paid 25% less than workers in 1968. Today, many states are raising the minimum wage. 29 out of the 50 states have addressed the wage issue by increasing it. Some southern states like Mississippi and Alabama have minimum wage lower than what is federally required so the it is technically the federal level. There have been many calls to increase the pay to 15$ an hour, but has been met with extreme opposition. Washington DC is taking the lead. Their minimum wage is 11.50 an hour. So some states have made increases to fulfill this second bill of rights law like Washington DC while others are waiting for the federal government to take the lead.
The right to education has been developing over the country’s history. As far back as when America was simply just colonies and required every town to have a schoolhouse in New England around the 1600s. All the way to 1896, when Plessy vs Ferguson case happened and created the separate but equal doctrine that allowed racial segregation. After decades of racial segregation in schools, a historic supreme case in 1956 changed education for all the current and future black students who have not and would not receive equal education in these separated schools. The supreme court determined that racial segregation broke the equal protection clause of the 14th amendment (McBride). Today, there is still not a totally equal education system. Many city schools, which are predominantly black and minority populated are under funding compared to more affluent areas. There still needs to be much more improvement to today’s education.
2. Out of the eight amendments of the bill rights, the right to medical care should be addressed immediately. We had a major milestone to universal healthcare when The Affordable Health Care act was enacted. Of course there are many things that could be improved. With the current administration they have dismantled the parts of it that make it work so well, like pre-existing conditions clause and basic packages. The president needs to stop issuing executive orders and congress needs to restore and add to the ACA. This needs to address this because it has helped tens of millions of people get access to good inexpensive health. If the ACA gets repealed many people will be left uninsured and not able to afford health insurance in the new market. Congress needs to focus on this now because it currently is weakening and affecting more and more people.
3. The least likely clause in the second bill of rights to be enforced is “The right of every businessman, large and small, to trade in an atmosphere of freedom from unfair competition and domination by monopolies at home or abroad;”. This is very difficult because you cannot control the economy if you live in a capitalist society. In some markets, this is possible by putting regulations on like the stock market. There are certain blackout dates where you cannot trade and it is a federal offense when you do trade with prior knowledge. Some other markets, like the airline business, it is very hard to do business when you are not a part of the big couple of airline providers. There are many regulations to be able to trade freely, but it is impossible to guarantee every business the right to do it.
Isabelle Borr
Mr. Wickersham
AP US History
13 October 2017
Blog #2
1. Out of the 8 new bill of rights, the ones that have been addressed is “The right to earn enough to provide adequate food and clothing and recreation” and “The right to a good education”. The first right of having adequate necessities to live a comfortable has been addressed over the decades and even now with the issue of minimum wage. When the United States created the minimum wage in 1938 it was 25 cents. In 2017, 79 years later it is 7.25 that is only a 7-dollar increase. In the fair labor standards act, they did not put in an automatic increase when inflation occurs. So if you look at the numbers, like in business insider did, today’s workers are getting paid 25% less than workers in 1968. Today, many states are raising the minimum wage. 29 out of the 50 states have addressed the wage issue by increasing it. Some southern states like Mississippi and Alabama have the minimum wage lower than what is federally required so it is technically the federal level. There have been many calls to increase the pay to 15$ an hour but has been met with extreme opposition. Washington DC is taking the lead. Their minimum wage is 11.50 an hour. So some states have made increases to fulfill this second bill of rights law like Washington DC while others are waiting for the federal government to take the lead.
The right to education has been developing over the country’s history. As far back as when America was simply just colonies and required every town to have a schoolhouse in New England around the 1600s. All the way to 1896, when Plessy vs Ferguson case happened and created the separate but equal doctrine that allowed racial segregation. After decades of racial segregation in schools, a historic supreme case in 1956 changed education for all the current and future black students who have not and would not receive an equal education in these separated schools. The supreme court determined that racial segregation broke the equal protection clause of the 14th amendment (McBride). Today, there is still not a totally equal education system. Many city schools, which are predominantly black and minority populated are underfunding compared to more affluent areas. There still needs to be much more improvement to today’s education.
2. Out of the eight amendments of the bill rights, the right to medical care should be addressed immediately. We had a major milestone to universal healthcare when The Affordable Health Care Act was enacted. Of course, there are many things that could be improved. With the current administration, they have dismantled the parts of it that make it work so well, like pre-existing conditions clause and basic packages. The president needs to stop issuing executive orders and Congress needs to restore and add to the ACA. This needs to address this because it has helped tens of millions of people get access to good inexpensive health. If the ACA gets repealed many people will be left uninsured and not able to afford health insurance in the new market. Congress needs to focus on this now because it currently is weakening and affecting more and more people.
3. The least likely clause in the second bill of rights to be enforced is “The right of every businessman, large and small, to trade in an atmosphere of freedom from unfair competition and domination by monopolies at home or abroad;”. This is very difficult because you cannot control the economy if you live in a capitalist society. In some markets, this is possible by putting regulations on like the stock market. There are certain blackout dates where you cannot trade and it is a federal offense when you do trade with prior knowledge. Some other markets, like the airline business, it is very hard to do business when you are not a part of the big couple of airline providers. There are many regulations to be able to trade freely, but it is impossible to guarantee every business the right to do it.
1. Of the second bill of rights, FDR described in 1944, education and health care has been addressed throughout the 20th century and beyond. Today, everyone has the right to a good education. During the 1940’s, schools were segregated. The schools that white children attended had higher quality books and their teachers were paid higher wages. Since then, the public schools have changed dramatically. Brown v. Board of education had an impact on the schooling system. This case began the desegregation of schools. Currently, public schools allow free education for everyone despite race and religion.
Heath care has also evolved since 1944. An attempt of health care reform was Medicare. Medicare was developed to help the elderly by creating a health insurance option. More recently, Obamacare was introduced. This provided affordable health insurance and had many benefits. However, President Trump eliminated of some of these advantages that the Obama plan had developed.
2. Our president and congress should address FDR’s bill of right concerning education. Although education has come a long way throughout the years, there are still some issues that need to be addressed. Everyone should be able to get an equal education. However, some students don’t receive that. This includes students who have less money and live in poorer communities. These kids are more likely to be taught by teachers with lower qualifications. Their education is determined by their household income. Public schools receive money through taxes, so if an area is relatively poor, the schools won’t have the same quality as schools in a more affluent area. This results in unequal education opportunities.
3. The Bill of Right least likely to be overhauled is the right to a decent home. People owning a home is based upon how much money someone makes. This depends on what profession they have. Congress would have a hard time controlling these factors in order for everyone to have a quality house. What can be controlled is that everyone is able to buy a home. However, they cannot assure that everyone has bought one or can be able to financially afford one and make smart financial decisions. Because of this, the right to a decent home in FDR’s second Bill of Rights is not likely to be focused on by Congress.
1. The United States Government has done many things to improve an American’s daily life since 1944. One of these examples is how Americans have the right to earn enough to provide adequate food and clothing and recreation. This can be seen as we have increased the minimum wage so people can earn more money, resulting in more spending for necessities. Also, there have been tons more job openings so people can provide for their families and for themselves. In addition, if you do not earn enough, there are special organizations that help you and your family to get out of poverty. These give you food, clothes, and even shelter. Another example of how Congress has addressed these new rights is the right to a good education. We can see this as you can easily get yourself an education for basically free, as public schools are funded by property taxes. Also, if you got o a college in your state, you get a discount for the price. In addition, private schools have some of the best educations although they are more expensive than public schools.
2. The right that should immediately be addressed by our Congress is the right of every family to a decent home. This has not been very well addressed as there are over one million people that are without a home. These people live in terrible conditions, and they don’t even have a place to sleep. They are often mistreated by others and have a very complicated life due to them not having a home at all. This needs to be fixed as it’s not normal that 0.5% of the population had to use an emergency shelter or a transitional housing program in 2008-2009.
3. The right to adequate protection from the economic fears of old age, sickness, accident, and unemployment seems the least likely to make an economic right. This is because these things happen to almost everybody and there is no way it can be kept track of how people are sick or old etc. These things are too common to be happening and they are natural things that happen.
1.) Out of the eight new rights two that I think that have been addressed are the right of every farmer to raise and sell his products at a return which will give him and his family a decent living even though so few people now a days are farmers I still think that this right still has “come true” so to speak with the few people that are still farmers, my step uncle being one of them, make a decent living and keep a semi stable income, and the second right that I think has been addressed in the modern day is the right to adequate medical care and the opportunity to achieve and enjoy good health I personally think that we partially achieved this with Obama care because though it did allow for free medical attention the medical attention that was given out to the recipients was not very good as it describes in the right so again I would say that we technically achieved/addressed this right but potentially not fully.
2.) I think that the one right that has not been addressed by our government and should be very soon is the right to a good education. I think that this is the most relevant “new” right that I think has not been addressed by our government yet and really needs to be some of the reasons for my belief is the percentage of the US’ budget that is spent on education. Currently in 2017 the state of Michigan spends a total of 21% of their budget on education. Which I think is not enough to sustain quality schooling in the whole of the state. One way I think we as a state could fix this is by spending less of their budget on healthcare potentially even though we are ranked 34th in the nation for it I think we could still put that towards education more specifically in lower income regions where they maybe could not afford schooling or the schooling in their area is not very good.
3.) I think the “new right” that would be the hardest to enforce would be the right of every family to a decent home. The main reason I think that this right could be the hardest to enforce is because we did try to enforce this and it caused the United states housing bubble which was a real estate bubble affecting over half of U.S. states. Housing prices peaked in early 2006, started to decline in 2006 and 2007, and reached new lows in 2012. This was one of the most tragic events in the history of the US millions of people lost their homes and it wasn’t good for anyone. That is why I think that this right would be the hardest to enforce because there is historical evidence showing that it won’t work and I mean really won’t work.
1.) The first right I believe has been addressed by the country since 1944 is right #6 which is the right to adequate medical care and the opportunity to achieve and enjoy good health. The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, often shortened to the Affordable Care Act (ACA) or nicknamed Obamacare, is a United States federal statute enacted by the 111th United States Congressand signed into law by President Barack Obama on March 23, 2010. The term “Obamacare” was first used by opponents, then appropriated by supporters, and eventually used by President Obama himself. Together with the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010 amendment, it represents the U.S. healthcare system’s most significant regulatory overhaul and expansion of coverage since the passage of Medicare and Medicaid in 1965. The second right that I believe has been addressed by the country since 1944 is the right of a good education. The country has addressed this several times since first coming out in 1944. From the 1950s to the 1970s, many of the proposed and implemented reforms in U.S. education stemmed from the Civil Rights Movement and related trends; examples include ending racial segregation, and busing for the purpose of desegregation, affirmative action, and banning of school prayer. In the 1980s, some of the momentum of education reform moved from the left to the right, with the release of A Nation at Risk, Ronald Reagan’s efforts to reduce or eliminate the United States Department of Education.
2.) I believe that the right to a good education should be fixed by the president today. Although America’s high school graduation rate is at an all-time high of 82%, that number should still be much better. The biggest problem with education aside from high school graduation rate is enrolment in college. Though enrolment is going up, the percent of high school graduates not attending college is 35 percent. This is due to the fact that college prices are rising rapidly, as the average cost to attend a private university has gone up 15,000 dollars in the last 20 years and the price for attending a public college has gone up 9,000 dollars in the last 7 years. While 65% of American high school graduates do attend college, about 70% apply for financial aid.
3.) The hardest one of these rights to make an actual law in my opinion would have to be the right of every businessman, large and small, to trade in an atmosphere of freedom from unfair competition and domination by monopolies at home or abroad. The reason this would be so difficult or unlikely is because of the lack of monopolies in today’s business world. In the past few decades there have been no true monopiles because of the fact that not everyone wants the same thing. The other reason being it would be very difficult to put a law towards stopping monopolies. How could you make a law that would essentially preventing businesses from making money without doing anything illegal?
I believe that number 2 on the Bill of Rights which states that everyone has the right to earn enough to provide adequate food, clothing and recreation. This kind of reminds me of a little something called minimum wage. The definition of minimum wage is the lowest wage permitted by law or by a special agreement (such as one with a labor union). The current minimum wage in America is $7.25 an hour. You can receive minimum wage by working at places like fast food establishments or having something like a paid internship. I decided to briefly bring up minimum wage because if they’re trying to make it so people have the right to earn enough to provide adequate food, clothing, and recreation than minimum wage is the lowest amount of money that people need to be payed in order for this to happen. I would also like to bring up number 4 on the Bill of Rights which states that every businessman, large and small, has the right to trade in an atmosphere of freedom from unfair competition and domination by monopolies at home or abroad. This is an issue today because of big companies such as Amazon that are absolutely wiping out their competition. They are so huge and worldly known that and are also just buying other companies such as whole foods.
I believe that number 5 on the bill of rights that says every family has the right to a decent home should be addressed because they’re are more and more people that keep becoming homeless. According to socailsolutions.com 564,708 people in the US are homeless. This is alarming because nearly half a million people are homeless and I haven’t seen anybody even try and do anything about it. These people are literally living on the streets. That’s a horrible thing which is why every time I pass a homeless person no matter where it is I always try to give them a little money because I knew if I was ever in that position I would want people to do the same thing.
But while I do think that the homeless thing should be addressed, it definitely would be the most difficult thing to address because of how many people are homeless. That’s why we have things like homeless shelters and soup kitchens where people can get a hot meal. The people that work there are volunteers so it’s not like they’re getting payed to help these people. They’re just doing it out of the kindness of their hearts.
Blog #102
Out of the 8 new rights I think two of them that have been addressed since 1944 are the one regarding the right to earn enough to provide adequate food and clothing and recreation, and the right to a good education for everyone. The right to provide adequate food and clothing is strictly connected to the salaries which each american citizen can earn. In July 24th, 2009 the Fair Labor Standards Act was created by the State Department of Labour to determine that the minimum wage for employees should be at least $7.25 per hour. Some states, including Michigan, then decided to make a personal state minimum wage that is above the federal wage. Even though most states made this decision, some states, mostly in the south of the country, decided to only have the federal wage as a minimum pay. These states that decided to not make a state minimum wage have citizens that can barely survive and keep a family going with only $7,25 per hour. Since 1944 when the right of good education was addressed many decisions and new policies have been made. For example in 1946 the National School Lunch Act, which is still in operation today, was made. This act helps students with families that have low income to buy their lunch at a lower cost. In 1975, another Act was established, the education for All Handicapped children. This act was very impactful to establish funds for children with special needs in schools. Schooling is compulsory for all children in the United States, but the age range for which school attendance is required varies from state to state, for most of them is 16 years old.
One of the 8 new rights that should be changed for obvious reasons is the right of every farmer to raise and sell his products at a return which will give him and his family a decent living. I’m still surprised this right wasn’t changed our reworded because not many of us are farmers nowadays and it doesn’t refer to many citizens. If this right was to be rewarded it would have a very similar meaning to the right to earn enough to provide adequate food and clothing and recreation.
Lastly the right that is least likely to influence the economy is the one regarding the houses. I believe this right concerns mostly on certain people and doesn’t effect the society as a whole. It might help a lot of people but it won’t help or change the countries economy.
10/15/17
2nd Period
Graham Hupp
FDR and the Second Bill of Rights
One of the questions that have been addressed in one way or another since 1944 would have to be the right to medical care. Since World War One, the United States has almost been a “big brother” to nations, boasting a large military and an even larger funding program for it’s military. Since about 20% of the country’s total budget, and it’s total GDP is in the estimates of 18.57 trillion dollars, the United States has equal out the rest of it’s funds to the rest of the country’s priorities, it does not have a large amount of money for healthcare. In 2010 however, Obamacare was passed, which could be considered a stepping stone in the right to healthcare in a country. Another one of these rights the have been addressed in one way or another have have not completely lived up to it’s ability is the right to an adequate wage and decent living. As the years have passed, university has become a custom for the United States, and in order to receive a job adequate enough to provide decent living and adequate wage, you must attend a University of some sort. The problem with this however, is the thousands of dollar is student loan debt, possibly not allowing what these amendment freedoms are saying.
In our modern society, the 2nd Bill of Rights statement the should be immediately fixed or addressed by our Congress or President would be statement number five, the right to economic protection during sickness, accident, old age or unemployment. Of course in a way specific way in our modern society, but privatized and not completely ran by the Government. Even with our country’s low unemployment rate of around 4.4%, these unemployed are not completely economically protected by the Government, causing them to possibly lose their homes, and eventually their lives if they cannot find a job to provide correctly for their family. For the portion speaking about sickness, within the workplace, there are a limit of days you can spend from being sick. Of course in our capitalistic society, these rules are still implemented by the companies but within moderation. During old age is also modified by the fact that if you invest in retirement plans, you can possibly have enough money to provide for yourself as you retire. Also, the Government has pensions for retiring at your age of what position
The rights that seem to be least likely enforceable would have to be number five, the right of every family to a decent home as for many opinions a decent home can vary, depending on family size and opinion. Also, families may not want to have a large home as in the times there were locations such as Levittown, where homes were affordable and identical to each other, but other families may have wanted to live in an apartment in the city. Of course with the education right, many modern people have student loan debts from the universities they attend. These drastic amounts of currency they owe back to the states, the government, to pay them back for the opportunity to attend these universities. The Government cannot enforce this right as much as the fact of the matter is, the Government cannot control the realty market in our capitalistic society and not control the opinions of the market. They can possibly sway the opinion of the market though, but not control it like a communistic regime.
1. Out of the eight new rights established by President Roosevelt in his 2nd Bill of Rights, I think the right to adequate medical care and the opportunity to achieve and enjoy good health and the right to a good education have been addressed in some way or another since 1944. The right to adequate medical care has been addressed by ObamaCare, or the Affordable Care Act, introduced in 2010 by President Obama, had three primary goals; make affordable health insurance available to more people, expand the Medicaid program to cover all adults that are within a certain income related to the federal poverty level, and to support innovative medical care delivery methods that lower the costs of health care generally. The Affordable Care Act expanded the affordability, quality, and availability of private and public health insurance through consumer protection reforms, regulations, subsidies, taxes, insurance exchanges, and additional reforms. In regards to education, several acts were passed to better the education in different areas. Examples include the George-Barden Act in 1946, which provided federal funding for agricultural, industrial, and home economics training for high school students, the National Defense Education Act of 1958 was to provide loans for college students in mathematics, science, and foreign language courses, the Department of Education cabinet level agency in 1980, which recognized the important role of public education in our country, and different reports elaborating on how America is falling behind in educational achievement.
2. Of the eight rights addressed in that 2nd Bill of Rights, the one that needs to be addressed or fixed by our Congress or President is the right to earn enough to provide adequate food and clothing and recreation. This is because as time has progressed, it has become essential for people to go to college to earn a living that will pay their bills and allow them to buy a house and live comfortably. When you get out of college, you are tied down for several years with student loans and probably will not get a great job right off the bat because of your lack of experience. The more education you get, the more difficult it will be to pay off your student loans because you will have more, and things like medical school and law school are more expensive, even if the jobs in the future will pay better. Congress of the President can address this right by making college more accessible by lowering tuition for public universities, and offering better programs for lower class citizens to still be able to go to college, not live their life in devastating debt, and make their way out of the lower class through their education.
3. Out of all the new rights, the one least likely to be enforceable/possible to make an economic right is the right of every family to a decent home. This is because as time goes on, standards of a decent home and comfortable lifestyle change, because it is a preference or opinion. For example, in 1947 when Levittown homes went on sale, that was comfort living and considered decent homes. They had two bedrooms and were much smaller than what we consider decent homes today. This right is also least likely to be enforceable because family sizes vary so much, and the fortune some families find themselves in is different than others. Student loans also play a part in young adults’ ability to buy a decent home, and might see them opt for apartments and low-cost living as they start careers. Another factor is that less young adults are focused on starting families than on building up their careers. Women and men, equally, are looking to become successful in their field of choice, and may not have time to think about having a family as they work to make a name for themselves.
Source used for question 1: http://lwv.org/content/history-federal-government-public-education-where-have-we-been-and-how-did-we-get-here
1.) In 1944 FDR made the 2nd bill of rights, an attempt to create a more equal America where everyone had a fair economic right, no matter what race, class or gender you are. 2 of the rights that America has tried to address are the Right to a Living wage, and the Right to a Social Security. The first one I mentioned, the right to a living wage, has been improved quite a bit from 1944. The definition of a living wage is: “an approximate income needed to meet a family’s basic needs to maintain a normal standard of living, which includes achieving financial independence while maintaining housing and food security.” Meanwhile the definition of minimum wage is: “The lowest wage permitted by law or other labor agreement.” The minimum wage in 2017 is $7.50 (but can be higher in other states). A living wage should be able to provide food and necessities for each person to survive. Although with all of this improvement, people are arguing that it is not enough to survive off of. Especially women, who commonly experience the “wage gap” which is about 79 cents. There is nowhere in the U.S. where the minimum wage can meet the needs of the living wage. It is much harder for a single parent with 2 children to provide for their family, compared to 2 parents who are working, with 2 children. The working hours are much longer and seem near impossible. In some states, the minimum wage is planning to increase to $15 in states such as California and New York to try and meet the needs of the living wage. The 2nd right, the Right to a Social Security has been established, but could use some work in the present day America. Social Security is an assistance to those unable to work due to sickness, disability, injury, maternity, unemployment, or old age. It is beyond someone’s control when they are unable to work to provide for themselves, so that is when social security is used. When someone has worked a hard and long life and deiced that they are ready to retire, they expect all that money they earned to be there for them. But that isn’t so; the government takes a part of that money and puts the rest on the side for you, but not the whole. “In other words, Social Security is not an insurance program at all. It is simply a payroll tax on one side and a welfare program on the other.” Also some people are afraid to take off work when sick or injured in fear of losing their jobs. For example, some husbands want to take off time to be with their wives after a recent birth, but commonly don’t because they have to keep making money and fear that they might get fired.
2.) The right to a living wage that is realistic is one of the rights that we need improvement on as soon as possible. Not every American has an equal right to these wages and can barely survive off of them. The wage gap needs to be fixed so it is equal and can appeal to all who work. Ways we can do this is by increasing the minimum wage to something that can allow someone to support themselves and even a family. To have access to good and healthy food and also a healthy home environment should also be thought of when raising the minimum wage.
3.) Most of the Rights could use some improvement for the better, but the right to a good education is one that is fine where it is right now, but needs some adjustments. When we look at other countries we see how well they are scoring on tests and how little work they are doing. Every child has a right to an education, but they usually don’t enjoy it. Yes, we are receiving a good education and learning things that will help us for college, and then life, but there are so many problems that need to be fixed. The reality of a good education is still far from where it needs to be, but we are making the right steps in making it better. There are more issues that need to be fixed rather than education currently, which will affect our economy more.
1. I believe that the two new rights that have been addressed in some way, shape or form since 1944 are the rights to earn enough to provide adequate food, clothing, and recreation, and the right to education. The right to earn enough to provide adequate food, clothing, and recreation has been addressed today by letting all people get a job no matter who are. Also, the government has created programs such as Supplemental Security Income, Medicaid, and many others. The right to education has also been addressed today since 1944. In 1944, some Colleges were prejudice, not allowing everyone to receive an education. Now, everyone has the chance to go to college. Furthermore, Colleges offer academic and athletic scholarships. There are also programs in which help kids who are not as fortunate to be as privileged, get their college education.
2. The one new right that should be immediately fixed by Congress and/or our president is the right for every family to own a decent home. I do understand that inflation and our 20.4 trillion dollar debt, but this right needs terrible fixing or reconsideration. Even in Detroit, we see foreclosures happening all the time. This is a situation that needs immediate fixing because most lower income families don’t have a decent home to go home to every night. FDR put this in the Second Bill of Rights, but people who work their butts off just to earn minimum wage then get their homes taken away don’t deserve that fate. The government whether city, state, or Federal should monitor this or do something to solve this ongoing problem.
3. The right to adequate protection from the economic fears of old age, sickness, accidents, and unemployment from FDR’s Second Bill of Rights seems the least enforceable. What this right is saying is that you have the right to life insurance. The government and insurance companies can try like heck to make you buy insurance, reduce the price to make it more affordable, or add more benefits to make it more appealing. For example, the Obama Administration created ObamaCare in order to help low income American citizens afford and obtain health care just incase those accidents happen.
Two rights from FDR’s Second Bill of Rights that I think have been addressed since then are 7 and 8.
For 7, there are many government programs, like ComCare Long Term Assistance, which helps people with financial support if they are too sick or old. Barack Obama increased the paid sick leave for hundreds of thousands of workers. And there’s also been the development of some websites like CareerOneStop.com funded by the government to help the unemployed.
For 8, every state now has laws that requires children to go to school, within a time slot averaging around 6-16 years of age, and this ensures that everyone gets their time in school.
Number 4 should be addressed by our president. Apparently (according to many newspaper like NYT) businesses can get out of paying taxes in some sorts, and I think that they could enforce this one a bit better.
The right of every family to a decent home. I can’t see them checking on every family, saying, “Oh, is your home decent?” First of all, people would totally mess with the meaning of decent, it would be too expensive, and a lot of people already put so much money into shelters, if we’re having trouble with the shelters we’d have trouble getting everyone a decent home.
Blog #2
1) Out of the eight rights listed in the second bill of rights, Two that have been addressed since 1944 were, the right to have good education, and The right to earn enough to provide adequate food and clothing and recreation. Since 1944 the right to have a good education has been changed tremendously. In 1954, The Brown vs Board of Education case act/ case was passed to desegregate public schools from being only whites and some being only blacks. This establishment was made to show that segregation between the two groups of people was unconstitutional. Also, in 1958, The National Defense Education Act was created. This was in response to the launch of the Soviet Union’s satellite, Sputnik. It was installed because due to the space race that was occurring, America was behind and with having science, math, and foreign not being taught as importantly as you would be taught english and history, it needed to be changed. They implied to schools all around that science, math, and foreign language classes must all be applied to the curriculum so we could all advance and achieve more than the Soviet Union has.
2) One of the eight rights that should be addressed immediately by our president and congress is the right of every family to a decent home. I believed out government needs to address this issue because in America there are about 500,000 people who are homeless. It has become a tremendous problem in our country and everyone deserves to be able to house and protect their family in a home. I believe the system is broken and after families and people go homeless, it is very hard to get themselves back up on their feet and their life almost goes downhill from there. They will forever become financially unstable and won’t be able to work anywhere if they don’t have the motivation to do so. We need to create some kind of program or system that will encourage and motivate those who are and create jobs that will accept people where they can atlas make minimum wage but if not, a little less money. Also, with all the hurricanes that have just hit our east coast, many people lost everything and they will never get it back. People will loose jobs, money, and their homes due to the horrifying acts of mother nature which will result in homelessness. It’s up to or government to address his problem that keeps on getting worse every year.
http://www.nationalhomeless.org/factsheets/How_Many.html
3) Although it should be enforced and addressed by the government immediately, it’s also sad to believe we will never be able to fix completely is #5. In America, about 15 percent of our population is homeless. In reality, it seems very broad and virtually impossible to find a way to get over 500,000 people back on their feet financially without our economy decreasing drastically. This will always be a flaw/ imperfection in our government that we will simply never be able to fix.
1. I think most of these problems that FDR wanted to address after the war are still topics that are being addressed today by our current president but the us is also facing other problems now like especially terrorism and immigration, problems that were not really a thing in the 1940s. I think now the government’s biggest problems that they are trying to face from the 2nd bill of rights is health care and jobs. Health care has always been a hot topic but since the affordable care act of 2010 was passed, republicans have tried to get rid of obamacare and replace it with an alternative. This is because republicans believe that they should be able to choose what they want to be covered, like some republicans believe that birth control should not be covered because it does not line up with their religious or political views. Also i think a little part of the problem with obamacare is the fact it is named after a democratic president but it will be interesting to see what happens with healthcare in the next few years with the new administration. Also jobs is a popular topic of discussion in politics right now with Donald trump trying to bring back and keep jobs in the us. He is trying to bring back jobs for the working class in areas such as infrusture and manufacturing. Also he looking to try and bring back jobs like coal mining which is controversial because some people think it’s not sustainable but this appeal to his voters.
2. For me I think healthcare is the most important right because I believe everyone should have the right to free health care. I think I have such a strong stance on this issue because I was born in england where there is the NHS is in place, which means everyone gets free health care. I see how especially important for low income families who may not be able to afford proper healthcare if it weren’t for the NHS and also the elderly who usually live off pensions. According to a recent study over 62% of all bankruptcy in the us are due to medical expenses, In a civilized country like the U.S., I believe we should be able to take care of everybody and not just the people who can afford healthcare.
3. I think for me the least enforceable right is number three, the right for to a decent home. I believe this is least important because if you have a job and a good paycheck it usually means you will have a decent home. I also believe that it is the least enforceable because How do we measure a decent home? Does the government go around looking at people’s houses saying this is a decent home? I also think that some people don’t need as much as others to feel like they live in a decent home or are happy. So I feel this is the least enforceable right out of the second bill of rights.
Source for question 2: https://www.huffingtonpost.com/simple-thrifty-living/top-10-reasons-people-go-_b_6887642.html
1. Out of the eight new rights that were listed in FDR’s second Bill of Rights, I believe that two of them have been addressed the most since 1944. One of these is the right to a good education. I say this because today, I can look around and notice the amount of racial diversity at my school; I know that all the students around me are getting the same education. I am aware that not all schools in America are as fortunate as mine, but those students have just as much of a right to a good education as I do (even though they may not have one). I would also say that the people had more to do with this than the government. In the years following 1944, many movements happened that changed how American’s view education; These movements were led by people, and they forced the government to respond. (Brown Vs. Board of Education, Civil Rights Act, Civil rights movement of the 60’s). Another part of the second BoR that I feel the government has addressed is the right to adequate health care. Since 1944 there have been numerous government acts to help provide health care to American citizens. Among these, the most effective being the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010, also known as Obamacare. Under this act signed by president Barack Obama, many families are required to have minimum health insurance (with exceptions to certain financial and income situations). It also does things like expand the qualifications for certain health care programs and requires certain employers to provide coverage for their workers. I personally think creating Obamacare was a big step toward an entire nation with affordable health insurance.
2. Among the eight rights listed in FDR’s second BoR, I think that “the right to own a decent home” needs to be addressed by our President and Congress. Even today (although the rates are not as high) there is a large portion the United States population that is homeless or in poverty. Either that, or they live in very poor conditions. We might have the right to own decent housing, but for many in the U.S., the idea of good housing seems far-fetched. I would say that at this point, very few people in the U.S. are entitled to decent housing. I believe that the government needs to spend more of its time and effort in providing all Americans with this. I believe that there needs to be a certain standard of living for all citizens, and that the government should strive to make sure all houses meet that standard. If we have more people in decent housing, then we have more people who can focus on working, therefore boosting the economy.
3. Although I believe decent housing needs to be addressed by our Congress, I would also say that it would be the hardest to enforce. One reason for this is because it would be hard economically to allow all citizens to have “decent” housing. If the government were to do things like renovating old houses or building new ones, it might cost us billions. Plus, another aspect of providing everyone with adequate housing is relying on people like landlords. It would be hard to make sure that the people selling the houses are not discriminating or denying people housing because of things like their race. This might require the government to hold a monopoly over the selling of houses, which would not be good.
Will Drake
10/15/17
Second Bill of Rights
Two of the rights listed in the “Second Bill of Rights” that have been addressed since 1944 are: the right to a good education, and the right of every family to a decent home. One major step to improve these two rights was in the signing of the GI Bill. Signed in 1944 by FDR, the bill sought to provide benefits to returning WW2 veterans. Included in these benefits were payments of tuition and living expenses to attend high school or college, low-cost mortgages, low-interest loans, and one year of unemployment compensation. By 1956, 7.8 million veterans had benefited from the GI Bill, 2.2 million attended colleges or universities and 5.6 million were in a training program of some sort. Next, the housing act of 1949 expanded the role of the federal government in both public and private housing. It expanded federal involvement in mortgage insurance, provided authority and funds for slum clearance and urban renewal, and initiated construction of a public housing program. Finally, the main goal of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 was close student achievement gaps by providing all children with a fair and equal opportunity to obtain a high-quality education.
The right that should be immediately addressed is the right to a good education. In the United States, around 32 million adults are considered to be illiterate and between 40-44 million adults read at limited proficiency levels. Also, according to PBS.org approximately 6 million young Americans aged 16 and up do not attend school, or have a job. Many Americans are also unable to attend college or university due to the high costs, or even if they do attend college they will be left with heavy student debts.
The right that seems the hardest to enforce is the right of every family to decent housing. According to greendoors.org, homeless families comprise 34% of the homeless population. Under the FDR’s Second Bill of Rights, every family is supposed to have decent housing. I believe this is the hardest to enforce because many of the homeless families are only single-parent headed, and this makes it very hard for them to find work. Even with programs such as section 8, a family would have to live in below average housing, as good housing would cost too much.
1. Many of the issues that FDR’s Second Bill of Rights were meant to address, were not addressed right away because of the huge national debt and Congress’ weariness of spending copious amounts of money on peacetime programs for FDR. However, some have been addressed in some way or another since 1944. Education and healthcare have both been addressed in some way or another. The desegregation of schools was a big step towards the right to a good education. Three years after President Roosevelt’s State of the Union address on January 11, 1944, where he had presented the 2nd Bill of Rights, the Westminster School Dist. v. Mendez case took place, it led to a federal appeals court striking down segregated schooling for Mexican American and white students. That verdict also led California Governor Earl Warren to repeal a state law that segregated Native American and Asian American students. Then in 1952, the Supreme Court heard the first arguments of the Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka and in 1954 declared that separate schools are “inherently unequal”. Later, in 1954, In Brown II, the Supreme Court ordered the lower federal courts to require desegregation. The desegregation of schools has been a work in progress since then. Schools today are still segregated because of neighborhoods or different areas that have larger populations of certain races, or by wealth. There are still many issues that need to be addressed in terms of education, but steps have been made and some issues have been resolved. The right to adequate medical care and the opportunity to achieve and enjoy good health has been somewhat solved by Obamacare (the Affordable Care Act). The act is supposed to reform our healthcare system by providing access to quality, affordable health insurance for nearly every American and reducing the cost of healthcare in the U.S. It requires all insurance plans to provide the same 10 essential health benefits, to insure quality for everyone. And you are required by law to enroll in Obamacare, or face a tax penalty, unless you meet certain qualifications for exemption. This is an attempt to provide adequate medical care.
2. The right to earn enough to provide adequate food and clothing and recreation should be immediately fixed by our congress and our president. Everyone should be able to provide for themselves and their families no matter what job they have. While some jobs do deserve more pay than others, every job is important to our society, and someone must do the more undesirable jobs. We should not punish these workers by giving them low pay, we should give them enough to provide for themselves and for their families. We want the citizens of our country to be hardworking and driven, if the people working low paying jobs are working hard and doing a respectable job, they deserve to be able to have the same sense of accomplishment that others get from providing for their families.
3. The right to a good education seems the least likely to make an economic right and to be able to enforce. There are so many external factors, that giving people an equal education is virtually impossible. Even if each school receives the same amount of money per pupil, schools will spend it differently and need to use it differently. Also in more affluent areas people are willing to and have the resources to get their children additional help in terms of their education, and some parents are better equipped to help their children and make good decisions about their children’s education
Sources for number 1: https://www.tolerance.org/magazine/spring-2004/brown-v-board-timeline-of-school-integration-in-the-us
http://www.obamacareusa.org/what-is-obamacare/?subset=ACA&CID=24921&SRC=ousa_msn&bw_state=0&bw_type=0&bw_brand=0&Sub_ID=Sitelink_About+Obamacare&bw_keyword=Sitelink_About+Obamacare&google_network=o&creativeid={creative}&position={adposition}&matchtype=e&mobile=&msclkid=f5e5b1fd9fbb1159659ce81e41f66074
1. From the 2nd Bill of Rights FDR introduced, I feel that America has addressed and represented rights 5 and 8 the most. Right 5 gives the right for every family a decent home. Although it isn’t as noticeable today of what America is doing for housing options, during the Cold War in the 1950’s many mass-produced “Levit” houses came into production. These houses were able to be constructed in merely hours and was cheap and efficient for newly married couples and soldiers from the war. Through the Levit Houses came Levittowns, which eventually sparked the suburban culture we know today. As for right 8, it gives the right to a good education. In terms of what was back then, the education system has gone through many noticeable changes since. Such an example could be how segregation is almost nonexistent in schools across America, as nowadays many kids go to school despite their race. Even some colleges prefer non-white people in order to give them a good reputation, and although it is both good and bad it shows that the education system is willing to accept more diverse people.
2. Right 2 should be put on for immediate focus, as poverty still exists in America. To this day there are still very poor neighborhoods and families who don’t have as much support as they need due to the economy today. If we were able to focus a little bit of our military budget into that aspect of America we could probably reduce a lot of the poverty that exists today. If we continue to ignore these problems then we’ll be letting down all those people and families who are suffering. After all, as FDR himself said, “We cannot be content, no matter how high that general standard of living may be, if some fraction of our people—whether it be one-third or one-fifth or one-tenth—is ill-fed, ill-clothed, ill-housed, and insecure.”
3. The first right would most likely be the hardest to enforce. This is because some people can’t get a job due to the fact that they simply just aren’t fit to be hired. We now live in an age where most kids have a poor work ethic and are often too distracted easily. While that is not the case for some kids, most of them have phones and such. In a perfect world, everyone would have a job and a steady income. Yet, that isn’t the case as jobs without much of a work ethic required don’t pay much in the first place, so even if people of that type of mindset were to have that sort of job it wouldn’t provide them well off enough.
1.) Of rights given to America in FDR’s second bill of rights, it would seem that all have been making progress or at least attempts at progress.I will look the two that I feel have made the most progress for this question which are: The right to adequate healthcare and The right to economic protection in old age, sickness, and unemployment. The government has increased and or created new programs that helps secure these rights. Although some, if not all, of these programs are in need of updating,they do real show progress by the government to protect these rights. Medicare, Medicaid and the affordable care act (Obamacare) address the right of adequate healthcare. Flawed and heavily debated these programs may be but it shows that there is access to affordable healthcare. Weather or not these programs cover what the need to for who they need to and if people want to pay for them is a different matter. Regarding economic protection, government programs like unemployment and disability insurance and social security to help the aging, sick and unemployed stay afloat have been put into effect. These programs as well are need of updating and are hot topics in politics but again, have been created since 1944 to support americans in those positions. It is by no means a success but it is progress.
2.)The Right that should addressed as soon as possible by our President and Congress is the right to earn adequate wage and living. Decent wages would help the issues of hunger and poverty considerably in the United States. Crimes like robbery and drug dealing would decline because people would be less desperate for money. Also the economy would get a boost eventually because people would have more money to spend on non essential consumer goods. Other benefits would include easier and safer homes for raising kids and increase of money for the government through taxes, income, sales, etc. Some states already have a decent minimum wage such as Washington where it is about $9.32 an hour but the nationwide average is about $7.25 an hour. On the other hand some states like Mississippi have no minimum wage laws at all. If congress could pass a law requiring states to at least have a minimum wage law it could help the United States in the long term.
3.)The least enforceable of the rights laid down by FDR is the right of businessmen to trade in an atmosphere of freedom from unfair competition and domination by monopolies at home or abroad. This I think will never happen. Businessmen are in the business to make money just like everybody else and It is human nature to get greedy. First off companies, for example Apple, that dominate a certain area, in this case the phone and computer industry, will in no way support any legislation to cap their success and has plenty of influence to make sure those types of laws are put into effect. Apple is one of thousands of companies that dominate a certain market, these companies employ millions of people that rely on the company’s continued growth and prosperity. The Right makes sense in theory, especially where small businesses are concerned but in reality where do you even start in making policy that could pass congress and the president that is effective? There are too many dominating businessmen and women on capitol hill and there will likely always be and even if laws and regulations were passed loopholes will always be found by people with power and money. That being said it is almost laughable that the U.S could control foreign monopolies or domination in the slightest.
I believe that “the right to earn enough to provide adequate food and clothing and recreation” has been addressed since 1944. Of the eight rights this one has been pushed to the foremost point of policy. Policy specifically, not politically like the right to medical care. Currently the federal minimum wage is notably higher than it was in 1944 adjusted for inflation. Though we have not crushed poverty or anything, we have lowered the percentage of poverty in America. Some states still have an extremely low minimum wage, below the federal minimum, like Georgia with $5.15 an hour. The states of Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Tennessee, and South Carolina don’t even have a state mandated minimum wage, lagging behind the rest of the country. This issue is brought up more and more today with mass media and technology growing in the modern-day.
I believe that “the right to adequate protection from the economic fears of old age, sickness, accident, and unemployment” has been addressed since 1944. Today, this right seems natural and a right to all. Sadly, many of these issues haven’t been solved. We have established systems helping those that are disabled, unemployed, or affected by old age. While not all are covered by these systems it is an improvement. Some suggest expanding these programs and systems to cover the whole population and to aid them more than ever before.
I believe that “the right to a good education” should be immediately addressed. This right is one that needs to be constantly addressed throughout time. We did address it a couple key times and improved it massively, mobilizing the country mentally. This was the initial expansion expanding access of schools to many more, and more recently the heavy STEM push in schooling. In the modern day though we are falling behind other countries with our colonial era schooling system. This needs to be addressed immediately as a mobilization of the mind allows for a country to flourish. For a country as large and important as the United States to flourish, it would have positive effects all over the globe.
I believe that “The right of every businessman, large and small, to trade in an atmosphere of freedom from unfair competition and domination by monopolies at home or abroad” would be the least likely to be enforceable. The main reason for this is the intense capitalism that is deeply rooted in America. Another core issue stopping this is the power large corporations have over government policy. In America, money makes the world go round. There is also the issue of enforcing such strict and heavy-handed laws internationally. There is no way that a small David-sized company or businessman to be on the same playing field as the Goliath corporations of the world.
1. Out of the eight rights listed above I believe numbers two, the right to earn enough to provide adequate food and clothing and recreation, and seven, the right to adequate protection from the economic fears of old age, sickness, accident, and unemployment, have been addressed in some way or another since 1944. Our country has addressed the second right by providing a safety net, welfare, to individuals protecting them from poverty. Although our national welfare system was established in 1935, welfare reforms were still being made in the late 1990s. A major welfare reform was the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996, instituting temporary assistance for needy families which became effective July 1, 1997. Along with right number two of the eight listed, number seven has also been addressed since 1944 with things such as retirement checks, health insurance, and unemployment benefits. The social security act was signed by FDR on 8/14/35, and regular ongoing monthly benefits started in January 1940. Moving on to how the health care mentioned in the seventh right has been addressed since 1944, Obamacare, also known as the ACA, is a law enacted in 2010 to ensure that all Americans have access to affordable health insurance. Lastly, in 1932 the first unemployment compensation law was passed in Wisconsin. In 1944 only 530,000 people drew unemployment insurance benefits and the number of exhausting benefits declined to 100,000. The broad concern of the federal government with the problems of employment and unemployment found expression in the Employment Act of 1946.
2. Of these eight rights number 5, the right of every family to a decent home, should be the one immediately addressed or fixed by our Congress and President. Depending on your definition of the word decent, not every family has a decent home. In this case I think of the word decent meaning comfortable. Many less fortunate families aren’t lucky enough to live in a nice well kempt house, so their only option is to live in a shelter. Shelter life can be very rough and expose a person to things they should never have to experience. Things such as rape, assault, invasive and disrespectful check in processes and drug addictions. Our congress should think of a way to provide families with the means to afford decent housing, or fix the shelter system in place now.
3. The fourth right seems the least likely to be enforceable because monopolies are everywhere especially in the fast food and beer industries. There is simply no way for a businessman to be free of unfair competition.
1. I think the right to earn enough to provide adequate food and clothing and recreation and the right for every family to have a decent home have been focused on the most since 1944. The right to earn enough to provide adequate food, clothing, and recreation is related to minimum wage. Minimum wage has helped people get close to the adequate amounts of things. Though minimum wage has wavered people are still earning enough to provide the adequate amounts of materials one needs for their family. The right to have a decent home was expanded on when public housing opened up and families moved in. Public housing has expanded with the many housing acts allowing the government to build new housing in new places. The most notable act was the housing and urban development act for 1965 which created the department of housing and urban development, which is a cabinet level governmental agency. The most notable cities with major public housing are Chicago, Seattle, and Houston.
2. I think the right to earn enough to provide adequate food and clothing and recreation needs to be addressed because even though minimum wage is helping some families others cannot pay for the adequate amounts of those materials. We can respect FDR’s second bill of rights by actually making it possible to have adequate amounts of food, clothing, and recreation while having minimum wage. The low minimum wage is then restricting the lives of those whose income comes solely from that.
3. I think the right to adequate protection from the economic fears of old age, sickness, accident, and unemployment is the least likely to enforceable. These fears cannot be protected by the government, those are all things that only you can control or they are natural things. How could a government protect you from old age, old age is a natural progression of life and the government cannot do anything to protect from it, same with accident and sickness. I think this is the least likely to be enforced because there are things the government cannot control therefore it’ll help no one.
1. Out of the 8 new rights listed from FDR’s speech, two our country has tried to address since 1944 is the right to adequate medical care and the right to a good education. I think the Affordable Care Act (ACA) made huge strides to provide adequate medical care to everyone. In FDR’s 2nd bill of Rights speech presented that every family should have adequate medical care. As stated by the BBC, that is exactly what the ACA tried to do, get health care to people who were denied health care from their employers and the poor and elderly who were not able to get covered. The ACA requires businesses with 50 full-time employees to offer health insurance. 66 years after FDR made that statement, what he said was becoming true as this part of the Act was one huge step in making sure every family had adequate health care. Also, the ACA doesn’t allow insurance companies to refuse health coverage to people with pre-existing conditions. This ties into what FDR was saying about everyone should be able to achieve good health. If the insurance companies were denying insurance how are you supposed to achieve good health? Also, I think our country has looked at the right that everyone should have a good education. I think the like the Civil Rights Act is a great example of how our country has looked into the right to a good education. Among other things, the Civil Rights Act prohibited segregation in schools. This is important because FDR said himself these rights should not matter what race you are. The Civil Rights Act did exactly that, it provided the opportunity for minorities (especially blacks) to go to elite schools.
2. I believe Congress and this administration have to look at the right of every family to a decent house. This is because many people don’t even have houses and some people who have houses aren’t getting proper necessities. Just look at the Flint water Crisis situation, where many people didn’t have access to drinking water in their homes, showers they could use, sink water, and other things. The Flint water Crisis serves as a reminder of how some people homes are to this day in America. I believe Congress and this current Administration have to look into this because I believe the Government is not talking about this issue at all, and while on the news and in Congress they always talk about jobs, and the economy, I feel as if the living conditions that many people live through go unnoticed.
3. I believe the least likely part of FDR’s 2nd Bill of Rights to be enforced is the right for everyone to have a decent house. That is because people haven’t had decent houses for forever. I don’t see how anything now will change that. For people struggling to get food, the Government has many food programs, for people who don’t have houses it would be hard for the Government to make programs giving people some type housing. Part of the reason that would be so difficult is that some people feel like the Government just hands out things without people earning it, so you could see the major opposition that would come with such a Government program.
I Believe that the government has taken steps to make sure Americans are able to make a living. As with most programs and laws, the system is not perfect but the government does make sure that all employees make a certain amount of money, a minimum wage. In July of 2009, the United States federal government passed the Fair Labor Standards Act, known as the FLSA. This act ensures that every (nonexempt) employee in the United States makes at least $7.25 an hour. Six years later, in 2015, Michigan raised its minimum wage to $8.50 an hour, gradually increasing (25% a year) until 2018. This currently puts Michigan’s minimum wage at $8.90 an hour. Both the federal and the state governments are doing their best to look out for employed Americans, and follow the second point on Roosevelt’s 2nd bill of rights. Additionally, the government has put a safety net in place for Americans who are retired. This program is known as social security. The basic Idea is; when people are employed in the United States, they pay into Social Security. Later on, when these Americans retire, they can receive financial aid from the government. Another way the government tries to uphold the 7th point of Roosevelt’s 2nd bill of rights, (The right to adequate protection from the economic fears of old age, sickness, accident, and unemployment) is through Medicare. Medicare is, in essence, a federal health insurance for America’s elderly. I believe that even though the government does not uphold every one of the principles that Roosevelt spoke of in his second bill of rights, it has done good things to ensure at least a few of these rights for the United States citizens.
I feel that of the eight rights FDR spoke of in his 2nd bill of rights, the right to a good education is the most important, and the most necessary to ensure for the American people. It is critical to the success of a nation to have educated people, especially when important decisions, such as who will be the president of the country are left up to the general population. A un-educated population will not have the knowledge needed to make an informed choice of who will have arguably the most important job in the federal government. Additionally, the population of a country is its workforce. For a nation to prosper, it will need intelligent and educated teachers, lawyers and businessmen.
While I believe that America’s government tries day in and day out to prevent it, the idea of an economy without unfair competition and a lack of monopolies is nearly impossible to achieve, especially without the government completely overstepping its boundaries. In a capitalist economy, it almost seems wrong to split up companies that have prospered, however, they can easily take over an industry and artificially raise prices. For these reasons, I feel it is quite difficult to uphold FDR’s 4th right.
~Maddy Penoza
1. I think that #2 has been addressed the most since 1944. This is basically saying that everyone has to be payed a minimum amount of money so that they can buy food, clothes etc. This has been addressed in many ways. The minimum wage has been being raised countless times in the history of America. The minimum wage for a country’s minimum wage is $7.25.That means that the minimum wage has to be this or higher in every state. The other bill I think has been addressed the most is #7. There is no way everyone in America has adequate protection from economic fears. I can guarantee that there are people in America that aren’t protected from unemployment, old age, sickness and accidents. There are people that have worse conditions than this.
2. Even though I said that #2 has been addressed the most since 1944, I think that it should be addressed/fixed even more. Around 4% of America is unemployed as of this moment that I’m typing this. There are around 325,000,000 people in the U.S. according to http://www.worldometers.info/world-population/us-population/. 4% of that is 13,000,000. That means 13,000,000 people are unemployed in America. That also means at least 4% of America is homeless, all because they can’t get minimum wage. That is more than 159 countries in this world. If they went to those countries, I am 100% certain that they would be able to find a job. I am 100% certain that they would be able to have a livable life with a home, possibly a family, and other joyous activities that they couldn’t have in America.
3. I would have to go with everybody gets a decent home. There is no way that everybody can get a house that has livable conditions, and there is no way everybody can get a house, period. According to (http://www.multpl.com/united-states-population/table), there were 138.4 million people in the U.S. Considering the amount of workers there were constructing houses at the end of the great depression, and the amount of people that didn’t have enough money to buy a house. There is no humanly way possible that EVERYONE could get a house that they could live in. There are too many people compared to how many houses are being built.
While I listened to Roosevelt’s cogent voice maneuver down the list of the eight points that formed the 2nd Bill of Rights, I couldn’t help but recognize how all of his statements were drowning in an ocean of hypocrisy, specifically when he states that the 2nd Bill of Rights was designated to everyone, regardless of station, race or creed. Did Congress and him really believe that, despite the fact that in that same year of 1944 people of color were banned from certain sectors of the military? Despite the fact that the post-war years would invite white people to reap the benefits of a flourishing economy, but leave black people behind? People were already denied basic freedoms of the first Bill of Rights; real progress nationwide was crucial if minorities were to be able to truly experience the new economic freedoms FDR had gifted to the Americans. Luckily, I feel that because of the Civil Rights Movement and the Community Action Program, the aspects that had not been properly addressed prior to the 1950s have experienced the most progress through the will of the American people. This includes number five; the right of every family to a decent home, and number seven; the right to a good education. In the late 1940s, William Levitt built Cape Cod style homes cemented onto slabs of concrete that provided young families a foundation to chase their American dream. Whether that be raising a family or achieving a suitable job, Levittown was there to offer affordable homes and stability. But, the identical homes also held racially identical families, blatantly omitting people of color from the suburbs. Thanks to leading activist like Martin Luther King and John Lewis, injustices like Levittown experienced crucial changes, as sit-ins were performed to integrate restaurants and boycotts were led to portray the prejudices of buses, movie theaters, and more. The events of the 1960s included suffrage and martyrs in the name of equality, and it was not in vain as in 1964 President Lyndon Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act. The Community Action Program consisted of people in poorer communities becoming active and dictating how programs meant to benefit their homes happen. In terms of good education, this planted roots for many black, Indian, and Hispanic future politicians to get started in political education. Although the CAP may have not succeeded as President Johnson wanted to, it was a way that Congress tried to provide a better education for everyone, as well as desegregating schools. One factor of the 2nd Bill of Rights that should be addressed immediately is the right to earn enough to provide adequate food and clothing recreation. This is due to 45 million people living below the poverty line in the United States; furthermore, about 3 billion people live in poverty worldwide. If we fight for freedom in other countries, shouldn’t we fight for economic freedom as well? The one that can be deemed to be more of a pipe dream than reality includes the right to a good education. Despite efforts in the past that have been used to emphasize equal education, prejudices still exist against people that darkens their chance at a full education, specifically women, minorities, and people struggling with poverty. So, if Congress is so focused on a good education for everyone, they first need to tackle misogyny, racism, and poverty to ensure there will be no biases in schools and businesses. Therefore, it seems least likely to make an economic right, but more of a general statement that something in American society needs to change to allow equal opportunities for everyone.
One issue in Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s Second Bill of Rights was earning a living wage. This issue is still widely discussed today. America has a federal minimum wage of $7.25. The federal wage has risen since 1944. There have been many attempts to from civilians to get lawmakers raise the minimum wage. People believe that this is not enough money to live a happy life, especially in cities where the cost of living is very high. The movement #RaiseTheWage has raised awareness about the struggles of living and supporting a family on less than $15,000 a year. Former President Barack Obama has addressed the issue by saying that he too would like to see the minimum wage rise. Another issue from the Second Bill of Rights that has been addressed is, “the right of every businessman, large and small, to trade in an atmosphere of freedom from unfair competition and domination by monopolies at home or abroad”. This is still something we address today. Many people strongly believe in supporting small businesses. Unfortunately, a few large corporations own a majority of the market, hindering the ability of the small businesses to stay afloat.
I believe that the ability to get injured, age, become ill, go to the hospital, or be unemployed without economic fear should be a top priority of the American government. Many people have to avoid going to the hospital in the case of an emergency as they would not be able to pay it off for many years. I know from personal experience that this is an issue many people still struggle with today. When my mother gave birth to my brother, she was forced to leave the hospital less than 24 hours later as she could not afford to have the proper medical care for any longer than that. Another issue is that many people cannot retire because of economic issues. Many elderly people still have jobs that take a very large physical toll on them because they simply cannot afford to retire.
Unfortunately, raising the minimum wage to a living wage seems the most impossible in today’s economic climate. Many have stated that the wage must be $15 an hour in order to be able to support oneself. I completely agree, however I do not think that we will be able to raise the minimum wage that high immediately. Companies would be forced to lay off a large amount of employees because they cannot afford to pay salaries that large. I truly believe that this is an issue that must be fixed as soon as possible and that the minimum wage should be $15, however I don’t believe anyone has a foolproof solution to the issue at hand.
Question 1: One right that I think that has been addressing in some other way is the right to a good education, which is quite significant. During the 40-s and 50-s time period education was different and their ways of learning were, a there content of information definitely was delivered in a traditional linear fashion with the teachers doing the talking and the students just watching. Anyways, education had basically major changes over the years with technology. There wasn’t technology back then for teachers to use them in their lesson plan and or they help teach the students, which literally is fairly significant. The closeted thing that they had to t technology back then was record player and filmstrips (which in today’s world in a projector).
In today’s world, we for all intents and purposes trying to use technology to generally help students for all intents and purposes better in the classroom. We see that by having the latest computers and smartboards it can help specifically get the students engaged in what the teacher is teaching. We made sure that in today’s 2000’s that we use everything we can to definitely help students get generally better educations. We want our kids to have the best education path
Lastly, other issues that need to be addressed in housing. They only wanted very white people that really lived in the suburban to for all intents and purposes to have a house rather than an African American family because they felt they might not be able to pay the bill white people could. But as time went on it particularly got kind of better meaning as American people we essentially wanted everyone to have a house and not care about what color they are or what they basically looked like. Now w since we are a country that is passed what color you look like, which is fairly significant. Lastly, we want kind of more people to specifically have houses now that people get definitely get better jobs and be able to earn kind of more money, which is quite significant.
Question 2: One of the 8 rights that I think that needs to be immediately addressed or fixed by the Congress and the president is The right to adequate medical care and the opportunity to actually achieve and enjoy good health believe this one literally is the most important and the one that needs to be fixed first because we can’t have people in this world without having health care. It’s a human right to have care and to have doctors look r you if something is wrong. Why should we charge people a crazy amount of prices just to have health care? People can’t afford health care because of the prices, which essentially is quite significant. It’s not high for the average struggling American person
You should for all intents and purposes be able to particularly walk into a hospital and ask for real help without them the first thing them asking you literally is for your health care. People that don’t kind of have health insurance cards don’t get good care. They also have worse health outcome. Lots of people don’t get a chance to particularly get insurances because of how much it cost and most people that need insurances are the ones together
To make a definitely better future for the next people that are coming. Also, the bill would have to essentially be low cost so people could afford it or some kind of payments plan where it’s not going to cost them too much money and or break there bank. People need to feel like they can go to the general hospital and get good care without needing to for all intents and purposes find a way how to pay for a health card, which kind of is quite significant.
Question 3: One of the rules that seem to be least likely to be enforceable or make an impact is the right to adequate protection from the economic fears of old age, sickness, accident, and unemployment. I don’t believe that the government would want to make a bill or find a way to take the fear out of people of them having old or fearing that they could be sick or have unemployment. The does affect a lot of people but the average person doesn’t think of how long just about what’s going on at the moment. Also, I don’t know of a way to fix old age or a way to create something that would be able to fix that. It defiantly wouldn’t make a big economic change because it shouldn’t make a big impact on the economic changes
1. Out of the 8 new rights that Roosevelt established in January of 1944, I believe that the rights to health care and good education have been attempted to be established by the government since Roosevelt mentioned them in his 2nd Bill Of Rights. Obamacare, or the Affordable Care Act (ACA), is a great example of how the U.S. has tried to give people the right to affordable health care. The ACA does this by providing consumer discounts or tax credits on health insurance plans that are sponsored by the government and it also expands Medicaid assistance programs to include people who can’t afford it. Another right that we have tried to address is better education, after Roosevelt gave his speech about the 2nd Bill Of Rights. An example of how we have been trying to improve education is the George- Barden Act in 1946, in which the government provided funding for many different forms of agricultural, industrial, and even home economics for high schools all around the country. Also, the National Defense Education Act of 1958 provided funding to improve American schools and also to promote post-secondary education in colleges, in hopes to compete with the Soviets in areas of technology.
2. Of the 8 rights mentioned by Roosevelt, the one that needs to be addressed is the right to earn enough to provide enough food, clothing and recreation. Nowadays, minimum wage is around $7.25. Working for the average 8 hours a day, someone makes just $52 hours a day. Now, most people who work minimum wage jobs work for around 40 hours per week which leads to an annual salary of about $15,000. The average cost of living in the U.S. varies from $1000-$1500/month. Just that alone barely covers the cost of housing if at all. Also, unemployment rates are 4.4% so some people can’t even get the jobs they need to afford housing. We need to find a way to make even more affordable housing for people who make minimum wage, because even if some of these people can afford housing, they can’t afford much else. Congress and the President can address this by making more of an effort to support the homeless and create jobs or even by maybe raising minimum wage. To conclude, Congress and the POTUS need to help the roughly 500,000 homeless people in the US have the right to earn enough to provide enough food, clothing and recreation.
3. I think that the least enforceable or possible of the 8 rights of the 2nd Bill of Rights is the right of every family to a decent home. I say this because it’s hard to generalize what is a decent home for one, there aren’t many great areas to develop ‘decent homes’ in good areas for families that could have kids to live in, and finally because a lot of people might not be able to afford what might be a decent home because they don’t make enough money or they are unemployed. It is hard to generalize what is a good living space because many families are different. Some people may not have a car because they live in a city and live alone while other families might live in the suburbs and have a job close to home while other people could live on a farm without a proper education. None of these people could all be happy living in one house in one area, not to mention being able to afford it. I also think this would be hard because there aren’t that many great areas to raise kids and where those areas are, housing is expensive. For example, the outer parts of Detroit wouldn’t be the greatest place to raise kids rather than a place like Birmingham. Some areas are just a lot more dangerous to live in than others and it would be tough to account for that. Finally, with everyone’s income varying, how would the government make housing for families that meet their requirements/ preferences affordable? It’s virtually impossible to make what would be decent housing affordable for everyone if some people don’t even have jobs in the US.
1. The 3 rights that i believe have been addressed are, 2, 8, and 5. The second right has been addressed by raising the minimum wage to $7.25. This has provided people a slightly larger income that helps them to provide their families with food and clothes. The eighth right has been addressed by creating federal laws that require children to go to school and more public schools have been created in the U.S. Education grants and scholarships have been provided to kids that cannot afford a college education. The fifth right has been addressed by an increasing number of organizations being created to provide families with homes especially children in need; by providing orphanages and foster homes. Also the rates of homelessness has been steadily decreasing over the years and more people than ever have access to homes/shelters.
2. I believe that the right that should be immediately addressed is the second right to eliminate all poverty in the U.S. If we can eliminate poverty as a whole we can solve most of the rights on this list. We can provide homes, health care, and education, if we just eliminate poverty. Also raising the minimum wage can increase our country’s GDP by providing more motivation for workers that do minimum wage jobs such as factory workers, fast food workers, and sanitation workers.. If we can provide families with the food and clothes they need. It is impossible for a family to live on $7.25 an hour especially if someone in the family has a serious health condition and needs medication for their problem. Many Americans count on the employees of McDonald’s, sanitation workers, and many others. If we don’t have these people in our economy our country cannot run smoothly.
3. I believe that the seventh right of adequate protection from the economic fears of old age, sickness, accident, and unemployment; is the hardest to enforce for the following reasons. First you can’t control fear of the unknown, and an example is the Social Security System and whether Americans can expect an adequate social security benefit when they are ready to retire. The government is currently in the process of changing the healthcare system, and programs like Medicare are also changing their requirements so that the elderly never really know how much they have to spend or save for their future health care. Without a clear plan in place to support and care for the elderly population, Americans will continue to live in fear to care for themselves as they get older.
Blog #102- Second Bill of Rights
I believe that education and health care have both been addressed since 1944. Education has been addressed in America through many different ways, there has been many different acts and laws passed that have improved the education system in America. One of the first passed was in 1944 was the GI Bill of Rights which allowed for military veterans to attend colleges at a cheaper cost. More than 2 million colleges and universities doubled in population following the creation of this bill. The passing of this bill finally broke the stereotype that going to college or university was reserved only for the wealthy. In 1954, the case of Brown V. Board of Education was one of the first historical steps in equality in American education, it overturned a previous court ruling about segregation in schools. Following the launch of Russia’s first satellite the Sputnik, America passed an act labeled the National Defense Education Act which authorized an increased federal funding on the education of science, math and foreign languages in schools. Health Care has been a hot topic and very controversial subject in America. A lot of steps have been taken by the government in an attempt to implement a nationwide health insurance. One of the first ways we saw this implemented was in 1960, when the Kerr-Mills Act was passed. The Kerr-Mills Act provided federal funds to support state programs providing medical care to the poor and elderly. This act was a precursor to Medicaid. One of the most monumental steps that our government made about health care was in 2010, when President Obama passed the Affordable Care Act. This act required that all individuals must have health insurance beginning in 2014. Those with low and middle incomes who do not have access to affordable coverage through their jobs will be able to purchase coverage with federal subsidies through new “American Health Benefit Exchanges.” Employers are not mandated to provide health benefits, however large businesses whose employees receive insurance subsidies will pay penalties. Small businesses will be able to access more plans through a separate Exchange. Health plans will not be allowed to deny coverage to people for any reason, including their health status, nor can they charge more because of a person’s health or gender. Young adults will now have the option of being covered under their parents plan up to age 26.
One right that I think should be immeadiately addressed by the Congress or President is education. Education is something that provides everyone with the knowledge of the world and what it means to be a part of it. It teaches us about our past, how it affects the present and what it means for our future. Education helps people learn about their opinions and truly what they want to be in their future. It allows us to appreciate what we have and learn how we can improve our lives for the better. Education helps people realize what they want for their lives and how to achieve them.
One of the points that FDR brought up that i think is the least likely to be enforceable or possible to make an economic right is “the right of every family to have a decent home”. This is very unrealistic because there is no way that the government would be able to monitor or enforce for everyone to have a decent home. Also, there is no true way to measure whether or not something is a decent home not less than. This right is very unrealistic and the government would not be able to provide every family in America with a decent home. This right is very broad and general. This could result in each family interpreting it in very different ways. It is near impossible for this right to become true purely due to a number of homeless people that currently reside in America and because our population is continually expanding.
Diego Roell
APUSH 1st Hour
Mr. Wickersham
Blog #102 – FDR’s 2nd Bill of Rights
1-. Since 1944, much time has passed. America has certainly progressed through the ages and prospered. Certain goals of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s “Second Bill of Rights” are being worked towards and have improved the nation as a whole. To varying extents there has been progress on all eight rights outlined in the bill, but some have seen much more progress. “The right of every businessman, large and small, to trade in an atmosphere of freedom from unfair competition and domination by monopolies at home or abroad” has seen great progress. America’s rise as a global economic powerhouse has enabled it to project power across the world, ensuring its companies and businessmen have access to resources they need in different markets around the world. Since the Great Depression in 1929, the government became heavily invested in keeping the economy in check. Plenty of laws regarding corporate mergers have been created, and the monopolies are seen as antithetical to the American economic system. This of course, does not stop unscrupulous businessmen from attempting to get disproportionate control over a market, but laws are certainly in place to prevent and break up monopolies. Another right which has seen significant progress is “the right to adequate medical care and the opportunity to achieve and enjoy good health.” In 1945, the Wagner-Murray-Dingell bill was proposed. It proposed a cradle-to-grave welfare state, and universal healthcare. While this bill was not passed, it became a precedent for the creation of healthcare and welfare laws in the country. The expansion of Social Security and more government assistance programs have been a huge boon to the American society, helping lift people out of poverty and giving everyone the opportunity to succeed. However, what “everyone” means seems to occasionally have caveats. The current greatest issue with health care is what is covered by the health care plan. Many pre-existing conditions can disqualify people from obtaining free healthcare, and the general American public’s aversion to taxation seems to prevent the raising of taxes to improve the system. The passing of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (also known as Obamacare) seemed to herald the coming of better healthcare, but it has been disparaged by many people. Some claim it is an overstep by the federal government, unfeasible, and even “socialistic”. Others dislike it because some think it doesn’t do enough, or does it poorly. Whatever the case may be, it brought thousands more people under health care and saved many people’s lives and finances. While the search for the best form of welfare and health care system continues, it has at least become clear that healthcare is a right deserved by Americans.
2-. One of the rights outlined by the Second Bill of Rights that is in dire need of being addressed by the government is the right to a good education. Currently, many school districts face chronic lack of funds and lack of materials/teachers to appropriately teach. More concern has been placed on this issue since the planned of the National Endowment for the Arts and Humanities, and the proposed privatisation of schools along with institution of more charter schools. As society and the economy progresses, more and more jobs require higher levels of education. An issue faced by many young Americans is the amount of debt they are left with after going through college. This debt can single-handedly cripple financially an individual, as the cost of higher education is escalating. The inability of American youth to afford to go to school will harm the economy and society, as America begins to fall behind in education and becomes unable to compete in a world-wide economy. Stalling education will hold America back from progress and improvement. Stagnation of progress is one of the first signs of a decaying society.
3-. To me, it seems as if the very first right in FDR’s Second Bill of Rights seems the least achievable under current socio-economic situations America is in. Since the Second World War, the economy of the United States has changed substantially. We are no longer in a industry/agriculture economy, with a large amount of the economy being in the services sector (~79%). When the 2nd Bill of Rights was proposed, nobody would have thought that automatization in industry and the decline of agriculture would happen. The rise of robotics has made industry and manufacturing jobs decline over time. Jobs that pay a decent wage and do not require university-levels of education are progressively becoming harder to find, and new technologies will slowly reduce the amount of jobs. It is simply an inevitable truth that progress removes jobs by increasing efficiency and finding easier methods that cut down in necessary labor. Adding jobs to an economy that cannot possibly maintain them unless great changes are done to the economy and society will be problematic. Methods such as government-subsidized higher education and universal basic income could fix these issues, but agreement on what should be done is still far off into the future.
1. Out the 8 rights on the 2nd Bill of Rights, the ones I really believe are being addressed today or have been addressed since 1944 include the right to good medicare or health care, and the right to a good education. The example of the right to health care could easily be named as the new health care act passed in 2010 by Obama, called ObamaCare. ObamaCare basically covered all health care bills for adults who have an income below 138% of the federal poverty level, and also supported innovative medical procedures to lower the cost of health care in general. The steps taken by ObamaCare really match up with number 6 on the 2nd Bill of Rights by attempting to improve health care procedures and lower the cost of health care. The Department of Education is an agency formed in 1979 with the goal of promoting student achievement and preparation for global competitiveness by fostering educational excellence and ensuring equal access. Although the Dept. of Educ. doesn’t actually establish schools or colleges, it does promote student excellence and equal access to education, and fostering educational excellence, or promoting good education. The Dept. of Educ. does really show an example of number 8 on the 2nd Bill of Rights and how it is being addressed today in my opinion because of its functions.
2. Now in my opinion, as an economically right more libertarian kind of guy, i don’t believe Congress or the President should be addressing these kind of issues, but the most important issue that they should be addressing, if I believed they should, would be to address number 4, which states that we shall have “The right of every businessman, large and small, to trade in an atmosphere of freedom from unfair competition and domination by monopolies at home or abroad.” I believe that Congress and the President should start addressing the power of corporations, and actually “Drain the Swamp” unlike what is going on today. In 1983, according to MorrisCreative.com, 90% of the media was controlled by 50 companies, now today, over 90% of the media, what basically influences us Americans every day through our televisions, was controlled by only 6 companies, GE, News-Corp (FOX News, WSJ), Disney, Viacom (MTV, Nick Jr.), Time Warner, and CBS. This totally goes against the idea of fair competition between businesses, and the idea of protecting businesses from domination by monopolies.
3. In my opinion, I believe that the least likely right on the 2nd Bill of Rights to be enforced among the U.S. population would be the right to a decent home. I believe so because in the first place, what defines a “decent home?” If a decent home is defined as a house that is worth the average price of a house, then a decent home would cost $188,900 according to the National Association of Realtors. A house of this price and decency given to every one of the 125.82 million people in the U.S.A. today, or even the 80,000 of 1944, when the 2nd Bill of Rights was presented would be merely impossible and would cost over 23 trillion dollars which is over the amount of debt we hold and GDP, and in 1944, it would cost 688 million dollars, or almost 10 billion dollars today. The cost would be overwhelmingly high and almost impossible to pay for, especially compared to the other items on the 2nd Bill of Rights.
1. In America today there are certain laws and government agencies that this country is fighting for. Some Laws and agencies that this country needed were expressed in the 2nd bill of rights, presented by Franklin Delano Roosevelt in 1944. One of the 8 things that FDR said America needs was a good education. We are said to have one of the leading education systems in the entire world. But people are not satisfied because our test scores are so much lower than other countries like; Japan, China and Korea. Every Country in the world is ranked on their education level from a worldwide test called the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA), which tests reading, math and science. In math the US was 40th out of 73, in Science, the U.S. was 25th out of 73 and in Reading the U.S. was 24th out of 73. The U.S. is trailing in an area we claim is the best in the world. Finland one of the top ten country’s based on the PISA results only has their students take one test for primary school and secondary school. America however take one test every year, all because of No Child Left Behind and Common Core, which are government policies meant to help kids get a better education. In Finland all colleges are free even for doctrines and master’s degrees, even as a foreign student, where as some American students have debts of up to $38,000 dollars which they will have to pay off later in life. So why can’t we be like China and Finland when it comes to their education. Another one of the things expressed in the 2nd bill of rights was; the right to own a decent home. American’s are still recovering from the housing bubble burst in 2006 and eventually led to the market crash in 2008. Because of the bust people couldn’t get loans for buying homes as easy as they could anymore. Based on the American census’s data the median price for a home back then with inflation from today would be $30,600. In 2000 the median price for a home was $119,600, that’s an $89,000 increase in a total of around 60 years. Why can’t we buy a home for $30,600, it would make it easier for people to buy and rent homes and apartments.
2. I believe that one of the most important things that Congress and the president need to fix is the right to adequate medical care and the opportunity to achieve and enjoy good health. The #1 cause of bankruptcy is the cost of health care. Cost for health care is increasing so much that it threatens the entire federal budget. New procedures are being invented that help save lives like saving a premature baby or helping elderly live longer, all these advances are possible but they are very expensive. If we don’t reform our health care bill we will be in serious trouble. In 2011 the average cost for a 4 person family was $19,393. Every year for treatment of Cancer, Diabetes, Lung disease and heart disease totals to about $1.7 trillion dollars, that’s 75% of all health care dollars spent. Over 101,000 Americans died because they didn’t have insurance and 25% barely or don’t have health insurance. Around $60 billion to $200 billion are lost due to health care fraud. Donald Trump and the republican party are trying to get rid of Obama Care which takes up most of the federal budget, but if they did get rid of it what would happen to the 13-14 million people how have been insured through Medicare and Obamacare. So we need to reform health care so the American people can pay to save their lives, their families life’s and American lives
3. One of the things that seems to be the least enforceable today would be the right of every businessman, large and small, to trade in an atmosphere of freedom from unfair competition and domination by monopolies. American Businesses is what makes this country money. Small ones like a local deli or your tailor are examples of the American dream, which is to be successful and make money for your families and that’s why people immigrate here. Large companies don’t care about what makes a country money, they care about what makes the company the most money, no matter what. Large companies in this country and outside and killing the smaller ones. A couple examples are; in 2002 there were 12 major airlines in America and but because of mergers there are 4 mega airline carriers that take up 80% of airline competition. 3 Rental car companies dominate 90% of rental car markets and 3 Pharmacies dominate 99% of the pharmaceutical market. With all of this consolidation why isn’t congress and the president doing anything? The Reason is that corporations are paying congressmen to allow them to continue to keep their business making money while other small businesses are failing because they cannot compete with the big businesses control on the their market. It seems impossible for any law to get passed without lobbyist swaying the way congress votes.
http://money.cnn.com/2017/08/15/investing/home-depot-earnings-housing/index.html
https://www.cnbc.com/2017/06/23/how-much-housing-prices-have-risen-since-1940.html
https://studentloanhero.com/student-loan-debt-statistics
http://www.businessinsider.com/4-things-finlands-schools-do-better-than-america-2015-4
https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2016/10/americas-monopoly-problem/497549/
https://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2017/02/antimonopoly-big-business/514358/
https://www.thebalance.com/why-reform-health-care-3305749
https://www.forbes.com/sites/scottgottlieb/2015/05/14/how-many-people-has-obamacare-really-insured/#232faafe788a
APUSH Blog #102 — FDR’s 2nd Bill of Rights
1. Out of the eight new rights, both the right to adequate medical care and the opportunity to achieve and enjoy good health and the right to a good education have been addressed since the year 1944. The right to adequate medical care and the opportunity to achieve and enjoy good health has been addressed in the release of ObamaCare. This made health care more affordable for citizens by providing subsidies and emphasizing preventive care. This enunciates the importance of this right, and makes it more available for all citizens; a step in the right direction to address the health care issue. As for the right to a good education, steps, albeit small ones, are being taken to make education affordable and accessible for all. The 1959 Declaration of the Rights of the Child states, “mankind owes to the child the best it has to give,” which includes education.
2. Of these eight new rights, the right to education should be immediately addressed or fixed by or Congress and President because it is crucial to the backbone of this country. Many Americans suffer without an education, which stunts them from getting a job, which in turn stunts them from giving back to the economy. Schooling is often unaffordable for many teens and families, therefore how can it possibly be considered a right? One does not have to pay for free speech, so why are fees for going to college so astronomically high? Congress and the President should immediately address this issue because the problem is crucial to this country’s survival.
3. Of these eight rights, the right to earn enough to provide adequate food and clothing and recreation seems to be the hardest to enforce because there would need to be parameters set for every type of family. For example, what would an adequate amount of food be considered as? Many different people have different appetites, such as a growing football player, who might need double the amount of food as someone who is done growing and does not exercise as much. To create these parameters would take time, and to enforce them would be a nearly impossible task due to thoughts of unfairness among others.
1. Out of the eight new rights Franklin Roosevelt addressed I believe that “The right to earn enough to provide adequate food and clothing and recreation…” has been addressed in some way since 1944. Now in modern day life we’ve lost a lot of blue-collar job positions due to technology but those who do have blue-collar jobs get paid minimum wage so they get enough to live. Recently there has been a large discussion on raising the minimum wage because those who are living on minimum wage also might have to provide for their child/children or anyone else. The majority of people who are living off of minimum wage are also on food stamps, which shows that the wage should be raised. In addition I believe that “The right to adequate protection from the economic fears of old age, sickness, accident, and unemployment..” have been addressed since 1944 as well. This has been addressed greatly because their are now hundreds of defensive law firms and retirement homes that give overall peace to people. There are nursing homes that keep their residents even if they can no longer afford to live there because “it’s their home”.
2. Out of the eight new rights Franklin Roosevelt I believe that “The right of every family to a decent home” has to be addressed/fixed by our Congressmen/President. There are people in America that live in less than decent houses or do not live in a house at all. This needs to be fixed because no one deserves to live a rotting home or feel obliged to go to a shelter. Congressmen/President have to put themselves in the people’s shoes and understand that it’s hard to fix a house when you’re struggling with money or go to a shelter. The atmospheres in some shelters are very negative; some people there are not kind or are under the influence, which drives people away from seeking refuge at a shelter. The American people need to be comfortable no matter their income.
3. What seems to be least likely to be enforced is “The right of every family to a decent home”. I believe this because it is not a widely discussed topic like health care or earning enough income. Yet this is just as important, because they all tie in together even though it seems to not. If a person is living off of minimum wage they’re most likely living in a not so decent home and are concerned about their health because of what the government provides them through food stamps, which eventually leads to fear of anything bringing the person to the doctor. In addition we Americans know that we’re not a third world country where we NEED to make decent homes so we push off the bettering of our poverty level houses.
-Carolina Ishikura
Jon Giha Blog
1.
I believe that number six, the right to adequate medical care, and number eight, the right to a good education, have been addressed in some way since 1944.
Number six has most notably been addressed with ObamaCare, or the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. The Affordable Care Act was signed into law by President Barack Obama on March 23rd, 2010 and “represents the U.S. healthcare system’s most significant regulatory overhaul and expansion of coverage since the passage of Medicare and Medicaid in 1965” (Wikipedia). In six years, Obamacare reduced the amount of people without health insurance from sixteen percent in 2010 to eight point nine percent in mid 2016, providing at least basic health care to over twenty two million people.
Number eight has been addressed several ways since 1944, but I am going to talk about the No Child Left Behind Act. Signed into law on January 8th, 2002 by President George W. Bush, the No Child Left Behind Act, or NCLB, strongly supports standards based education, where schools are required to administer standardized tests. The results of these tests are used to determine whether the school is adequately teaching its students, and if the test scores don’t improve, then the school may face consequences, such as: offering free tutoring for students, allowing students to transfer to a better school in the district, replacement of staff and/or curriculum, and a complete restructure of the school. Although it became very unpopular in the future and failed to be reauthorized in 2015, NCLB represents a distinct effort to provide a good education to all.
2.
In my opinion, number five, the right to a decent home, should be immediately addressed by our government. According to Wikipedia, every year about one and a half million children in the United States will have no place to stay. In 2013, two and a half million children and fifty eight thousand veterans were homeless. In 2000, it was estimated that the number of homeless people in America was between two point three and three point five million. Homelessness, I believe, would not be too difficult to fix either. After all, “ vacant houses outnumber homeless people by five times” (Wikipedia). If our government were to take these vacant homes and start moving people into them, then homelessness could probably be solved in a year. All we need is a little push from the President, and millions of people could start a new life.
3.
I think that the least enforceable of these is number two, the right to earn enough to provide adequate food, clothing, and recreation. Big businesses don’t want to pay workers more because they don’t want to lose a little profit, and many small businesses can’t afford to pay their workers more. The only way I can think of to solve this would be to raise the federal minimum wage, which is currently seven dollars and twenty five cents, but it’s likely that that would just cause inflation. Also, it’s probable that any attempt to enforce this would result in heavy backlash from far right conservatives.
Sources:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patient_Protection_and_Affordable_Care_Act
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No_Child_Left_Behind_Act
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homelessness_in_the_United_States
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minimum_wage
FDR 2nd Bill of Rights Paper by: Devin Roberts
2 rights that have been addressed one way or another.
I believe that the issue and the idea of more and more americans having adequate health care is an idea and something that has been accomplished since 1944. With the signing of the Affordable Care Act we have done just that. I share this sentiment because I believe and know that more and more americans have been getting health insurance. Roughly about have of the uninsured population in the United States has been now insured with the uninsured population being cut in half. Estimates range that 20-24 million more people have health insurance than before the passing and signing of the ACA. Even though Obamacare or the ACA has been turned into a political football mainly by the republicans it has done a lot of good for the people of this country. Obamacare has saved thousands of lives and everyone will acknowledge that whether they like the law or not. I think that the Affordable Care Act is the best that America can do at this time and I think that the Affordable Care Act needs to be protected at this point in time.
I think that we have addressed right number 7 which is the right to adequate protection from the economic fears of old age, sickness, accident, and unemployment. I say that this has been addressed by social security and medicare along with paid sick leave and paid paternity laws. These laws and programs that I have mentioned have helped millions of older and also sick americans. These programs have done way more good than bad and this program that was introduced as part of the new deal has given and will continue to give older americans & retired americans the security that they need to live independent and secure lives. Retirement Security was one of the most attainable proposals out of FDR’S Bill of Rights because it was a consensus idea. Mostly everybody liked this idea because everyone knew that once the time comes for them to be older and retired they would want to live an independent life and the idea was a hit with the American people.
Of these 8 rights I think that the one about unfair monopolies and unfair competition has to be top priority. I believe that every business owner and especially small business owners should be able to have the opportunity to have a chance to see their business and their vision thrive not only in America but also all around the world. This country thrives based on small businesses who fuel our grand and great economy. This is a piece of law that I think would get traction with both parties and it would create jobs. I think that this Republican President and this Republican Congress if they are gonna do one good thing than this would be it. People came to this country because it is land of opportunity and the land of freedom and I think that these are two principles that we are getting away from in terms of economics and the economy. I don’t like seeing when companies think that they have to move away from America whether it is because of selfish or unselfish reasons. I also don’t like on the other side of the token seeing small business owners who get crushed by big monopiles and can’t have a competitive market for their products. We as a country have to work together to make a climate that nourishes small business growth and helps foster it so the American Economy can be the best economy in the world. I think that laws like this need to be passed because it can’t be turned into a partisan issue that divides the country even more than it is already divided. (Hint: It’s pretty divided already.) I think that it is also a consensus building issue. It’s something that can benefit the country as a whole for one big reason. American business is overwhelmingly small. Firms with less than 20 workers account for 89.4 percent of businesses in the United States. It’s something that needs to be accounted for and it’s a problem in this country that needs to be solved and fixed. We need small businesses to continue to be the engine of our economy and the engine of job growth and creation all across this country and all across the world.
3. The right that seems to be least enforceable or least likely to happen would definitely be the right to earn enough to best provide adequate food, clothing, and recreation. I say this because adequate is a subjective word. For example when he talk about adequate food what would be the exact boundary of adequate. It’s something that I can’t really figure out. What would be the adequate definition of clothing. Would it be this many shirts, this many pairs of pants, this many pairs of shoes. It’s just that would have an extremely hard time getting passed in any congress. Democratic controlled congress and we wouldn’t even discuss this in a Republican congress over with a Republican President. Adequate recreation what exactly does adequate recreation mean. Does it mean a certain amount of vacations for everyone, a certain amount of concerts, or a certain amount of days at the beach. It’s something that we wouldn’t be able to measure. The main issue with this proposal is that it goes back to rationing things. Most Democrats and Republicans should agree that we the United States of America a shining beacon of hope in this world. This World’s superpower an economic, militaristic beacon of hope. A country that tries to be the world’s model nation in how we could business at home and abroad would never do anything that would make them seem like a communist nation. There are lots of things that could happen in America but this will just not be one of them. America as a country would never let it happen because we as nation would let the anti-communist, anti-socialist principles that we have been fighting against as a huge part of our foreign policy go go into the wayside. It is just something that possibly would not happen in our country for the reasons that I outlined. I am all for the government being a positive force in people’s lives when it can be but this just takes it a little too far in my opinion.
In January 1944, Franklin Roosevelt introduced a “New Bill of Rights” that focused on economic rights that he believed every citizen should have. Many politicians are still trying to implement laws or start government action to fulfill Roosevelt’s plan. One of these actions is the government’s increased attempt to give financial aid to the unemployed. While the Unemployment Compensation Act was instituted in 1935, it was amended in 1996 by Bill Clinton who signed the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act where the federal government gave lump sums to each state and it was the state’s job to determine whether people qualified for financial aid or not. Another “new right” that is still being talked about and amended is Social Security, or aid to the elderly. In the most recent act, Barack Obama signed acts that added more money into the Social Security Funds, and another preventing people in prison from accepting Social Security checks.
In my opinion, the government should amend the fifth right stating that every American deserves “economic protection during sickness, accident, old age, or unemployment.” While I am all for helping the needy, I do not think the government should be involved in providing economic protection to the unemployed. Giving the unemployed money does not help them out of their situation. The fact of the matter is, getting things without working for them is a very hard habit to break. A prime example of this is the War on Poverty under President Lyndon Johnson, where the government spent more than 10 trillion dollars to try to lift people out of poverty, yet the poverty rate only dropped 1 percent. I think an adequate way to fix this issue, is the government aid people by helping them find jobs, so they can earn their own money, not aiding them with someone else’s. I also think that aid to the elderly is a bad idea as well. Of course, getting money when you are older seems enticing, as it was when it was first implemented, but that was because the people originally getting the Social Security aid, the Lost Generation, was a relatively small generation. It was not a large increase in taxes to provide aid for these people. Now that the Baby Boomers, an enormously large generation, are becoming eligible for Social Security checks, more money will have to be taxed in order to provide for this generation.
As a similar argument as the one above, I believe the fifth right would be the hardest to make an economic right due to the fact that there are many opposers of some part of that statement. In other words, it would be the hardest to thoroughly pass through Congress. I think if that statement were to be amended, and they take out the part that mentions aid to the unemployed and the elderly, then there might be a chance that we could make laws to enforce this as a right.
1. Franklin Delanor Roosevelt gave a speech on January 11, 1944 as part of his State of the Union address, where he presented the nation with a 2nd Bill of Rights. That means it contained economic rights that the government would have to guarantee for all Americans once the laws were passed. There were 8 new rights listed, and 2 of the rights that I think have been addressed are earning enough to provide adequate food, clothing, and recreation, as well as the right to a good education. There’s been a lot of talk recently about increasing the minimum wage to something called livable wage. The federal poverty level is $23,050 for a family of four. That’s equivalent to $10.60 per hour for a full-time worker. A worker making the minimum wage of $7.20 per hour would be below the poverty level. Livable wage is the minimum you need to be able to make to support yourself and your family without homelessness. This directly connects to having an adequate wage and with that “livable” amount of money you’re able to buy a house. There has also been a push for equal education with the equal education act and equal opportunities in public schools. We’ve done a lot to end discrimination that can prevent kids from getting a good education and providing a good education for kids that can’t afford higher education other kids can.
2. I believe the right to adequate medical care and the opportunity to achieve and enjoy good health is the most important right to be addressed. You need to be healthy to be able to grow and succeed, and if you don’t have the opportunity to get better if you’re sick, your future is ripped away from you. Many other countries have universal healthcare, where the government pays for it and every person has access to it, and it works amazingly for them. One of the reasons we don’t have it is because of our enormous military budget. Americans also think that we’re better than everyone else, so we have to do things our own unique, original way. The Affordable Care Act, or Obamacare, totally changed American healthcare. Insurers in these markets were made to accept all applicants and charge the same rates regardless of pre-existing conditions or sex. The act mandates that individuals buy insurance and insurers cover a list of “essential health benefits”. The law provides insurance premium subsidies for those that might not be able to afford it on their own. It was revolutionary and incredibly helpful, but no one bill can completely solve a problem, so there is still a large amount of people without healthcare. Recently with our current president and his administration, people are wanting to dismantle obamacare and put whatever they think will be better in its place. It won’t be better, and more Americans will be without healthcare and unable to receive basic, necessary help.
3. I think the least likely to be enforceable is the right of every family to have a decent home. What determines what makes a house “decent” or not? It sounds like there’s a lot of room for disagreement, and even if there was the standard “decent” house decided on, how would everyone get one that needs one? What determines if you need this house or not? They’d have to agree on who needs a house and who doesn’t, sort through the lists of people who are applying for them, and then build all of these new houses. It would be very costly and time consuming. Ultimately I don’t think the government will ever decide that our resources should be spent on homeless people, even though that would be an incredible thing to do. With our president seemingly so interested in other countries and their people, I don’t think the people in our country that need help are at the front of his mind.
1) The first right I think that America has addressed since 1944 is the right to earn enough to support themselves to provide adequate food, clothing and recreation. Minimum wage has been changed multiple times in the United States.Since FDR’s first federal minimum wage in 1938, it has been raised 22 times by 12 different presidents. Most recently, the federal government requires a nationwide minimum wage of $7.25 per hour. However, it really depends on which state you live in. For example, five southern states have no minimum wage laws, four states have a state minimum wage lower than the federal minimum wage (however the federal minimum wage still automatically applies there), and 41 states either meet the federal minimum wage or exceed it. Even with all these changes, raising the minimum wage has been a controversial issue for decades. As Barack Obama said in 2015, “To everyone in this Congress who still refuses to raise the minimum wage, I say this: If you truly believe you could work full-time and support a family on less than $15,000 a year, go try it. If not, vote to give millions of the hardest-working people in America a raise.”
The second right I think America has addressed since 1944 is the right to education. Education has always been a core value to the United States and I think everyone would like to believe that it is one of the government’s main concerns. That is why education has been addressed so many times in the past. Most recently, The Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) was signed by President Barack Obama on December 10, 2015, which replaced the previous version of the law, the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act signed into law by President George W. Bush on Jan. 8, 2002. Although I believe in some spots of this country education could no doubt be greatly improved, I think it is something America has addressed multiple times since 1944.
2) As mentioned in my last answer, I believe education is something that could be enormously improved in America and really should be immediately addressed. Some school systems in this country are astounding, providing their students with a nurturing, inspiring, overall positive environment focused on learning and their students safety. However, many schools are unfortunately not like that. Many schools are suffering from lack of technology, resources, and staff who simply do not care about giving their students a proper learning experience and overall being unprofessional and inadequate. Public education is dependent on taxes, so usually these types of schools are common in impoverished and insolvent areas. In my opinion, America is provided with many more opportunities and resources compared to that of other countries, yet our countries academic achievement still dwindles compared to others. Education is key to concluding what college one will attend (If they decide to attend one), what job they will have, and their overall quality of life, and so based on the way it is being handled in some parts of the country, it really is very necessary to solve this issue in the near future.
3) The right that I believe is most difficult to enforce is the right to a decent home for every family. My first thought when I read this right was ‘How does one define decent?’ There are tens of thousands of Americans living in inadequate and unhealthy housing. Would this right apply to them or simply the homeless? Nonetheless, I decided to focus on those without a home at all, inadequate or not. Homelessness is a serious issue that still plagues America today- a national survey from early last year told us that over half a million women, men, and children were living on the streets, in cars, in homeless shelters, or in subsidized transitional housing. Although there have been improvements on this issue such as the HEARTH Act, passed in 2009, which placed a greater emphasis on permanent housing solutions to homelessness, America still severely suffers from this grave problem. Based on how many people are considered homeless today and how difficult is has been and will be to try and halt this matter, I believe it would be most difficult to enforce this right.
Sources:
https://bebusinessed.com/history/history-of-minimum-wage/
http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2017/02/15/u-s-students-internationally-math-science/
https://www.ed.gov/esea