October 11

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:

Some of the key passages are as follows:
“It is our duty now to begin to lay the plans and determine the strategy for the winning of a lasting peace and the establishment of an American standard of living higher than ever before known. 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.
We have come to a clear realization of the fact that true individual freedom cannot exist without economic security and independence…People who are hungry and out of a job are the stuff of which dictatorships are made.
In our day these economic truths have become accepted as self-evident. We have accepted, so to speak, a second Bill of Rights under which a new basis of security and prosperity can be established for all—regardless of station, race, or creed.
Among these are:
1. The right to a useful and remunerative job in the industries or shops or farms or mines of the nation (since only 2-3% of the nation are farmers and less than 20% are in industry, this would have to change if this BoR / laws were implemented);
 
2. The right to earn enough to provide adequate food and clothing and recreation;
 
3. The right of every farmer to raise and sell his products at a return which will give him and his family a decent living (since so few of us are farmers now, this might change);
 
4. 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;
 
5. The right of every family to a decent home;
 
6. The right to adequate medical care and the opportunity to achieve and enjoy good health (did we just achieve this in 2010 with the passage of ObamaCare?);
 
7. The right to adequate protection from the economic fears of old age, sickness, accident, and unemployment;
 
8. The right to a good education.
All of these rights spell security. And after this war is won we must be prepared to move forward, in the implementation of these rights, to new goals of human happiness and well-being.  For unless there is security here at home there cannot be lasting peace in the world.”
Image result for fdr 2nd bill of rights

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.

Category: Blogs | 63 Comments on Blog #102 – FDR’s 2nd Bill of Rights
October 27

Blog #4 – Lots of Debt = Public discontent?

This past week we looked at the events leading up to the Constitutional Convention and included the debt-ridden, farmers’ rebellion known as Shays’ Rebellion that occurred in 1786-87.   Because of rampant inflation and other economic factors, former Revolutionary War soldiers couldn’t pay off their mortgages and were faced with jail time in debtors prison, seizure of valuable property or foreclosure on their homes.  To prevent the foreclosure of their homes, the farmers in rural Massachusetts, led by Daniel Shays, closed courthouses all around Massachusetts.  Only when a private militia (hired by the moneyed interests of Boston) opened fire on the mutinous men of the rebellion did it finally end. 

An event like this convinced those on the fence that a stronger central gov’t. was needed to deal with the systemic problems of the Articles of Confederation. 

Today, some groups like the Tea Party advocates (Tea standing for Taxed Enough Already) believe that we have drifted far away from this founding legacy of “small government” and that our current gov’t. is way too strong and intrusive in our lives. We see this intrusion in regulations on corporations and other businesses, excessive federal spending, and changes to health care.  Many of these groups appear to be grass-roots and decentralized, lack a specific political platform, have a little bit of party money and haven’t rallied around a national leader, according to The Washington Post’s survey of the nation’s TEA Parties published on Oct. 24. 

Virtually all of the 650 groups surveyed identified opposition to President Obama’s and the Democratic Party’s policies.  The groups also identified economics as a major concern,  and this is no surprise considering the country’s economic mess since 2007.  gdp_large

As you can see by the chart on the left, the US economy finally came out of its epic doldrums in 2008 in 2009 with some small signs of growth.  For the first two quarters of 2010, there has also been growth as well (3.7% 1st qtr., 1.7% 2nd qtr), but nothing major. 

As shown in the graph below in GDP growth/loss by states, Michigan and Florida had the worst GDP losses in 2007-08 (the yellowish states are the worst hit by this recession).  gsp_large(1)

In the summer of 2010, home foreclosures hit a record high of almost 270,000 homes in the 2nd qtr (2).  Some of these foreclosures have been questioned b/c it appears that many banks may have kicked people out of their homes w/o “reading the documents.”  According to Fox News, in the latest 3rd qtr, almost 290,000 homes were foreclosed, and the banks are on pace to hit 1.2 million by the end of the year (3). 

Like the farmers in Shays Rebellion, many homeowners have either lost their homes to foreclosure or seen the value of their house drop so significantly that the mortgage isn’t worth paying off (called an underwater mortgage).   Therefore, a number of people have walked away from their homes and let the banks have them.  Currently, over 1/2 million homes are owned by banks that aren’t even on the market (3). 

Tea Parties have complained a lot about taxes.  They’ve also complained, and rightly so, about out-of-control government spending. 

Taxes_1

If you ever wondered how much money is taken in by the government in taxes, here’s a breakdown:

The federal Government will take in $2.6 trillion for FY2011. The individual taxpayer — you — provides the bulk of this. Here’s how:
  • Income taxes contribute 45%.
  • Social security taxes are 34%.
  • Corporate taxes are only 12%.
  • Excise taxes and other make up the remaining 9%. (4)

How is it that corporations only pay 9% of our tax burden?  Maybe that’s where the gov’t. and Tea Partiers should look for more money. 

 Or maybe the gov’t. should do with less like the rest of us, especially those who are directly affected by the auto industry.  Would it hurt the nation terribly to cut all expenses by 1-2% for the next year?    It probably would, but how much has the government’s stimulus package really benefited the country?

The worst part about all of this is that when the country needs the two parties to work together to get us out of this mess, the parties are at a historical point of fighting with each other.  Not since the end of World War 2 have the two parties voted only for their own party’s programs and voted against the other party’s program.  Between 85-90% of each party’s members have voted for their own bills and against the other party (5). 

So, what do we do? 

Your question (pick two of the following):

1. Do you think an armed rebellion like Shays could happen today based upon home foreclosures or another source of discontent?  Why or why not? 

2. Why don’t you think the federal government is willing to cut expenses even slightly to either cut taxes or to reduce our federal budget deficit? 

3. What do you think the long-term consequences will be with so many homes being foreclosed, especially this year? 

 4. Do you think the Tea Party protest is just a one-time thing like the Bull Moose Party (1912) or the States’ Rights Party (1948)?   Or will it be around to be a real contender in 2012?  Why or why not?

250 words minimum. 

Take a look at partisan politics during the Jefferson and Madison administrations:

 

Sources:

1. http://www.bea.gov/newsreleases/glance.htm

2. http://articles.latimes.com/2010/jul/15/business/la-fi-foreclosures-20100715

3. http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2010/10/14/record-number-foreclosures-face-challenge-court/

4.http://useconomy.about.com/od/fiscalpolicy/tp/US_Federal_Budget.htm

5. Brownstein, Ronald.  The Second Civil War: How Extreme Partisanship has Paralyzed Washington and Polarized America.  Penguin Press, NY.  2008.

Category: Blogs | 58 Comments on Blog #4 – Lots of Debt = Public discontent?