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How About a Second Bill of Rights?

By: chuckiecorra Thursday September 2, 2010 2:38 am

How would it feel to be guaranteed, by law, the right to:

- Employment with a living wage
- Freedom from unfair competition and monopolies
- Housing
- Medical Care
- Education
AND Social Security?

A Second Bill of RIghts. Second Bill of Rights you say? That sounds crazy! Unbeknownst to many, a Second Bill of RIghts was actually proposed not too terribly long ago. Franklin Delano Roosevelt (FDR), ranked the #1 Greatest Chief Executive by a recent Siena College Poll proposed the idea in his State of the Union address on January 11th, 1944.

Here is an excerpt from the speech he gave advocating for enhanced individual freedom through this Second Bill of Rights.

We have come to a clear realization of the fact that true individual freedom cannot exist without economic security and independence. "Necessitous men are not free men." 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.

I’ll be honest, I don’t have any issue with our current Bill of Rights. They are, what I consider to be, the crux of our democracy today. Without these guaranteed rights, we would not live in the free society that we do in the present day and people would not have nearly as many opportunities for a successful and fulfilling life. However, the prospects of having rights to housing, medical care, and a job with a living wage seem rational and comforting. The original Bill of Rights ensured our political rights as citizens of this country. FDR’s proposed Second Bill of Rights, as he stated in his speech, would bestow upon the citizens of this country the proper Social and Economic rights necessary. . . .

Watercooler – Surf’s Up, But Watch Out for Earl

By: Rayne Wednesday September 1, 2010 7:30 pm

Surfers have been heading to the beach and hitting the waves all day, in advance of Hurricane Earl’s arrival along the eastern seaboard tomorrow.

Folks from southern North Carolina to as far north as Massachusetts should be working on tying down anything loose, preparing an emergency kit and checking their emergency exit strategy. Earl is expected to reach the Outer Banks tomorrow evening around sunset, fueled by a full day of solar energy. As you can see from the map of tropical storm winds from NOAA’s National Hurricane Center, Earl has quite a reach, so much so that the NHC has expanded watch areas:

GIVEN THE FORECAST TRACK…THE LARGE SIZE OF THE WIND FIELD…AND THE EXPECTED INCREASE IN FORWARD SPEED WATCHES AND WATCHES HAVE BEEN EXTENDED NORTHWARD ALONG THE EAST COAST OF THE UNITED STATES.

Hope our east coasters are prepared; there’s plenty of places here on the "north coast" to get away for the holiday weekend if Earl has messed up your plans.

But maybe you’re in flyover country and don’t have to worry about Earl like our friends on the east coast do. And maybe you’re nowhere near surfing unless it involves snow. Earl offers a reminder that we should all be prepared and have a plan ready in the event that an emergency occurs at home.

Here in my part of flyover country, preparedness means plans and kits for tornado-y summers and blizzard-y winters. What about you? What kinds of emergencies are you prepared for? And are you packing up now for Earl?

Do tell.

America’s Choice: Leave a Legacy of Hell or Bequeath Clean Air

By: Leo W. Gerard Wednesday September 1, 2010 4:30 pm

At the turn of the 20th Century, smoke meant jobs. When noxious fumes spewed from factory stacks, workers brought home paychecks. Industries hired. The future was bright as molten iron flowing from a blast furnace.

In industrial Pittsburgh’s heyday, the smoke was so dense streetlights remained lit at noon. White collar workers changed soot-covered shirts mid-day. The region’s residents suffered high rates of asthma and emphysema. In 1948, an inversion trapped industrial pollution in a small town south of Pittsburgh, killing 20.

Smoke also meant death and disease.

Now, however, good-paying industrial jobs need not exact untimely death from workers and their families. In fact, it’s the opposite. Development of clean renewable energy generators – the likes of wind turbines, solar cells, biomass – would create family-supporting industrial jobs in America and would reinforce traditional manufacturing jobs in the U.S., including those in steel mills, solar cell fabrication plants and wind turbine factories, such as those built by Gamesa in Pennsylvania.  . . .

Help The Victims of Pakistan’s Floods

By: James Parks Wednesday September 1, 2010 10:30 am

The AFL-CIO Solidarity Center is on the ground helping victims of the devastating floods. Here’s one way you can help.

Gay Marriage Delay is Good News…For President Obama

By: indiemcemopants Wednesday September 1, 2010 10:20 am

Putting a stay on any new marriage might hurt gay people and leave them without the same rights or status as other married couples for an indeterminate amount of time, but this is good for the President.

November 2010: Looking Into The Abyss

By: Bill Egnor Wednesday September 1, 2010 10:00 am

Nietzsche said”

“When we look into the abyss, searching for monsters, the abyss looks into us as well”

.

Right now we are staring the abyss in the face and there are indeed monsters there. This abyss is the elections this fall. The chance that radical Republicans will take over the House and perhaps the Senate has grown. The affect of constant lies from Fox News and Talk Radio have energized the Republican base. The limp leadership from the White House and from Majority Leader Reid has demoralized the Democratic base.

The passing of many of the Lefts long term wish list items, barely and with tons of ridiculous and galling compromise has created a situation where the Right is fired up and the Left is angry at its own leadership. The conditions are in place for a wave election and the wave is not likely to go the way that we Liberals are going to like in any fashion.

As Troops Leave Iraq, Why Is Obama Sounding Like A Neocon?

By: Jim Moss Wednesday September 1, 2010 6:04 am

Obama’s speech last night left no doubt that he has forsaken his base on the left (or is taking us for granted), and is instead working to please the moderate Democrats and independents who are in danger of being lost back to the Republicans. How else do you explain his continued drift to the center-right?

WV Primary: Anti-Mountain Top Removal Candidate Defeated by Gov. Manchin

By: chuckiecorra Wednesday September 1, 2010 5:50 am

Anti-Mountain Top Removal candidate Ken Hechler, not surprisingly, was ousted in the West Virginia special Senate election primary earlier this month. The state’s incumbent governor Joe Manchin III is set to face John Raese for the coveted Senate seat vacated upon the death of Robert C. Byrd

Watercooler – Wall Street To Pay Bonuses Early To Beat Expiration Of Tax Cuts

By: Jim Moss Tuesday August 31, 2010 8:00 pm

I’ve never understood why avoiding the draft to keep from fighting in a war is called unpatritotic, but scheming out of the taxes that pay for wars (and for everything else the government does) is usually considered smart business practice.

Chickenhawk-Fueled Anti-Muslim Hysteria Helps Terrorist Recruitment

By: Jim White Tuesday August 31, 2010 6:21 am

In a remarkable appearance on Countdown Monday evening, Evan Kohlmann provided a compelling explanation of how the anti-Muslim hysteria that is now calling for the Park 51 project not to proceed with the building of a Muslim center in lower Manhattan is a tremendous recruiting tool for terrorists.

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