I'm thinking that when FDR broadcast his economic bill of rights to a beleaguered population

[Luminous Animal]

it was pretty fucking amazing.



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.

This Republic had its beginning, and grew to its present strength, under the protection of certain inalienable political rights—among them the right of free speech, free press, free worship, trial by jury, freedom from unreasonable searches and seizures. They were our rights to life and liberty.

As our nation has grown in size and stature, however—as our industrial economy expanded—these political rights proved inadequate to assure us equality in the pursuit of happiness.

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.”<2> 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:

The right to a useful and remunerative job in the industries or shops or farms or mines of the nation;

The right to earn enough to provide adequate food and clothing and recreation;

The right of every farmer to raise and sell his products at a return which will give him and his family a decent living;

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 right of every family to a decent home;

The right to adequate medical care and the opportunity to achieve and enjoy good health;

The right to adequate protection from the economic fears of old age, sickness, accident, and unemployment;

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.

Americas own rightful place in the world depends in large part upon how fully these and similar rights have been carried into practice for all our citizens.

For unless there is security here at home there cannot be lasting peace in the world.

[upi402]

1. The right to adequate protection from the economic fears of old age, sickness, accident, and unemplo

Imagine...


k/r

[Luminous Animal]

2. Today our President gives an inspiring speech on the right to suffer.

[21st Century FDR]

3. Tragic that FDR was not able to complete his fourth term of office.

I believe he would have accomplished all of this in the years following World War II if he had survived. Of course the Repukes and DLC'ers would have spent the last 30 years tearing that down, just like they have the New Deal, but it would have been even more noticeable and perhaps more people might have woken up to it, and put a stop to it by 1984.

[slay]

4. Here we needed FDR and instead we got Nixon

or someone to the right of Nixon. I think Obama is smarter than Nixon - but he leadership sucks beyond belief.

[Luminous Animal]

5. FDR inspired people to fight for a better world. Obama castigated us for fighting for such.

[madrchsod]

10. yup..

[treestar]

14. Quit using FDR to bash Obama

FDR was white and from the upper class. There was a real depression which created more political will. Republicans of that era only went so far. The robber baron age was recent and there had been no comparable right wing revolution.

FDR had it easy compared to Obama.

[bvar22]

17. Are you REALLY going to try an sell that BS?...

Are you REALLY going to try and float the excuse that Obama can't fight for us because he is black? :shrug:

Good Luck.



Who will STAND and FIGHT for THIS American Majority?
You will know them by their WORKS,
not by their excuses.

[Sherman A1]

7. Agreed

[TheKentuckian]

12. Nixon was a very bright guy. He seems to have suffered from paranoia and was wrongheaded

but brains he wasn't short of at all.

Obama is a very sharp fella but I think his brilliance is overstated after Junior Bush and to a lesser extent the aftershocks from Reagan. Not to mention the threat of folks like Palin, Bachman, and "Man on dog".

The fuckwit Presidential candidate is a new deal and to be honest I don't see any special gear that Obama has over most past Presidents, including most Republicans. Certainly, I wouldn't attempt to use Nixon here. I have no indication he wasn't a higher level intellect. His downsides were more ideological, mental health based, and shitty temperament.

Obama's earned world class education, work ethic, and temperament are his big bonuses over most past Presidents rather than raw processing power. In fact, I'm starting to question my assessment because he demonstrates little on the adaptive intelligence chart. If he actually learns from his mistakes it has yet to show up.

[Luminous Animal]

15. That is a very interesting assessment. Thank you.

[Lorien]

19. Nixon was pretty far to the Left of Obama. We got Reagan

without the Alzheimer's.

[slay]

20. Yeah, I think you're right

i never EVER imagined Obama would be so bad that i would prefer Nixon. wtf has happened to this country.

[slay]

21. woops - double post

woops - double post

[libmom74]

6. We need another FDR, but I'll take Bernie Sanders.

How can we convince him that we desperately need him to run for president in 2012? I don't think this country can take 4 more years of Obama style "bipartisanship" and if the Repukes win it will be even worse.

[napoleon_in_rags]

8. Look at the compassion there.

What a time. You had FDR, you had Hitler, you had Gandhi. HUGE ideas were playing out on the world stage.

What really strikes me at the heart with FDR is this man with crippled legs, going out and telling the people of a country that felt crippled that they were worth it, that they had dignity and value... And manifesting that himself through his own moral endeavors in reaching out to them, sort of a feedback loop. You had quality Republicans back then too, dedicated to peace and commerce rather than war and cronyism. I would trade the whole pile of crap we have nowadays for any of those old time leaders, no doubt.

Its worth considering Gandhi too if you are talking about those times. What I like most about him is the sense of resolve he had, that the situation is bigger than him, its in God's hands, and you can trust that. You can trust the direction of history to be toward truth. We could all stand to remember that today. I'm thinking of the quote at the end of the movie they made of his life...For a time tyrants may seem invincible, but they always fall. Think of it, always. And after all that time, he's still right. Think of that.

[madrchsod]

9. my parents thought so

[slipslidingaway]

11. knr nt

[Overseas]

13. I thought the Bush Crash would finally give my Democratic legislators the courage to push for it.

Millions of voters who crossed party lines to vote for President Obama after the Bush Crash thought so too. They voted for the Democratic candidate because they knew we needed more New Deal thinking because the Tax Breaks for The Rich plan had failed miserably.

I thought the desperate condition of our people after the Bush Crash would make Medicare for All a major imperative for my Democratic party as soon as President Obama took office. Using the Shock Doctrine to bring about some good. To bring us up to the right to have national health security like other industrialized nations. They were wise enough, decades ago, to know that the times of economic turmoil ahead would be more bearable if their people were at least guaranteed free or low cost medical care.

They also knew that their people would feel better about paying taxes in general if those taxes paid for a basic human right like that. That's part of the US oligarchs' resistance to the idea-- it would make people feel better about paying taxes in general, and their effort has been to demonize taxes so they could get theirs lowered more and more. So that the mean government that tries to regulate them would be deprived of more and more revenue and they could run free and destroy America while enjoying life in their mansions overseas.

Let's hope that having exposed Republicans in all their cruelty, willing to crush low income heating assistance to save millionaires' tax breaks, will lead to Democratic majorities again, that will finally have the courage to acknowledge and fight to strengthen the original New Deal programs and go further to the second bill of rights.

[ProSense]

16. "it was pretty fucking amazing." Unless,

you were black or Japanese American.

Wonder what Obama would do with 70 Democratic Senators and a House Majority, or even with a dozen or more Republicans who support Social Security?

Different times!

[bvar22]

18. FDR hammered down the first barriers.

Maybe you missed this from the State of the Union Address of 1944:

"... 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 challenge YOU to find and post a statement making Racial Equality a Policy of the Democratic Party
that pre-dates FDR's statement of Democratic party Policy in 1944.

I CHALLENGE you,
and anyone else.

[sabrina 1]

22. It's really sad to see people on this board denigrating one of

the Democratic Party's greatest presidents out of a need to defend another, one who has yet to show that he will be remembered for anything other than selling out FDR's New Deal, brilliant policies that have saved the lives of millions of Americans.

I never, ever thought I would see a democrat try to denigrate FDR. What the hell is happening to this party?

[bvar22]

24. I feel the same way,

and posted a DIRECT CHALLENGE in post #18 ^ that has gone unanswered.

I will post that challenge again here:

Maybe you missed this from the State of the Union Address of 1944:

"... 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 challenge YOU to find and post a statement making Racial Equality a Policy of the Democratic Party that pre-dates FDR's statement of Democratic party Policy in 1944.

I CHALLENGE you,
and anyone else.

---bvar22 in post #18

So far, those trying to slime FDR as a "Racist" have FAILED to answer this challenge.

It is a fucking PITY that some here are reduced to attacking the best president of the 20th & 21st Century
and Revising History in the misguided attempt to somehow make their guy look better.

I have noticed these attacks on the increase since President Obama put
FDR's New Deal on the chopping block.

A crying, fucking PITY.

[sabrina 1]

23. What would he do with 70 Democratic Senators and House Majority"?

He would tell us that half of them are Blue Dogs and that is why he cannot get any progressive policies passed. How did FDR manage to bring all those Repubs on board? How did Humphrey do it for the Civil Rights Bill? Because they WANTED IT, it was NOT easy, it was HARD, but when someone believes in something, they are driven to get it done and that is catching and people end up wanting to be on the right side of things. It's called leadership.

So stop attempting to diminish the work it took to get these major policies passed. It's pathetic really to see people trying so hard to defend this president by putting down other democrats.

Obama got the HC Bill he wanted, or rather his corporate friends wanted, he said so. He fights when he wants something, he just doesn't want what we thought he wanted.

If Obama had been president during the Civil Rights era he would never have taken the steps taken by LBJ to get that legislation passed.

He's a nice guy, but he's a Conservative and he likes Wall St. Accept it, most of us have. Now we have to focus on Congress.