FDR's Second Bill of Rights

The more I find out about FDR, the happier I am to see he didn't see his agenda pushed through. From his January 1944 speech to Congress comes ideas like these:

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.

The Declaration of Independence guarantees us opportunity, not outcome. I have to disagree with many of these "rights". The government needs to give us a level playing field but doesn't owe us anything. It is up to us to make our way, and prosper or fail according to our deeds.

Here is a link to the Second Bill of Rights from FDR.

Michael Moore, Blowhard

John Stossel has a great article about Michael Moore's new movie and starts with a single observation: "Michael Moore is confused."

Some problems that Stossel points out are:

• Moore says our problems began with Reagan but by the end of the movie he is saying it's because FDR didn't get to pass his Second Bill of Rights, which promised everything to everyone.


• He lavishes praise on Barack Obama and his "spread the wealth around" rhetoric. But Moore also demonizes as symbols of capitalism Clinton Treasury secretaries Robert Rubin (formerly of Goldman Sachs) and Lawrence Summers, and former New York Fed President Timothy Geithner without mentioning that Rubin has been Obama's adviser and that Summers and Geithner are, respectively, his chief economic guru and treasury secretary.


• He fails to acknowledge that Obama continued the bailout policies of George W. Bush.


• Moore declares capitalism evil, but he's never clear about what "capitalism" means.


• He uses the term "free market" as a synonym for what he doesn't like.

He also fails to define capitalism or socialism and asks Bernie Sanders, the only admitted communist in Congress, who gives a shifty answer about a government that represents the middle class.

Another excellent read from John Stossel.

You can find Stossel's article here.