As the Second World War raged in 1944,
President Franklin Delano Roosevelt declared in his State of the
Union Address that the United States needed a plan to ensure peace
domestically and internationally by securing additional human rights.
These new rights would allow people to live free of fear, without
envy, and secure in their future. He called for, “a second Bill of
Rights, under which a new basis of security and prosperity can be
established for all...”
The second Bill of Rights proposed by
FDR included a right to; a useful and adequately paying job, adequate
food, clothing, and leisure, farmers earning enough to support their
families, an economy free of monopolies, a decent home, adequate
medical care, freedom from the economic fears of old age, sickness,
accident, and unemployment, and a good education. Together these
would free the populace to enjoy its Rights to Life, Liberty, and the
pursuit of Happiness, which are often denied to it by the
overwhelming avarice of multinational corporations and vulture
capitalists. For who has Liberty when they can't make enough to feed
their family's, and who has Life when they earn a slave wage serving
men pocketing four million every hour. When the wealthiest nation in
the world has succeeded in freeing its citizens from the tyranny of
poverty, leaving not a single citizen unclothed or unfed, the United
States will be ready to lead a peaceful revolution across the globe
as other nations follow its example.
Unfortunately, FDR died a year later
with his dream unrealized, and the nation was led aside into a
precipitous downward spiral with the deregulation and dismantling of
the Social State by President Reagan. His tax cuts began in 1981,
but those of '87 and '88 reduced the tax burden of the wealthiest
enormously, at the expense of social programs for the nation's
meekest. Economic inequality exploded over the next forty years as
the policies of Reagan, Bush, and Bush Jr. allowed the top 1% of
earners to vastly expanded their wealth at the expense of the public
good.
During the 2016 Democratic Primary
Bernie Sanders
took up the mantle of FDR by pledging to secure for every citizen
a second Bill of Rights. Political pundits have repeatedly
criticized Sanders for taking unpopular stances, with opponents
prophesying doom for the Democratic Party if he is their Presidential
nominee, but polling tells a different story.
The Affordable Care Act, passed by
President Obama and the Democratic party in 2010, was
unpopular almost the entirety of Obama's presidency.
It gained public support after Republicans tried to repeal it in
2017. The truth is, the populace liked the ACA all along, but they
didn't realize it. Even in 2015, with the
public disapproving of the Act 53% to 45%, they overwhelmingly
supported every key component. The public
liked that the law required coverage for prior conditions (85%),
included subsidies for low income families (75%), expanded Medicaid
(69%), covered children up to the age of 26 (68%), and created an
employer mandate (61%). People disapproved of the law because
Republican's
lied about its contents.
Bernie Sanders, and the second Bill of
Rights, are almost like the Affordable Care Act. His positions poll
well independently, but establishment pundits dislike him. Yet,
Bernie isn't an exact copy of the ACA, because in 2019 (even after,
or because, of his 2016 primary run), Sanders polled as the
most popular Senator in the United States.
What follows are a series of policies
and corresponding polls, which demonstrate the power of Sander's
platform. This is not to say that other Democratic nominees don't
support this extensive list of policies, but most do not. The
exception may be Elizabeth Warren, who, following Sander's lead, has
similarly emphasized her willingness to be FDR's political heir.
Even when candidates do espouse the following positions the question
remains: have the candidates always supported these policies, or have
they embraced them now they are popular? If so, who should voters
trust to implement them?
It may surprise many to learn which
policies are popular. For example, 54%
of the population supports a jobs guarantee (with 26% opposed),
like the one prescribed by FDR.
Another 75%
support government funded childcare for all, and 84% support paid
maternity leave. This isn't surprising
because, of
41 countries only the US doesn't have government mandated paid leave.
With the intrusion of tech companies
into everyday life 66%
of Americans support breaking up monopolies,
like Amazon and Google, while
50% support breaking up big banks with only 14% opposed.
Because the value
of the minimum wage has decayed since the 1960's
(and is only $7.25 nationally), roughly 67%
of the public supports an increase to $15.
Along similar economic reasoning, 85%
believe the United States should ensure safe, decent, and affordable
housing for all, and 56% of voters think the
government
should provide public utilities, such as public internet
(17% opposed).
On the topic of healthcare, Americans
are similarly progressive. Between
55% and 70%
of respondents support Medicare for All, while 84%
want the federal government to reduce the cost of prescription
medication, and 48% (with 39% against), say the
United
States should support medical debt relief.
To safeguard their retirement,
Americans believe the government should protect Social Security. With
dire fears of it failing, conservatives say the program should be
reduced, but 74%
say no reductions should be made. The most
popular solution (at 67%
of Americans): higher incomes should have to pay the social security
tax on all their wages, which are
currently caped at $118,500. American's
overwhelmingly do
not want to increase the age to receive
benefits (35%), increase Social Security taxes for all workers (34%),
or reduce benefits for those current under age 55 (39%).
In a clear
rejection of the Republican Tax Cut, Americans believe the wealthy
have too much power, and 73% would support
raising taxes on the wealthy, while 66% would support larger taxes on
big corporations. 54% would even support a radical program to
redistribute inordinate wealth from the wealthiest to the poorest.
Roughly 60%
of Americans support free state colleges, as
the cost of college has increased at three times the cost of living
since 1978, while
states have cut funding since the Great Recession.
Another 60%
support reducing the United States' reliance on fossil fuels,
and 46%
support (vs. 24%) ending cash bail and closing
private prisons.
Obviously, this website does not speak
for his campaign, but based on statements of Sanders, and a
review of the policy section of his website,
these seem like policies he supports. I attended his rally the day
before the NH primary (more on that in another article), and he,
along with the other speakers, mentioned many of these policies, and
others as well.
Democratic politicians need to stop
demonizing popular progressive programs, and instead remind
voters how much they already support them, with
the promise to implement them when they are elected.
That's how you win an election.
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