2nd Bill of Rights
 

Obama's socialist income redistribution inclinations have brought up fresh discussion of FDR's "Second Bill of Rights." Here's a nice liberal Rorshach test: which of these do you agree ought to be added to the Constitution?

none of them

agreed.

No takers from any Democrats/Obama voters? Not even the right to medical care or education?

I don't know that any of them need to be added to the Constitution, particularly because several provisions of the Constitution would already protect many of those rights. I think Americans can and do have the right to a good education and access to healthcare. As a nation, we are failing in both of those regards with respect to many Americans. Adding those provisions to the Constitution isn't the answer that will fix those problems. Better policies that keep those rights in mind are.

About your definition of socialism...

Interesting ... so your opinion is, those things are already in there and an amendment would be redundant?

Care to point out where the Constitution guarantees the right to a good education, and the right to health care?

As I recall (from history classes, not the '30s news reports, so back away from the keyboard Archaea), FDR never recommended that those be added to the Constitution. Certainly I don't. I'm also very irritated by any discussion of "rights", in part because I don't think that word means what lots of people think it means.

Our society should enable people to obtain all of those things; it doesn't mean they should be handed to them.

Our society does provide the ability for citizens to obtain those things - if they are willing to work for them.

There are those who have more difficulty in obtaining those things, but the opportunity is always there.

All of the states offer public education, which opens the door for government regulation of education, most specifically through anti-discrimination provisions. The same result is arrived at through a round about way.

I don't know how serious he was about them, or how far along any of them actually made it, but they were listed in his 1944 State of the Union address.

I'm not talking about result, I'm talking about rights. I'm sure you know that just because gov't offers something doesn't mean it's a right (i.e., it can be taken away).

Do you or do you not believe the Constitution currently guarantees a right to education and medical care (or anything else on FDR's list), and if not, should it?