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It’s time for FDR’s

Economic Bill of Rights

Editor, Times-Dispatch:

Are we truly free? This was the question raised by Sen. Bernie Sanders in his recent speech defending democratic socialism. Throughout his personal and political career, Sanders has never stopped fighting for true freedom. But what does freedom, or a lack thereof, mean for the average person living in the wealthiest country in the world? As the senator asks, are we truly free if we can’t afford to visit the doctor when sick? Are we truly free if lifesaving medicine such as insulin is inaccessible due to cost? Are we truly free when forced to spend more than half of our income on housing alone? And are we truly free when getting an education is enough to put a young person into debt for life?

The answer does not come from the senator, but from the millions of people across this country struggling just to get by: No, we are not free when economic insecurity runs our lives.

What Sanders’ campaign offers is a second Bill of Rights, an Economic Bill of Rights. First proposed by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1944, the second Bill of Rights is the recognition that political rights alone do not guarantee freedom, equality or the luxury of pursuing happiness.