Will Anything Last Forever?

In recent weeks workers have been making repairs to our magnificent State House and re-grouting the massive blocks of native granite that form its steps and walls. Our first State House in Columbia, a mere shadow of today’s structure, was originally completed in 1794. The building has been repaired, restored, and enlarged many times, but from its earliest days it has been a monument to our rich and storied heritage and our noblest ideals of freedom and self-government. It is a place where the people rule under the Constitution and the laws they themselves have made. As I observed the workers preserving our state’s most historic building, I was reminded of the poet Shelley’s great sonnet, Ozymandias (see box above).

Shelley tells the story of a once great monument built by the Egyptian pharaoh, Ramses II, to proclaim his power and his belief that the civilization he ruled would last forever. The great temple he built at the center of his realm was even inscribed with a warning to friend and foe: “My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings: Look on my works, ye mighty, and despair!”

Yet this once great monument to an emperor’s power and glory, we are told, now lies “sunk,” “shattered,” and ruined in the desert sands, a “colossal wreck” whose scattered columns remind the traveler that all of man’s greatest works, man himself, and the world in which we live will eventually pass away.

Elected officials who work in grand buildings of state, with their marble pillars, grand hallways, marble floors, glittering chandeliers and fine art can come to think of these great buildings as monuments to themselves and their own vainglory. There is a temptation to believe one is entitled, and that having made it to an exclusive club, one can do as one pleases, rather than what one ought.

Many forget that they are merely the people’s servants and, like Ozymandias, come to believe that the ornate structures in which they work proclaim their own individual greatness, and that while they serve they should also be served. Yet all the ambitions, power, chairmanships, seniority and influence quickly pass away and amount to nothing if the object of one’s labors is mere personal aggrandizement or self-interest.

Our nation and the states that comprise it are unique in the world. They were founded not on the basis of ethnicity, personal ambition, feudal land holdings, or the conquest of one group over another, but rather founded on ideas and the Christian ideals of a pilgrim people. But our most cherished monuments, like those who erected them, will one day surely pass away.

It is proper that we build and maintain monuments to our greatest state and national ideals and to those who lived and died for them. But we should always realize that these majestic structures serve to remind us of who we are, what we believe, where we come from, and like lighthouses, they guide us on our way. And we should humbly acknowledge that even our most enduring structures will one day pass away, just as will the most thoughtfully constructed laws, policies, and budgets ever crafted by elected officials.

A 20th century American commentator said that "a politician's legacy will be hollow indeed, unless his motivation is for a goal and a calling greater than himself." All public servants should consider that solemn thought, look squarely in the mirror, and resolve that their every motive and goal will be to promote the overall public good.

Adorning a kitchen wall in my grandparent’s home was a short poem that I understand better now than I did as a child when I first saw it. The thought-provoking poem, speaking to the days of Ozymandias and to our own day, read:

Only one life, ‘twill soon be passed,
Only what’s done for Christ will last.

Remarkable! It should comfort and encourage us to realize that while granite monuments will crumble and civilizations rise and fall, people can do certain things individually that will last forever.

The Fiscal Impact of Runaway Immigration

Last year Americans responded in justifiable anger against the amnesty proposals for illegal immigrants that some of our federal legislators were trying to force on America’s citizens. Yet the people said “no” for many good reasons – our concern for American sovereignty and our belief that the laws of our nation must be upheld, the unfairness of granting citizenship to scofflaws when so many law abiding people continue to wait their turn, the threat that cheap illegal labor has on American jobs by driving down wages, and, in the aftermath of 9/11, the serious threats that unsecured borders pose to our nation.

At the outset, let me emphatically state that I am not opposed to immigration. I am opposed to illegal immigration. We are a nation of immigrants. But immigration must be managed in accordance with our established laws! Every country has a sovereign right to regulate its borders and surely our country does as well.

It concerns me that many do not consider the enormous financial costs that out-of-control immigration imposes on local, state and federal governments. An extraordinary new study on the costs of legal and illegal immigration, “The Economic and Fiscal Impact of Immigration” by Edwin S. Rubenstein, reveals the staggering costs of this crisis and the massive hidden burden it imposes on every American taxpayer. The study analyzes the costs to fifteen federal departments and agencies. Yet as shocking as these findings are, they are only part of the story, because the study does not include the enormous costs to local and state governments.

Rubenstein points out that the U.S. has 37 million legal and illegal immigrants that cost U.S. taxpayers last year more than $346 billion. This means that U.S. taxpayers are providing on average more than $9,000 annually to each immigrant or $36,000 for a family of four. These costs imperil our economy and our nation and they affect virtually every aspect of our national life.

Since most immigrants don’t speak English, 3.8 million children of immigrants enrolled in K-12 schools require special classes and the hiring and training of specialized teachers with annual costs estimated at $1,030 per pupil, or $3.9 billion. In the next few years, immigration will consume the entire planned increase in spending for public schools.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services provides $250 million annually to help hospitals cover part of the costs of providing emergency medical treatment to illegal immigrants, but costs to the hospitals are far greater than the federal reimbursement and as a result some emergency rooms and hospitals have been forced to close.

Our federal prisons house 267,000 criminal aliens in an already overcrowded system. As a result of overcrowding, many dangerous criminals who otherwise should be securely locked-up are out among us.

The Federal Housing Administration has encouraged home ownership among low-income immigrants by requiring down payments as low as $200 to $300. Since these buyers have virtually nothing invested, they often walk away when they can’t meet their mortgage payments, resulting in blighted, abandoned houses and neighborhoods, and high foreclosure rates that threaten our economy.

This entire enormous tab, paid for by the American taxpayers, is increasing while the former Federal Reserve chairman Alan Greenspan and many federal representatives in the House and Senate are calling for even higher levels of immigration. Greenspan has said that “significantly opening up immigration to [more] skilled workers solves two problems: Companies can hire educated workers they need. And those workers would compete with high-income people, driving more income equality.”

What this really means is that salaries are being depressed for skilled American workers who will now be forced to compete with a flood of foreign competitors in our own country. American workers are being squeezed, but by whom?

Nearly half a century ago, President Eisenhower, who had been a great military leader, warned Americans of an emerging “military-industrial complex” that even then was seen to be threatening our national sovereignty. In the past year we have seen the enormous power and influence that modern day transnational corporations, with no allegiance to our nation, wield over the decisions of many of our elected representatives.

Time and again the American people have insisted that we want our borders secured and illegal immigration stopped. Yet time and again, through parliamentary maneuvers, last minute amendments, and their own singular determination, many of our elected representatives have sought to give amnesty for illegal immigrants already here, while doing little or nothing to stop this destructive growing tsunami.

America is at a crossroads. Will we allow our businesses and industries to be deported and our people reduced to a mere labor pool for transnational corporations, or will we continue as one nation, under God, the shining city upon a hill? The choice is ours to make.

Several roll call votes on this issue make clear which of our representatives are working for transnational corporations and which are working for “we the people.” It is our civic duty to take notice of who’s who and wield the power we still have at our polling places to literally reclaim our country.

Are We Becoming a Nation of Financial Illiterates?

Because of “Tax Day,” April is a month when many people take stock of their finances. Unfortunately, it is also a grim reminder for many citizens that their personal finances are in trouble. Our personal habits for saving, borrowing and spending not only have a big impact on the well-being of our families, they affect the health of our state and national economies, and even our national security. With this in mind, many community leaders are increasingly involved in efforts to ensure that America’s students have the sound financial literacy skills they will need to be successful in life.

Sadly, America’s lack of personal financial literacy has helped to create some very serious problems in our nation, from massive borrowing and personal debt, the sub-prime mortgage crisis with resulting home foreclosures, trade deficits, our national debt, the large number of people who file for bankruptcy, and high taxes to finance the “safety net” provided for those in economic trouble.

Recognizing that the financial readiness of our youth is essential to their well-being, Governor Sanford proclaimed this past month as “Financial Literacy Month.” And 48 affiliated state groups have organized with nearly 200 major companies under The Jump$tart Coalition to teach the basics of personal finance in schools and to provide educational materials for teachers, parents, and civic groups to use in that effort. The Jump$tart Coalition has also teamed with the Federal Reserve Board to conduct a biennial national literacy survey of America’s students. Results of the most recent survey were just released, and they are disappointing. Among the findings for high school seniors:

• A mere 48 percent correctly understood that a credit card holder who pays only the minimum amount on monthly card balances will pay more in annual finance charges than a card holder who pays the balance in full;
• Only 17 percent correctly answered that stocks are more likely to yield higher returns than savings bonds, savings accounts, and checking accounts even though there has never been a significant period of time where this hasn’t been true; and
• Just 36 percent correctly answered that a house financed with a fixed-rate mortgage is a good hedge during periods of inflation, down from 45 percent who understood this concept in a similar survey two years ago.

In 2005, Governor Sanford signed legislation requiring that the State Board of Education adopt curricula, materials, and guidelines for local school boards to use to implement financial literacy instruction. The legislation requires that this initiative be overseen by a “Financial Literacy Initiative Board of Trustees” that is tasked to improve the financial literacy of SC students in grades K-12. Under state curriculum standards, students are to be given basic instruction in personal finance, the structure of our economic system, an overview of our banking and financial institutions, credit management, and the stock and bond markets.

As with much that we look to our schools to teach, results are spotty at best. But this is an area where retired business leaders, local businesses, business organizations, and civic and community groups have a great opportunity to work with teachers to ensure that students have the basic personal financial tools they will eventually need to be successful in life. Schools should take advantage of the vast experienced volunteer resources that exist within their own communities. Best of all, schools can do so at no additional cost to the taxpayers.

Financial literacy is as important to the future of every student as good reading, math and language skills. Ensuring that every student graduates with basic financial literacy could not only help our economy, lower our tax burden, and result in fewer families in economic distress, it could also prepare young Americans to be more responsible and informed voters who understand the importance of property rights and free enterprise as essential underpinnings of the freedoms that Americans enjoy. Let’s make financial literacy a goal for every American family. As Governor Sanford has proclaimed, “improving financial literacy for the residents of the Palmetto State helps strengthen our families and communities and ensures our continued success in the global marketplace.”