Immigration Policies and the Poor

While our great nation was founded and built by the minds and labor of immigrants, the subject has taken on a starkly different meaning in recent decades. The issue, as I see it, is finite resources and who can and should have access to them. I am deeply troubled by how Hispanic the United States has become: I should not have to press 1 for English when calling a business, nor should citizens be shut out for jobs because they are not bilingual. That having been said, monies spent on providing services to illegal immigrants is a huge waste of money. Huge. I am no more an advocate for embracing illegals than I am doing the same for someone who breaks into my house and decides the living room is theirs.

That being said, however, I do not in any way advocate any element of discriminatory behavior. All people are entitled to dignity and fair treatment. We simply do not have the resources to accept the continuing glut of illegals. I do believe that very cheap labor in the form of immigrant workers is exploitive and drives down wages. And, es, I would be willing to pay more for produce and other goods and services to support legitimate wages and jobs for citizens. Part of the reason that farms hire migrant workers so cheaply is because others would be hesitant to do the same work for the meager wages.

I think legal immigration is down because illegal immigration has become so easy and it takes so long to get citizenship legitimately. Both of these must change. Border states, such as California and Texas have high rates, but non-border states, such as Georgia and even Delaware are seeing increases, as well. Many Mexican illegal immigrants are essentially sold into slavery to come to the U.S. It is a thriving business.

Health care and education are among the services provided en masse for illegal immigrants that we simply cannot afford. We have legitimate citizens in need of services and monies are being wasted.

Policies to curtail immigration seem to send mix messages: on the one hand, it limits access to some entitlements but also rewards those who have been hiding out long enough to get amnesty.
Then there are security issues post September 11th: could a terrorist get into the U.S. by first coming through Canada? I think we should put a 15 year total freeze on immigration while we sort out the costs and solutions to address illegal activity. If we have stringent laws in place - and enforce them - it might discourage border activity. Some might view that as racist against Mexico, but let's face it. We only share a border with two other countries and there are not floods of Canadians coming into the U.S. If we shared a border with Yugoslavia, I would have the same view.

The issue of illegal immigration is one of complacency and security. If your home is repeatedly broken into, it's time to take a serious look at why.

Housing and Community Development

I am pleased with revisions in public housing policy that integrates families into communities, rather than isolate them in segregated public housing. Historically, these have been havens for criminal activity. Children suffer especially because of crime, drug use, and substandard concentrations in school. By allowing people to live in mainstream communities, this helps to alleviate these problems. Particularly, the voucher system is a win-win for all involved: the program costs less to administer, provides more traditional home settings for enrollees and makes good use for otherwise vacant properties in neighborhoods. The children also have the opportunity to attend more optimal academic and social settings.

I am also pleased with President Obama's approach to urban recovery, in that the problems that affect urban areas are interconnected and must be addressed appropriately. Indeed, several of the topics that we have discussed in this course are interrelated to the issue of inadequate or overpriced housing (such as lack of urban jobs that pay living wages, the proclivity for single mothers to represent the highest percentage of the working poor, etc.).

Programs such as the Mons Valley Initiative are excellent examples of community collective approach to promoting solutions to housing and community needs problems. Locally, Habitat for Humanity and Atlanta Falcons' Warrick Dunn's programs that provide homes for eligible families to promote home ownership and community stability are stellar.

An overlapping problem with housing, however, is transportation. If people had access to Marta in the suburbs would help more take advantage of the voucher program and find and maintain jobs. Recall earlier this year the impact on the discontinuation of Clayton County's transit. The recession is surely making it worse for all, especially those who are marginal.

Social Security problems and solutions

While the intent of Social Security has been honorable since its inception, I am quite skeptical about whether government can - and should - continue to provide this program.

Back in the 1930s, the intention of Social Security was to keep the elderly, mostly widows, from living and dying homeless in the streets. With significant improvements since then in health care, Americans are living longer. It can no longer be a stop gap to sustain people; seniors are living decades beyond retirement.

I personally agree with former Treasury Secretary O'Neil's proposal: a birthright payment to each U.S. citizen at birth escrowed for their later life, inheritable by heirs should the individual not survive to receive it. I realize that this comes with two problems: one, illegals will flock to the U.S. to give birth in order to be eligible; two, this program will be beneficial for younger beneficiaries but not those older now.

The fact that it would be beneficial to the young is precisely why it should be done. A 50 year plan to transition from the current program to the new would help with the phase out. If we try to keep the current system it will be bankrupt eventually, despite the revisions to the plan resulting from the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. A gain in 12 years of solvency is merely a deference without real reform.

I am 52 years old and do not expect to benefit from Social Security. My parents' generation is nearly bankrupting the program. My great-grandmother lived to be 94, which was unusual for her generation. Now it is the norm for seniors to live into the 80s.

Obama's assertion that seniors should have the right to retire "with dignity" pulls at the public's emotions but does not erase the potential that government will raid the trust. It might be evident, but I do not trust government to optimally manager programs. As soon as there is an emergency somewhere else, they justify taking your money.

It is costing more and more, with fewer and fewer contributing workers, to sustain benefits currently. And that is without the first wave of Baby Boomers, the largest generation yet, starting to reach retirement age in 2011.

We have got to shift our focus from pouring money down a well to responsibly utilizing the money for the program. Raising taxes for businesses and private workers will not resolve it. Government cannot solve problems by taxing people to their eyeballs.

I will be very surprised if the program survives to reach its centennial.