We Americans need to check their ego at the door.

[Kim]

America is #1, don't assume that we always are. The World is in a constant state of change.

I found the following article very interesting.

www.citypages.com/databank/26/1264/print12985.asp

[Jeff]

Here is an interesting related opinon story on education that is related -
www.sgvtribune.com/Stories/0,1413,205%257E12238%257E2738976,00.html

[Globetrotter]

Usually it is mostly the Americans who tend to be the least educated and have traveled the least who make ignorant statements that the United States of America is the best and basically that everybody else should bow down to us.

There is this current celebration of ignorance that allows FOX News, Toby Keith, televised gambling and NASCAR to thrive. It is very unfortunate, but I find it is best just to act as if none of these things exist. It is a pleasure to get away for about one month per year, usually as far away as possible, with as few American influences as usual. But, that is not to say that every country doesn't have its share of people who have their own problems.

[Ken]

"Sometime in the next 10 years Brazil will probably pass the U.S. as the world's largest agricultural producer. Brazil is now the world's largest exporter of chickens, orange juice, sugar, coffee, and tobacco. Last year, Brazil passed the U.S. as the world's largest beef producer. (Hear that, you poor deluded cowboys?) As a result, while we bear record trade deficits, Brazil boasts a $30 billion trade surplus (NYT, Dec. 12, 2004). "

This part really surprised me. There are so many interesting quotes. It really makes you think. Thanks for posting.

[Observer]

Um, I think the post should read "We Americans need to check our egos... " Also, I wonder how illegal immigration factors into the education and health equations? I suspect it has an enormous impact on both.

Someone who still believes in America even with her shortcomings!

[Economist]

Observer,

Before you want to conveniently blame "illegal aliens" for some of the woes in the USA, you better also give them A LOT of credit for making the U.S. Economy the strongest economy in the world. If you had half the work ethic that the average undocumented work had, you would be in a better position, yourself, and would not find it necessary to point fingers at these immigrants in the first place!

[Just the facts]

Economist maybe you should look into this further. Observer was right to bring the point up. There is a significant impact. Read the following article:

The Costs of Illegal Immigration to Californians: Executive Summary



Analysis of the latest Census data indicates that California's illegal immigrant population is costing the state's taxpayers more than $10.5 billion per year for education, medical care and incarceration. Even if the estimated tax contributions of illegal immigrant workers are subtracted, net outlays still amount to nearly $9 billion per year. The annual fiscal burden from those three areas of state expenditures amounts to about $1,183 per household headed by a native-born resident.

This analysis looks specifically at the costs to the state for education, health care and incarceration resulting from illegal immigration. These three are the largest cost areas, and they are the same three areas analyzed in a 1994 study conducted by the Urban Institute, which provides a useful baseline for comparison ten years later. Other studies have been conducted in the interim, showing trends that support the conclusions of this report.

As this report will note, other significant costs associated with illegal immigration exist and should be taken into account by federal and state officials. But, even without accounting for all of the numerous areas in which costs associated with illegal immigration are being incurred by California taxpayers, the programs analyzed in this study indicate that the burden is substantial and that the costs are rapidly increasing.

The more than $10.1 billion in costs incurred by California taxpayers is composed of outlays in the following areas:

Education. Based on estimates of the illegal immigrant population in California and documented costs of K-12 schooling, Californians spend approximately $7.7 billion annually on education for illegal immigrant children and for their U.S.-born siblings. Nearly 15 percent of the K-12 public school students in California are children of illegal aliens.


Health care. Uncompensated medical outlays for health care provided to the state's illegal alien population amount to about $1.4 billion a year.

Incarceration. The cost of incarcerating illegal aliens in California's prisons and jails amounts to about $1.4 billion a year (not including related law enforcement and judicial expenditures or the monetary costs of the crimes that led to their incarceration).
State and local taxes paid by the unauthorized immigrant population go toward offsetting these costs, but they do not come near to matching the expenses. The total of such payments can generously be estimated at about $1.6 billion per year.

The fiscal costs of illegal immigration do not end with these three major cost areas. The total costs of illegal immigration to the state's taxpayers would be considerably higher if other cost areas such as special English instruction, school feeding programs, or welfare benefits for American workers displaced by illegal alien workers were added into the equation.

While the primary responsibility for combating illegal immigration rests with the federal government, there are many measures that state and local governments can take to combat the problem. Californians should not be expected to assume this already large and growing burden from illegal immigration simply because businesses or other special interests benefit from being able to employ lower cost workers. The state must adopt measures to systematically collect information on illegal alien use of taxpayer-funded services and on where they are employed. Policies could then be pursued to hold employers financially accountable.

The state could also enter into a cooperative agreement with the federal government for training local law enforcement personnel in immigration law so that illegal immigrants apprehended for criminal activities may be turned over to immigration authorities for removal from the country. Similarly, local officials who have adopted "sanctuary" measures that shield illegal aliens from being reported to the immigration authorities should be urged to repeal them.

November 2004