Financial how-to books come and go - they're published by the hundreds every year. But Peter Grandich, dubbed "The Wall Street Whiz Kid" by Good Morning America's Steve Crowley, says the one he relies on has been around for nearly 2,000 years.

"I get my financial guidance from the Bible," says Grandich, author of Confessions of a Wall Street Whiz Kid (www.confessionsofawallstreetwhizkid.com). "Money and possessions are the second most referenced topic in the Bible - money is mentioned more than 800 times - and the message is clear: Nowhere in Scripture is debt viewed in a positive way."

Grandich, who says his years as a highly successful Wall Street stockbroker left him spiritually depleted and clinically depressed, says the Bible is an excellent financial adviser, whether or not you're religious.

"The writers of the Bible anticipated the problems we would have with money and possessions; there are more than 2,000 references," he says. "Our whole culture now is built on the premise that we have to have more money and more stuff to feel happy and secure. Public storage is the poster child for what's wrong with America. We have too much stuff because we've bought into the myth fabricated by Wall Street and Madison Avenue that more stuff equals more happiness."  He adds, "That's the total opposite of the truth, and the opposite of what it says in The Bible."

What's Grandich's No. 1 most important biblical rule of finance? "God owns everything. You may have bought that house, but He gave you the money to buy it, so it's His."

Some other lessons from the ultimate financial guide?

• Do put money aside for investing: "One of the most revealing parables is Jesus' story about a wealthy master who left three servants in charge of his financial affairs when he went away on a long journey," Grandich says. "When he returned, two of the servants had multiplied the coins for which they were responsible. The third buried his to keep it safe." That last servant ended up out on his ear. The story is a lesson: We must invest our money - and invest wisely.

• Debt's not prohibited, but it should be avoided: The Bible clearly warns that the borrower will be a servant to the lender, but it also instructs us to lend money. That suggests that there are times when it's OK to borrow, but it should not become a way of life. The Bible also instructs us to repay what we've borrowed.

• The more you make, the more you should give: This is a hard one for people caught up in buying bigger and better things, but there are numerous references to charitable giving. The Bible says that it's quite all right to buy the bigger house - but the more you make and spend on yourself, the more you need to give to others. That doesn't include tithing, another very clear demand: God expects you to give 10 percent of your wealth to your place of worship.

• Don't focus on acquiring possessions: There are many, many warnings that accumulating stuff is dangerous. Material things are fleeting and they'll do you no good in the long run. What you put your effort into, that's where your heart will be, Grandich says.

About Peter Grandich

Peter Grandich became renowned in the financial industry when he predicted market crashes and rebounds in The Grandich Letter, a newsletter he created in 1984. It's currently a blog featuring his commentary on the world's economies and financial markets as well as social and political topics. Grandich is co-founder, with former New York Giants player Lee Rouson, of Trinity Financial Sports & Entertainment Management Co., a firm that specializes in offering guidance from a Christian perspective to professional athletes and celebrities.

By Senator Tom Harkin

Honoring veterans this Memorial Day will take on many forms.  Some Iowans will attend a parade or local celebration; some may fly an American flag in their yard or lay a wreath in remembrance of the fallen.  Each is a symbolic effort to thank the servicemen and women who have given of themselves to protect and serve our great country. And as we honor their sacrifices, so too do we recognize the contributions of their families, who remain active members of our communities while their loved ones serve in harm's way.

In my mind, honoring those who volunteer to wear our nation's uniform is something we can do throughout the year to ensure that the door is open for our returning service members to continue to serve their country.  The successful reintegration of our returning heroes is critically important to rebuilding America's middle class, one of the great challenges of our time.  

To that end, my office is working to ensure veterans have access to education benefits, health care, and other services to ensure they are successful both on and off the battlefield.

Protecting Military Education Benefits - As a veteran and recipient of the original GI Bill benefits, I understand how critical this assistance is for returning veterans' success.  For that reason, I am working to protect these benefits against low-quality for-profit colleges that overpromise, overcharge, and under-deliver to our veterans, using slick marketing campaigns to recruit them in order to profit off their education benefits.  In fact, data collected by the Senate HELP Committee shows that these benefits may be aiding some schools that otherwise would struggle to meet federal rules.

Legislation I have introduced will ensure that taxpayers' investment in federal assistance for college students is used to educate and support students, rather than being wasted on advertising, marketing, and recruitment.  The Protecting Financial Aid for Students and Taxpayers Act will maximize federal student aid by prohibiting the use of Pell Grants, federal student loans, the Post-9/11 G.I. Bill, and other federal education funds for such practices, similar to a current law that bans the use of federal higher education dollars for lobbying.  In addition, I have worked on a bipartisan basis on legislation aimed at providing every veteran who receives educational assistance from the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) with the counseling services needed to make informed decisions about their education.

Tele-town halls - My staff is now conducting tele-town halls regularly with Iowa veterans to hear firsthand about what returning veterans are experiencing in their day-to-day activities.  In everything from concerns with federal agencies, to identifying support at local Vet Centers, to providing staff contacts in Iowa and Washington, D.C.; my office can be of assistance.  In fact, we have heard from a number of returning veterans who were not aware of the health care access at these centers, including mental health assistance.  To participate in one of the town halls or to learn more, please visit harkin.senate.gov or call any of my offices.

Obtaining medals - I continue to hear from veterans about service medals that have not been awarded. My office has helped countless veterans and their families obtain medals.  Please contact any of my offices to inquire about this service. My staff is happy to assist any constituent to receive the recognition they have rightly earned.

A PDF version of the column is available by clicking here.

Mr. President, today we will be considering a vital piece of legislation that not only includes all four user fee agreements, but also includes policy proposals to improve the Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) review and approval of medical products, particularly in the pharmaceutical supply chain.

In 2008, Senator Kennedy and I introduced the Drug and Device Accountability Act.   This legislation was largely in response to the extensive oversight I conducted of the FDA.  During these investigations, I identified serious problems at the FDA that included:

•           Severe weaknesses in the inspection process;

•           Delays of informing the public of emerging safety problems; and

•           Lack of enforcement authority

Based on these findings, our legislation included provisions to ensure the safety of drugs, including foreign manufactured drugs:

•           It would have expanded FDA's authority to inspect foreign manufacturers and importers on a risk-based schedule;

•           It would have required all manufacturers to register with the agency so we can properly identify the number of manufacturers and where they are located. This would have ensured that when a crisis occurs we can quickly locate the questionable facility; and

•           It would have increased civil and criminal penalties with respect to violations.

Unfortunately, we never had an opportunity to debate this legislation let alone cast a vote on it.  However, roughly a year ago, Senators Harkin and Enzi forged a bi-partisan working group to address these challenges.

The group has worked tirelessly to produce a bi-partisan bill that modernizes FDA's authority to ensure that drug products coming into the United States are safe for American patients.

This bill incorporates many provisions introduced in the Drug and Device Accountability Act Senator Kennedy and I introduced.

•           It increases penalties for knowingly and intentionally counterfeiting drug products; and

•           It requires electronic submission of certain key information by a drug importer as a condition to grant entry.

I would like to have seen additional enforcement tools included in the legislation.  For example, granting FDA the authority to destroy unsafe products that are refused admission into the United States would enhance FDA's ability to protect the public from tainted products.

Likewise, granting FDA subpoena authority would bring FDA up to par with all other federal agencies' enforcement authorities.  Currently, FDA lacks subpoena authority and as such must go through the Department of Justice, which is time consuming and burdensome.

Ultimately, this legislation is a needed step in the right direction toward securing our supply chain.

This legislation did not address a top priority of mine, ensuring whistleblowers have adequate protections.

Four months ago my office learned of the abusive treatment by the FDA on whistleblowers due to protected communications with Congress, more specifically, with my office.   Once the agency learned of the communication, it began actively monitoring and observing employees personal email accounts for two years until the agency was able to have the employee fired.

Regrettably, I was not shocked to learn that FDA was mistreating whistleblowers within its agency, as it has done so on more than one occasion in the past.

What makes this example different and worse is that FDA intentionally went after an employee because it knew that employee was not covered by the Whistleblower Protection Act (WPA).  The employee in question was a member of the Public Health Service Commissioned Corps and because of a decision from the Court of Federal Claims, these employees, along with other members of the uniformed services, are not covered by federal employee whistleblower protections.

In 2009, the Court of Federal Claims held in Verbeck v. United States, that an officer in the Public Health Service's commissioned corps is a member of the uniformed service and as such, is not covered under the civilian Whistleblower Protection Act (WPA) or the Military Whistleblower Protection Act.  This same logic extends to the commissioned corps of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.  So, under this precedent, the officers of both the PHS and NOAA currently have no whistleblower protections under federal law.

This is particularly problematic when you consider that PHS and NOAA officers can be detailed to agencies like the FDA or CDC.  There, they work side-by-side with civilian employees doing critical work to review and approve drugs, oversee medical devices, and even work on infectious diseases.  However, unlike their civilian colleagues sitting next to them, if these employees uncover wrongdoing, waste, fraud or abuse, they can be retaliated against by the agency and have no recourse for it.  This is wrong and needs to be fixed.

Whistleblowers point out fraud, waste and abuse when no one else will, and they do so while risking their professional careers.  Whistleblowers have played a critical role in exposing government failures and retaliation against whistleblowers should never be tolerated.

For this reason, I offered an amendment that expands whistleblower protections for uniformed employees of the Public Health Service.  It corrects the anomaly pointed out by the Court of Federal Claims and ensures that Officers in the Public Health Service have some baseline whistleblower protections.  It expressly includes the commissioned corps of the PHS within the protections of the Military Whistleblower Protection Act.  This is consistent with the structure of the commissioned corps functioning like a military organization and matches the fact that these officers receive military like benefits and retirement.

Unfortunately, this amendment, which I was able to get into this legislation, only covers employees of the Public Health Service.  It does not address the commissioned corps of NOAA because of other senators' concerns that it is not related to the underlying bill.   I hope that we can address this remaining gap in whistleblower protections in the near future so that all employees of the federal government are covered.

All federal employees should feel comfortable expressing their opinion, both inside the Agency and to Congress.   The inclusion of this language will ensure those opinions receive appropriate protections.

I want to take this opportunity to express my appreciation for Senators Harkin and Enzi and their commitment and efforts over the years to reform and improve the FDA.

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