The Federal Observer
Bush blocks U.N. tax plan
By Henry Lamb -
federalobserver.com
With far more political acuity than critics expected, President George Bush disarmed world government proponents while promising more aid to developing nations. The U.N.'s High Level Panel on Financing Development concluded its four-day conference in Monterrey, Mexico, without explicit authorization for U.N. taxes on currency exchange, fossil fuels and a host of other tax targets.
The conference, publicized as a poverty-reducing initiative, was, in fact, another effort by the U.N. to gain taxing authority. Ernesto Zedillo, head of the U.N. panel, issued a report on June 28, calling for the new taxing authority. U.S. delegates to the conference made it clear that the U.S. would not support any document that included U.N. taxing authority.
The final "consensus" document was toned down substantially, and reference to taxing authority was removed. When the conference opened on March 18, however, delegates from Germany, Britain and other European countries tried to reinstate language to authorize global taxation. Again, U.S. delegates, with help from Japan, blocked the effort.
Then Vincente Fox, president of Mexico, renewed the call for U.N. taxing authority when he spoke to the delegates. The U.S. stood firm, and U.N. taxing authority was excluded from the final document.
Had Al Gore been elected president, the outcome would have likely been different. Gustave Speth, a member of the Clinton-Gore transition team who then was appointed head of the U.N. Development Program, was a strong advocate of U.N. taxing authority, and promoted the scheme during his U.N. tenure.
Bush did even more to confuse the world government crowd. He diffused the anticipated criticism of U.S. aid by announcing a sharp increase in foreign aid over the next three years. European nations made a similar commitment, leading conference officials to claim victory before the conference even convened.
When he spoke to the delegates on Friday, however, Bush made it clear that U.S. aid would no longer be poured down the U.N. rat-hole as it has been in the past. U.S. aid will be placed into a special "Millennium" account, not simply handed over to the U.N. The U.S., not the U.N., will establish the criteria that must be met by developing nations before receiving U.S. aid.
Bush told the delegates that no longer can poverty relief be measured simply by the amount donor nations give. The real measure of poverty relief must be based on the achievements produced by the aid.
Bush made it clear that U.S. aid will go only to countries whose governments exist with the consent of the citizens, that commit to open markets, and that promote the principles of freedom.
U.N. conferences are not accustomed to hearing this kind of talk from a U.S. president. Bill Clinton told the Millennium Summit in 2000 that the time had come for national sovereignty to take a back seat to U.N. activism. Bush invoked U.S. sovereignty by defining the conditions upon which U.S. aid will be granted. And he did it with a smile, and without confrontation.
Castro, on the other hand, spoke to the delegates in his usual "fatigues," with his usual dictatorial bluster, calling U.S. policies "economic genocide."
The Bush administration is clearly changing gears with its U.S. aid. U.S. aid will now be aimed at helping nations build the infrastructure to create wealth, rather than on programs that simply feed global poverty - and enrich those who administer the programs.
This change will not be welcomed by the U.N. bureaucracy, nor by the IMF, that is building a new $250 million palace in Washington to house its expanding bureaucracy in anticipation of becoming the chief administrator of anti-poverty wealth redistribution.
The U.N.'s quest for global taxing authority will not go away. Even though this effort has been thwarted, temporarily, the U.N. can be expected to continue its efforts to get out from under the control of the United States. The World Summit on Sustainable Development, which will convene in Johannesburg, South Africa, next August, will likely hear sharp criticism of the U.S., and more calls for financial independence for the U.N., among the many other agenda items.
For now, at least, the world has dodged a bullet, thanks to the Bush administration. Those who believe national sovereignty should be superior to any scheme of global governance cannot rest easy, but instead, must keep a vigilant eye on both the U.N., and the U.S. government. There are plenty of people in the U.S. who do not agree with Mr. Bush's determination to advance the principles of freedom.
Henry Lamb is the executive vice president of the Environmental Conservation Organization and chairman of Sovereignty International. |
