The fat cats at the United Nations are tired of relying on the generosity of member countries. They want to bypass sovereign governments and tax the people of the world directly!
The calls for a global tax to finance the operations of the United Nations seem to be coming from all quarters. The so-called Independent Commission on Population and Quality of Life argues that the United Nations should be able to tax aviation traffic and freight, aviation fuel, ocean freight and cruises, telecommunications frequencies, communications satellites, international postal items, and trade in goods and services. At the UN World Summit for Social Development, held in Copenhagen earlier this year, Clinton appointee James Speth, head of the UN Development Program, proposed a global tax on speculative movements of international funds, the consumption of non-renewable energy, environmental permits, and the arms trade. The Clinton Administration is pushing for ratification of the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, which would set up an International Seabed Authority to collect fees and royalties imposed on American mining firms.
James Tobin, 1981 Nobel Prize winner in Economics, has called for a tax on spot transactions in foreign exchange. Tobin predicts that "the revenue potential is immense, over $1.5 trillion a year." Needless to say, UN bureaucrats are enthusiastic about the possibilities of this new "Tobin tax."
The Commission on Global Governance argues that "it is time for a consensus on global taxation for servicing the needs of the global neighborhood." The Commission, which is supported by government and foundation funding, calls for taxes on flight-lanes, sea lanes, and ocean fishing areas. The Commission claims that "the idea of safeguarding and managing the global commons, particularly those related to the physical environment, is now widely accepted."
The Worldwatch Institute calls for a global tax to finance "the transition to a sustainable society -- including environmental programs, social initiatives, and peacekeeping efforts." The Oxfam Poverty Report proclaims that "international aid should be seen as a financial entitlement, and as part of a compact between citizens in the industrial and developing worlds." The Ford Foundation wants the UN to have Special Drawing Rights from the International Monetary Fund. This "levy on the utilization of the global commons" would allow the UN to put the squeeze on American taxpayers without going through our Congress. The World Federalist Association, headed by former presidential candidate John Anderson, recommends UN taxes on international travel and postal service.
The United Nations has no right or authority whatsoever to tax people, businesses, or transactions, but that won't stop the UN's greedy international bureaucrats from trying to usurp such authority. Too much of our country's wealth has already been squandered on this subversive organization with the cooperation of American leaders. Imagine how the UN will bleed us dry when it has its own taxing power and no longer needs to ask for our cooperation!
